The first challenge already has surfaced for the new-look Georgia State Panthers.
Stay out of the cellar.
The Sun Belt Conference coaches picked the Panthers to finish last in the league’s preseason poll announced at the league’s media days in New Orleans. It didn’t exactly sit well with coming coach Dell McGee.
“Good rat poison when you picked us last,” McGee said. “It really allows us to put a chip on our shoulder. It’s actually bulletin-board material right now for the start of camp.”
Appalachian State drew 12 first-place votes to earn the No. 1 spot, followed by James Madison, which got the other two first-place ballots. Rival Georgia Southern was picked to finish fourth. Texas State was picked to finish first in the West Division.
Last place? Those are fighting words for McGee, who can’t wait to start changing minds.
“It’s up to us to lock in, make sure we focus on us, not look into the future, take it one day at a time, get one percent better, make sure we win the moment and be sure we’re putting our players in the best position to be successful,” McGee said.
The Panthers went 7-6 last season under coach Shawn Elliott, who left in February to take a job as an assistant at the University of South Carolina.
But many key players graduated from that team, including record-setting quarterback Darren Grainger, offensive tackle Travis Glover, a sixth-round pick of the Green Bay Packers, and linebacker Jontrey Hunter, a sixth-round draft choice of the Cleveland Browns.
Other standouts bailed, including 1,396-yard rusher Marcus Carroll (transferred to Missouri), receiver Robert Lewis (70 catches, 877 yards, to Auburn) and starting tackle Montavious Cunningham (to Virginia).
The new-look Panthers will have 48 new faces – a mixture of high school recruits, walk-ons and the transfer portal – when they open preseason camp Aug. 1. The fluidity and unfamiliarity of the roster no doubt had an impact on the last-place projection.
Justin Abraham (50 tackles, 3.5 sacks) and Kevin Swint (four sacks), the two players who represented the school at the event, said the Panthers can’t be bothered by what others think.
“We’ve got to continue to worry about ourselves,” said Abraham, a senior inside linebacker. “It’s Georgia State versus Georgia State. At the end of the day, you can’t beat anybody else until you beat yourself.”
Swint is an senior outside linebacker from Carrollton who is in his second season since transferring from Clemson. He said, “It’s all about staying focused on us. You can’t really buy into the outside noise because that’s more distractions for us. We have to attack the goal that we have in mind. That’s the kind of stuff we can’t control at all. Having those daily sacrifices over time, those things will take care of themselves.”
Georgia State also will be trying to buck the odds in the perhaps the most difficult of Group of Five conferences. The Sun Belt sent an NCAA-best 12 teams in postseason bowl games last year, including Georgia State.
The schedule is difficult, with games at Georgia Tech and at home against Vanderbilt, along with a stretch of four consecutive conference road games.
The learning process began in spring and has continued through summer workouts. Holdovers like Abraham, the team’s vocal leader, and Swint are at the forefront of the model changeover.
“You’ve got to learn yourself and find out the best way for us to become better,” Abraham said. “Whether that’s watching film or hitting the weights harder or extra walk-throughs. We’ve got to build in that area so we can come out on top. That’s to goal is to win. A lot of sacrifices will have to be made and has been made and will continue to be made so we can be the best in the Sun Belt.”
The preseason All-Sun Belt team also was announced at the meetings. Cornerback Gavin Pringle, a senior from Baltimore, was the lone Panther chosen to the first team. Swint was a second-team selection.
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