The Georgia State Panthers drop to 0-5 after losing on the road to the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide 45-3.
Alabama looked like nothing less than the No. 1 team in the nation as they accumulated 477 yards of total offense compared to the Panthers’ 160 offensive yards.
“I thought our young man competed hard. When you’re playing the number one team in the nation, and at their place…you’re a major underdog,” Panthers head coach Tent Miles said after the game.
Each head coach said the purpose of this game for their team was worrying about themselves and how to improve.
Nick Saban said these kind of games are like “playing a faceless team,” and Alabama only goes out and worries about themselves.
“You’ve got to execute, and that’s what we’ve got to take from this,” Miles said as he does after every game.
The Panthers were disappointed with the loss, but believe they were able to take away valuable lessons from the defeat.
“It was good experience…we got to test our abilities and see where we [are] as a team,” Panthers quarterback Ronnie Bell said.
It was all Alabama right from the start with their opening drive as quarterback A.J. McCarron found Christion Jones on an 8-yard touchdown pass in the first three minutes of the game.
McCarron threw for 15-for-16 picking up 166 yards and 4 touchdowns before his backup Blake Sims came in the game late in the first half.
The Panthers came out on their first drive and were able to prevent going three-and-out courtesy of a six-yard catch by true freshman receiver Robert Davis.
The Panthers found themselves in a fourth-and-20 in the next sequence of plays after two rushes for a loss and a false start backed them up.
It was just the beginning of the Panthers’ penalty woes.
The Panthers committed 10 penalties for 60 yards. Three of them were illegal substitution penalties because of 12 men on the field.
Trent Miles said the team did not have any tight-ends travel with the team due to injuries. As a result, the personnel groups were changed, causing confusion among the players trying to fill in.
“We had to take an offensive tackle…Brandon Pertile, stick him in a receiver’s number, and put him in at tight-end,” Miles said, explaining the personnel changes and how the coaching was to blame for the substitution infractions.
Alabama went on to score on their next six drives to score 45 unanswered points.
The Panthers’ only points in the game came on their first drive of the second half.
Bell connected with senior receiver Albert Wilson for a 34-yard gain on a second-and-18 play for the Panthers, Bell’s longest pass of the game.
The Panthers were unable to capitalize and attempted a 53-yard field goal.
Sophomore Wil Lutz drilled a low line drive to make the longest field goal in Georgia State history.
“I knew it was going in off my foot…I wish my field goal would have meant more,” Luzt said, expressing he wished the team had produced more success.
“I was thrilled for [Lutz]; I was thrilled for Georgia State,” Miles said.
“When ESPN is flashing all day today, and they do the ticker at the bottom, the very first score you’re going to see is Georgia State and Alabama, and rather than having a goose egg, we have three points,” Miles said.
Panthers quarterback Ronnie Bell went 11-for-20 for 146 yards.
Bell was able to make passes to his receivers, but getting yards after catches was no simple task for those receivers.
Mistakes burdened the team including a fumble by Kelton Hill on a kick return forced by Dee Hart putting the Crimson Tide’s offense on the Panthers 10-yard line.
Alabama responded in one draw-dropping play as McCarron threw a pass in the left corner of the end zone to DeAndrew White, who caught it one-handed in the air.
“That was a great play. My hat’s off to that young man. Players make plays,” Miles said noting it didn’t matter who was covering White: he was going to catch that pass.
“But, they got the ball on the 10-yard line because of what we did…you can’t help them, and we helped them,” Miles said.
Georgia State received roughly $700,000 for playing the No. 1 team.
Combined with the money they received from playing West Virginia earlier this season, Georgia State has accumulated over one million dollars in revenue.
Georgia State moves on Saturday to Troy—their first Sun Belt Conference opponent. All of Georgia State’s remaining seven games are conference opponents.
