ATLANTA, GA-- After defeating SEC Vanderbilt foe 36-32 before enjoying a bye-week, the Panthers open conference play hosting rivals Georgia Southern on Sept. 28 at 3:30 p.m. at Center Parc Credit Union Stadium, in front of a national television audience on ESPNU.
> Georgia's states most recent win over Vanderbilt marked the second time in program history that the Panthers have defeated a Power 5 school.
> This year's rivalry marks the first of the Georgia Grown Bowl, presented by Georgia Grown. Georgia Grown aims to support each institution, highlight one of our state's best, new rivalry games, and showcase Georgia's No. 1 industry – agriculture.
SERIES NOTES: Georgia State and Georgia Southern are meeting for the 11th time in program history. The Panthers have won six of the 10 meeting with Georgia Southern, including three in a row before falling 41-33 in Statesboro last season.
> The Panthers are on a two-game win streak at home against the Eagles. Georgia State clinched a 41-33 win the last time they hosted the school down south in 2022.
NEW STARTING QB: After a GSU-record 36 consecutive games with Darren Grainger as the starting quarterback, Christian Veilleux will hold the starting quarterback position for the 2024 season.
> Only three games into the season, Veilleux has matched his single-season record for touchdowns with seven (six passing, one rushing). He previously set the record with seven passing touchdowns at Pitt during the 2023 season.
> Veilleux ranks top 10 in the Sun Belt for passing touchdowns (4th with 6), passing yards per game (6th with 239.0) and passing yards per completion (9th with 10.10 per completion).
> Veilleux threw a season high 26 pass completions in two of the three games played so far (Chattanooga and Vanderbilt). The junior transfer leads the Sun Belt and ranks 16th in FBS with 23.67 completions per game. His 62.8 completion percentage ranks fifth in the conference and 67th nationally.
>Leading the Panthers through an upset over Vanderbilt, the transfer quarterback completed a season-high 269 passing yards, and a career-high three passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown in the Panthers' 36-32 victory. Veilleux's 18-yard rushing touchdown also marked a career-high for longest rush. His rushing touchdown was the first of his career.
> Previously, the starting quarterback went 12-for-34 and recorded a season-long 238 yards and two touchdowns in the Panthers' home opener against Chattanooga to record his first GSU career win (Sept. 7).
> Despite joining the Panthers late in the off-season, after McGee's hire, Veilluex quickly became the leading contender for the staring quarterback.
> The junior transfer from Pitt joins the GSU program for the 2024 season after spending one season at Pittsburgh and two at Penn State. Last season, Veilleux appeared in seven games (five starts) for Pitt, and completed 94-of-184 passes for 1,179 yards and seven touchdowns.
KEY RETURNERS: Despite the large influx of newcomers to the 2024 squad, head coach McGee retained multiple key returners, including veterans Tailique Williams, Freddie Brock, Dorian Fleming, Kevin Swint, Gavin Pringle and Justin Abraham.
> Veterans Gavin Pringle and Kevin Swint were named to the 2024 Preseason All-Sun Belt First Team after leading the Panthers on defense through the 2023 season.
> Senior linebacker Kevin Swint leads the Panthers in sacks with two, ranking fourth in the Sun Belt and 47th in FBS.
> After an impact performance against SEC competitors Vanderbilt, Swint earned Sun Belt Player of the Week honors after leading the Panthers with eight tackles.
> Swint opened the contest with a forced fumble in the first drive of the game to set the pace for the Panthers upset over Vanderbilt. His forced fumble for 7 yards set Georgia State up on the Vanderbilt 20-yard line and allow the Panthers to put the first points on the board. He recorded his second sack of the game (8 yards) in the first drive of the fourth quarter to set the defensive momentum for the final minutes of the game. In addition to his two sacks and forced fumble, Swint recorded eight tackles (five solo) and two pass breakups. One of his pass breakups happened on a 4th-and-3 in the forth quarter to ultimately set the Panthers to up for a 29-17 advantage over Vanderbilt
> Running back Freddie Brock is the Panthers' leading rusher, totaling 230 yards on 39 attempts. Brock's 230 rushing yards ranks fourth in the Sun Belt and 55th in FBS.
> The junior running back is the only non-quarterback to record a rushing touchdown this season.
> Brock recorded his first touchdown of the season (second of his GSU career) to secure the win against Chattanooga (Sept. 7).
> Brock matched his season-long 23 yard rush against Chattanooga (Sept. 7), which he previously set at Georgia Tech (Aug. 31).
> Senior linebacker Justin Abraham has become a pivitol leader on the Panthers defense, leading the team in tackles, sacks, and tackles-for loss. Despite missing a game due to injury, Abraham leads the Panthers in solo tackles (14), and is second in total tackles (17) on the season, including two tackles for a loss of seven yards. The Hartsville, S.C., native recorded a 6-yard sack against Chattaooga (Sept. 7).
> Redshirt senior Gavin Pringle is one of three Panthers to record an interception this season, after snagging his first of the season (fourth at GSU) in the home opener against Chattanooga (Sept. 7). The Baltimore, Md. native leads the conference and ranks 17th in the nation for passes defended (1.3).
> Pringle is fourth on the team in tackles with 12.
> After redshirting his freshman year in 2023, D-Icey Hopkins started his sophomore campaign with the first forced fumble for the Panthers this season in the home opener against Chattanooga (Sept. 7).
> After starting in only four games in 2023, Sophomore Tight End Dorian Fleming had a breakout game against Georgia Tech, scoring the first touchdown of the season for the Panthers.
> The Henrico, Va., native is second on the team in receiving yards with 145.
NEWCOMERS LEADING THE PACK: With the leadership change for the Panthers during the off season, Georgia State retained 65 returners and added 54 newcomers to the 2024 roster.
> Georgia State saw its largest influx of transfers in the off-season, with 48 transfer additions to the roster.
> Junior wide receiver Ted Hurst is the Panthers' leading receiver with 237 total receiving yards on the season, which ranks sixth in the conference and top 100 in the nation.
> Hurst totals three receiving touchdowns on the season, which ranks third in the Sun Belt and 30th in FBS.
> Hurst Ted was an instrumental factor in the Panthers 36-32 win over Vanderbilt, totaling two of the Panthers' four touchdowns against the Commodores. One of Hurst's touchdown catches included the game-winning catch with 0:15 on the clock to secure the win. Hurst totaled 128 yards on 7 receptions, including a game-long 33 yarder.
> The Valdosta State transfer led the team with 83 yards and one touchdown on 7 receptions against Chattanooga (Sept. 7).
> Senior transfer Xavier Robinson is the Panthers leading linebacker, totaling 20 tackles (13 solo) over three games. Robinson put up a season-high eight tackles and one sack against Chattanooga (Sept. 7).
> Tulsa transfer Jordan Ford is the Panthers' starting kick returner, averaging 22.0 yards-per-carry on kickoffs. Ford opened the season with a 30-yard kick return to start the game against Georgia Tech (Aug. 31).
> The senior running back totals 45 yards on seven attempts this season.
> Ford recorded the first touchdown of his GSU career in the Panthers' home opener against Chattanooga (Sept. 7).
> Senior transfer Sy'veon Wilkerson is second on the team in rushing yards with 88 on 17 carries. The Colorado transfer tallied a team-long 41-yard rush in the first drive of the season against Georgia Tech (Aug. 31).
THE DELL McGEE ERA: Dell McGee, a Columbus, Ga., native with 22 years of coaching experience, including back-to-back national titles as the run game coordinator and running backs coach for the Georgia Bulldogs, was named the fourth head football coach in Georgia State history on Feb. 23, 2024.
> Although this is Dell McGee's first full-time head coaching position, he was already 1-0 coming in to his head coaching position at Georgia State. He led Georgia Southern to a 58-27 win over Bowling Green in the 2015 GoDaddy Bowl while serving as interim head coach.
> Playing just its 15th season of football and 11th at the FBS level, Georgia State has already played in six bowl games (4-2 record) and five in the last seven years, including last year's 45-22 win over Utah State in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. The Panthers have won three straight bowls over the last four years.
THE PANTHERS STAFF: With the start of the McGee era, the Panthers also added an entirely new coaching staff to the 2024 squad, totaling 15 newcomers to lead the team.
> Three of the newcomers followed head coach McGee, including offensive coordinator Jim Chaney, offensive lines coach Manrey Saint-Amour and quarterbacks coach Ryan Williams.
> Cornerbacks coach Antreal Allen, who was named to the 2024 30-Under-30 list, is the only member of the coaching staff who was retained from previous leadership.
Following the conclusion of the Georgia Grown Bowl, the Panthers will enjoy a bye-week before hosting Old Dominion on Oct. 12. The kickoff time will be announced 12 days prior.
