College Football News Preview 2021: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the Georgia State Panthers season with what you need to know.
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– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Georgia State Schedule Analysis
– Georgia State Previews
2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015
2020 Record: 6-4 overall, 4-4 in Sun Belt
Head Coach: Shawn Elliott, 5th year, 22-25
2020 CFN Final Ranking: 77
2020 CFN Preview Ranking: 114
2019 CFN Final Ranking: 75
Georgia State College Football Preview 2021: Offense
– The offense didn’t always work, but when it wasn’t playing a few of the Sun Belt’s elite teams it was a whole lot of fun with a slew of exciting playmakers and a whole lot of production whenever it had the chance to score. The main parts are back to keep it all going.
– Cornelious Brown didn’t get a whole lot of all-star attention in a Sun Belt full of strong quarterbacks, but he turned into the playmaker the program can work around for the next few years. It’s a mobile 6-5, 200-pound downfield passer who needs to be more accurate, but he came through time and again to keep the attack moving.
Brown gets back his main men to throw to, starting with 6-4, 210-pound junior Sam Pinckney and 5-11, 185-pound senior Cornelius McCoy. In all, the top ten receivers of last year are back to go along with a rising QB with a year of experience under his belt.
– Brown can run, but he doesn’t have to do it all. Senior Destin Coates led the team with 769 yards and seven scores – and he can catch – and 220-pound senior Tucker Gregg provides a bit of thump. Just like the receiving corps, almost all of the production from 2020 returns. If it’s not enough that all the skill guys are back, all five starters return to the offensive front that should be among the Sun Belt’s best.
– What You Need To Know: Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Georgia State Schedule Analysis
NEXT: Georgia State College Football Preview 2021: Defense
4. Georgia State College Football Preview 2021: Defense
– The Georgia State defense brought the heat. The D was among the best in the country at hitting the quarterback, it lead the Sun Belt in both sacks and tackles for loss, and it made up for all of the yards it allowed by taking the ball away and coming up with lots and lots of plays behind the line.
Unlike the offense, though, there are massive replacements needing to be made. It starts with losing all-star top sacker Jordan Strachan to South Carolina. Fellow LB Victor Hayward is done, and second-leading tackler Trajan Stephens-McQueen is finished, too.
– The defensive front doesn’t lose everyone. All-star end Hardrick Willis is back after after coming up with six sacks. 275-pound senior Dontae Wilson is back on the nose, and Jeffery Clark is a good-sized end with the potential to become a playmaker behind the line. The linebacking corps is the bigger issue, but 6-1, 230-pound senior Blake Carroll is back after leading the team with 74 stops. The other parts have to fill in around him.
– The secondary doesn’t have many concerns, but it has to be steadier and make more stops with all the help from the pass rush. Quavian White is an all-star corner, and Chris Moore and Antavious Lane are good safeties to make this one of the Sun Belt’s best secondaries.
– What You Need To Know: Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Georgia State Schedule Analysis
NEXT: Georgia State College Football Preview 2021: Top Players
Georgia State College Football Preview 2021: Top Players
Best Georgia State Offensive Player
QB Cornelious Brown, Soph.
He threw ten interceptions, and he had problems in a few games, but the 6-5, 200-pounder came up with a while of a season with his first crack at the gig. He needs to be more accurate and has to stop throwing those picks, but he ran for seven touchdowns, threw 17 touchdown passes, and became one of the Sun Belt’s newest, most exciting stars.
2. OG Shamarious Gilmore, Sr.
3. WR Sam Pinckney, Jr.
4. RB Destin Coates, Sr.
5. TE Roger Carter, Sr.
Best Georgia State Defensive Player
CB Quavian White, Sr.
A strong all-around corner with good size and excellent quickness on the shiftier receivers, White has 129 stops in his three years with six picks and 17 broken up passes. Dangerous as a return man, great in the classroom, and dangerous whenever he has the ball in his hands, he’s one of the Sun Belt’s best all-around defensive backs.
2. DE Hardrick Willis, Sr.
3. S Antavious Lane, Soph.
4. DT Dontae Wilson, Sr.
5. LB Blake Carroll, Sr.
Top Incoming Georgia State Transfer
LB Shamar McCollum
The Georgia State linebacking corps could use a little help, and it needs a solid pass rushing option to ease the pain of the lost parts. The 6-4, 235-pounder was a strong get for Wake Forest, and now he comes to Georgia State as an instant factor. He made 24 stops with two sacks and 6.5 tackles for loss for the Demon Deacons.
NEXT: Georgia State College Football Preview 2021: Keys To The Season
Georgia State College Football Preview 2021: Keys To The Season
Georgia State Biggest Key: Offense
Stop with the turnovers already. It’s what happens when you have a freshman quarterback getting used to taking over the offense. Cornelious Brown got better at keeping the mistakes to a minimum as the season went on, but the Panthers turned it over multiple times in four of the first five games – 11 in all – and had two more more giveaways in six games.
Strangely enough, they weren’t that big a problem – the team only lost the turnover margin twice – but the 20 in ten games were too many.
Georgia State Biggest Key: Defense
Stop the run. It was that simple for last year’s team and it should matter to this version, too.
The Panthers beat Georgia Southern despite giving up close to 300 yards on the ground, but that’s Georgia Southern – all it does is run, for the most part. Coastal Carolina and Louisiana each ran for well over 200 yards, and Appalachian State ran for 130. All three games were losses, and they were three of the roughest games of the year by the run D.
Georgia State Key Player To A Successful Season
LB Jacorey Crawford, Sr.
Let’s put the pressure on the 6-0, 205-pound senior who’s been an all-star in the classroom and a decent part of the rotation over the last few years. He started at defensive back and moved to linebacker, making 42 tackles with a sack and three broken up passes.
Now as a veteran on the outside, he’ll need to use his speed to wreak more havoc as a pass rusher – but he’s not alone. There are other parts who’ll bring the bulk, he needs to bring the flash.
Georgia State Key Game To The 2021 Season
Appalachian State, Oct. 2
It’s going to be a rough start to the season with Army, North Carolina and Auburn in September. And then the Sun Belt season starts up with Appalachian State.
Coastal Carolina and Louisiana might have the spotlight, but ASU has been a bigger problem for the Panthers. Seven games, seven losses for Georgia State in the series since the Mountaineers moved up to the FBS level.
– Georgia State Schedule Analysis
2020 Georgia State Fun Stats
– Sacks: Georgia State 35 for 213 yards – Opponents 12 for 71 yards
– 1st Half Scoring: Georgia State 189 – Opponents 148
– 2nd Half Scoring: Opponents 163 – Georgia State 141
NEXT: Georgia State College Football Preview 2021: What Will Happen, Season Prediction
Georgia State College Football Preview 2021: What Will Happen, Season Prediction
If all goes according to plan, this should be the best Georgia State team since it kicked off life in the FBS world back in 2013.
The offense is beyond loaded, it’s deep, it has all-star playmakers, and it has the line that should be among the Sun Belt’s best.
The defense might have key replacements to find, but the secondary is terrific and the pass rush should still be strong. Throw in All-Sun Belt PK Noel Ruiz and look out – head coach Shawn Elliott has put together a great group.
However …
Set The Georgia State Regular Season Win Total At … 6
The schedule doesn’t do the Panthers any favors.
At North Carolina. At Auburn. At Coastal Carolina. At Louisiana. At Georgia Southern. If that’s not fun enough, Arkansas State, Troy and Army are all problems at home.
Even so, the O can hang with almost anyone on the slate, the D should be ready and experienced by the time mid-October rolls around, and there’s too much in place to not go bowling.
With this schedule, though – by the way, there’s a midseason run of four road games in five with Georgia Southern, Louisiana, and Coastal Carolina all in a row – six wins will be an accomplishment.
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– Georgia State Schedule Analysis
