Cornelious “Quad” Brown has won the quarterback job at Georgia State. The redshirt freshman from Calera, Ala., will start when the Panthers open the season Sept. 19 against Louisiana-Lafayette.

The lanky Brown (6-foot-5, 200 pounds) is a good runner with a strong arm. He won the job ahead of Jamil Muhammad, a redshirt freshman who transferred from Vanderbilt, and redshirt freshman K.J. Harvey.

“Quad has got a little better understanding of the offense than the other quarterbacks at this time,” coach Shawn Elliott said. “He was down there repping with the offense all last fall, and that helped him with his development. He wasn’t down there on the scout team taking a bunch of reps in other types of offenses. He was running our offense and that helped.”

Brown played four games as a freshman and completed 11 of 28 passes for 130 yards. He threw one interception. He ran four times for 15 yards.

“Plus he’s got the athleticism,” Elliott said. “He’s got the tools to run the ball, and he’s got a big, strong arm. … He’s got a fantastic arm and he can really cover some ground with those long legs. And he’s got a lot of confidence; Quad’s a confident guy. We just felt like he’s going to be the guy to start against (Louisiana-Lafayette).”

Coming out of high school, Brown was ranked as the No. 5 quarterback in Alabama and the No. 37 pro-style quarterback in the country by 247Sports. He threw for a combined 3,934 yards and 41 touchdowns his final two seasons.

The Panthers received good news Thursday when freshman Mikele Colasurdo was cleared to return to practice. The 2019 Gatorade Player of the Year from South Carolina recovered from COVID-19 over the summer and opted to sit out the season when doctors indicated possible myocarditis. A follow-up examination confirmed that Colasurdo does not have myocarditis or another heart issue that would keep him off the field.

Colasurdo will begin a phased return to practice.

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