ATLANTA, Ga.– It was all smiles in Atlanta as the Georgia State Panthers notched their first win of the season against the Murray State Racers, 37-21.
Both of these teams were winless heading into Saturday’s contest and looking to avoid an 0-3 start for the first time since 2022. Georgia State was also looking for its first ever win against Murray State in football.
Things got off to a slow start thanks to a quick three-and-out by the Panthers followed by a turnover-on-downs by Murray State. The game looked like it was going to be a struggle for both offenses.
TJ Finley started the game 5-for-6 on passing attempts and took the second Georgia State offensive drive 65 yards and caps it off with a touchdown to Ted Hurst in what would be his first of two on the night, making the game 7-0 early. Finley would go on to struggle the rest of the game, going 11-for-18 with 150 yards passing and two interceptions.
Finley was replaced late in the third quarter by junior quarterback Cameran Brown, who threw a touchdown in the first quarter to extend the lead 14-0, and he would take the Panther’s the rest of the way. Brown would go to have the most efficient night out of both quarterbacks, going 9-for-11 and eclipseing 101 passing yards with three touchdowns through the air. The Panthers would be up 30-7 by the end of the third quarter.
The Murray State secondary had no answer for senior wide reciever Ted Hurst who seemed to be open all game, hauling in 10 catches for 172 yards and two touchdowns. His monster performance moved him into the top-10 rankings for receptions and yards in a single game for Georgia State.
Junior kicker Braeden McAlister did not get the chance to attemp a field goal for the Panthers today but went a perfect 5-for-5 in extra point attempts. The special teams of Georgia State special teams would return four kicks for 70 yards and a single punt for a loss of four yards on the day, bringing the total to 66 net return yards.
The defense of Georgia State would keep the Murray State offense at bay until the fourth quarter, allowing only 138 yards through the air and 123 yards on the ground for the entire Racer’s running back core. The defense allowed two touchdowns late in the game, one passing and one rushing, but this would not factor into the end result and the defense played well most of the game. Leading the charge was junior linebacker Josiah Robinson with nine tackles (four solo), a tackle for loss and a fumble recovery.
Murray State would struggle to string together any offense all game, coming up empty on eight straight possessions including two missed field goals by senior kicker Jack Tannehill– from 51 and 33 yards respectively. On the defense, Murray State was decent at fending off the Panther’s offense by picking it off twice and forcing Georgia State to punt it four times.
The Panthers offense was high flying this game with 454 total yards and five total touchdowns, completing 21-of-30 passes and running the ball 32 times with senior running back Rashad Amos getting most of the workload on the ground. Amos had 11 carries for 56 yards and a score.
Georgia State (1-2) will head to Nashville next Saturday for a rematch with undefeated Vanderbuilt at 7:30 p.m. ET (6:30 p.m. CT).
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