COUNTDOWN TO KICKOFF

Texas State and Georgia State play for the first time since 2021 in the final home for the Bobcats in the 2024 season. The overall series is tied at 4-4.
Daily Record photo by Gerald Castillo

Texas State defeated Georgia State in triple overtime in 2019 which was the last game to be played in San Marcos.
Daily Record photo by Gerald Castillo

Bobcats battle Georgia State in the final home game of the season

The Countdown to Kickoff series takes a look at the upcoming 2024 season for the Texas State Bobcats.

This week will preview the Bobcats final home game of the year in a showdown with the Georgia State Panthers.

Georgia State finished the regular season with a 6-6 record. The Panthers started the season at 6-1 before losing five straight games.

Qualifying for the Idaho Potato Bowl, Georgia State defeated Utah State 45-22 to win their seventh game of the year.

During spring practice, Head Coach Shawn Elliot resigned and later became the tight ends coach for the South Carolina Gamecocks.

Georgia State hired Dell McGee who was previously the associate head coach for the Georgia Bulldogs. McGee was also the interim head coach at Georgia Southern during the Eagles bowl game win in 2015. Prior to becoming a college coach, Mc-Gee was the head coach of Carver-Columbus High School in Georgia and led the school to multiple championships.

The Panthers return five offensive starters from last year’s team that averaged 25.7 points per game.

Returning for Georgia State is the wide receiver duo of Tailique Williams and Jacari Carter. Williams caught 49 passes for 615 yards and six touchdowns. Carter caught 38 passes for 276 yards.

Also looking to help the Panthers offense in a starting role is running back Freddie Brock. In his first start at running back during Georgia State’s bowl game, Brock rushed for 276 yards on 24 carries and one touchdown in the win.

While the Panthers will need to replace a starting quarterback after the departure of long time starter Darren Grainger, Georgia State turns to Georgia Tech transfer Zach Gibson.

The Georgia State defense returns six defensive starters from last year’s team that held opposing offenses to 30.7 points per game.

Linebacker Justin Abraham returns for the Panthers to lead the defense. Abraham made 82 total tackles, 49 solo tackles, 3.5 sacks and one forced fumble last season.

Safety Jeremiah Johnson also returns after being third in total tackles for the Panthers last season. Johnson made 74 total tackles, 57 solo tackles, one sack and two interceptions.

Helping Johnson in the secondary is cornerback Gavin Pringle. Pringle made four interceptions last season, including an interception returned for a touchdown, along with 39 total tackles.

The history of the Georgia State-Texas State series dates back to the 2013 season during the Bobcats first season in the Sun Belt Conference.

From 2013 through 2019, the Bobcats and the Panthers played seven consecutive games against each other despite being over 950 miles apart.

In the first ever meeting between Texas State and Georgia State, the Bobcats edged out the Panthers 24-17, securing the program’s first ever Sun Belt Conference win.

In their next meeting in 2014, the Bobcats once again defeated the Panthers in a 56-31 blowout win to secure the team’s seventh win of the season.

The Panthers got their first win over the Bobcats during the 2015 season in a 41-19 defeat for Texas State, sparking a three game winning streak against the ‘Cats.

The Bobcats snapped their three game losing skid against the Panthers during the 2018 season when Texas State defeated Georgia State 40-31.

Arguable the most exciting game between the two teams came during the 2019 season.

In the conference opener for both teams, the game went into overtime after Georgia State kicked the game-tying field goal as time expired.

Both the Panthers and the Bobcats scored touchdowns in the first overtime to send it into a second overtime. The period saw both Texas State and Georgia State miss field goals, which sent the game into a third overtime.

Georgia State missed another field goal while Texas State kicker Joshua Rowland booted a game-winning 35-yard field goal to seal a 37-34 3OT win. Bobcat linebacker Bryan London III broke a school record with 22 tackles in the game.

The two teams did not meet again until the 2021, when the Panthers defeated the Bobcats 2816 marking the last time Texas State and Georgia State have met on the field.

The overall series is currently tied at 4-4.

Kickoff for Texas State-Georgia State is set for Saturday Nov. 23 at UFCU Stadium in San Marcos. Kickoff time will be determined at a later date.

cmcwilliams @sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @ColtonBMc