New transfer enters quarterback picture at Georgia State
The quarterback job is being reevaluated this week at Georgia State, with a late-arrival applicant throwing his hat in the ring for playing time.
Christian Veilleux started last week’s game at Ole Miss and Cameran Brown finished it; they must still be regarded as Option A and Option B. But the arrival this week of transfer TJ Finley has added another layer of intrigue as the Panthers prepare for Saturday’s home opener against Memphis.
“We’re in a competition right now,” GSU coach Dell McGee said. “We’re going to make some decisions in the later part of this week, and you’ll still see multiple quarterbacks play. That won’t change for this week and we see how the game plan goes and who gives us the chance to be successful.”
Kickoff for Saturday’s game is 7 p.m. at Center Parc Stadium. It will be broadcast on ESPN+ and can be heard locally on WRAS-FM 88.5, WGTJ-FM 97.5 and the GSU mobile app.
Veilleux, a redshirt senior holdover from last season, started against Ole Miss and played six series. He completed four of 11 passes, with one interception, for 52 yards, including a 43-yard touchdown pass to Javon Robinson. He ran four times for 21 yards.
Brown, a redshirt junior transfer from Texas Tech, played seven series, including the last six of the game. He completed eight of 14 passes for 17 yards and was sacked once. He rushed seven times for 19 yards.
The newcomer in the mix is Finley, who was with Georgia State this summer before opting to go to Tulane. That didn’t work out, and Finley joined the GSU program Monday and is eligible to play this week.
“He definitely has a chance to play,” McGee said. “He’s a very sharp kid. Played a lot of football. He has a vast wealth of knowledge because he’s been in so many different systems. And he was here in May and June, July, so he threw to our guys this summer. He knows the playbook, so it’s not brand new to him, like we brought in a free agent from the NFL and we’re teaching him the playbook.”
Finley (6-foot-7, 255 pounds) has great size and a big arm. He was rated as the No. 1 quarterback in Louisiana in 2019 and signed with LSU. He transferred to Auburn in 2021 and came off the bench to replace Bo Nix and lead the Tigers to a come-from-behind win over Georgia State.
A shoulder injury limited Finley to four games at Auburn in 2022, and in 2023 he transferred to Texas State, where he passed for 3,439 yards and 24 touchdowns and was an honorable-mention All-Sun Belt pick. He spent last season at Western Kentucky in 2024 and started the first three games before going down with a lower leg injury. He transferred to Tulane in December but never played a game there and entered the transfer portal in April.
While the quarterbacks did not shine against Ole Miss, the running game was sufficient. Georgia State ran for 191 yards and averaged 5.5 yards per carry. Rashad Amos ran nine times for 69 yards, and TJ Peyton ran four times for 55 yards.
“We played decent,” second-year GSU center Alec Johnson said. “We’ve still got to work more up front. Could have rushed more efficiently, but I think we did a decent job.”
The line will be matched against a Memphis defense that limited Chattanooga to 149 rushing yards in last week’s 45-10 win.
“The offensive line did a good job of doing the right things and playing with a physical mentality,” McGee said. “A couple of plays, I wish we could have done a little better on, but I was pleased with their effort, the way they played. Of course we’ve got to improve the pass element, in particular on third downs.”
Georgia State was only 2-for-15 on third-down conversions and failed to scored on either of its two trips inside the red zone.
“We can’t get to our entire playbook when you don’t extend drives and be as poor as we were on third downs,” McGee said. “That’s definitely a point of emphasis for us this week, which it is every single week.”
About the Author
Stan Awtrey has been covering sports for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution since 1977. He currently writes about high school sports, Georgia State University athletics and golf.
