Sun Belt · Dell McGee, year 3 (6-20) · Center Parc Stadium · 25,000 · 16,703 avg in 2026
LastW 31–17 at Kennesaw State · Sat Sep 12 · Cameran Brown 253 pass yds, 1 INT, 62 rush yds
Nextat UCF · Sat Sep 19 · 7 pm ET · FBC Mortgage Stadium · UCF by 18.5 · Game preview
Updated Tue Sep 15 · through week 2
| Wk | Date | Us | Opp | Line | Opponent | Result | Record | Conf |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sep 4 | #155 | #263 | -28.5✓ | North Carolina A&T | W 59–10 71 | 1-0 | 0-0 |
| 2 | Sep 12 | #154 | #153 | +7.5✓ | @Kennesaw State | W 31–17 126 | 2-0 | 0-0 |
| 3 | Sep 19 | #141 | #93 | +18.5 | @UCF | |||
| 4 | Sep 26 | #140 | #106 | Northern Illinois | ||||
| 5 | Oct 3 | Old Dominion | ||||||
| 7 | Oct 17 | @James Madison | ||||||
| 8 | Oct 24 | @Arkansas State | ||||||
| 9 | Oct 31 | Coastal Carolina | ||||||
| 10 | Nov 7 | @App State | ||||||
| 11 | Nov 14 | Georgia Southern | ||||||
| 12 | Nov 21 | @Marshall | ||||||
| 13 | Nov 28 | Louisiana |
| Date | Opp | Result | Yds | TO | TOP | EPA/play | Success% | Explosive% | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 12 | @Kennesaw State | W 31–17 | 483 | 2 | 37:47 | +0.299 | 50.0% | 114.8% | |
| Sep 4 | North Carolina A&T | W 59–10 | 563 | 0 | 32:46 | +0.507 | 59.2% | 111.7% | |
| Season average (2 games) | 523 | 1.0 | +0.403 | 54.6% | 113.3% | ||||
Georgia State plays its home games inside the stadium where the Braves won pennants, a 2010 startup still trying to convince its own enormous city that a downtown-Atlanta college team is worth a Saturday.
Everyone in the metro grew up a Georgia or Georgia Tech fan; Panther fans are the ones who chose the new thing, and they're tired of being told a 2010 startup downtown can't be anybody's real team.
The season in chapters
What fans said
Real posts from the day of the game, chosen by community score · usernames not shown
What it is like to watch them2025 · 1-11 · last season
✓ measured from 12 games · ranks are among Sun Belt teams the same season
Recent form · last 10 games · incl. 2025
Cooling. 2-8 over the last 10, and won the last two.
Next Sep 19
vs UCF · away
~ our read on style
Market outlook
Sportsbook consensus · best odds across multiple books · 2026-09-14
the open questionis the portal class enough to move the needle?
McGee's top-14 portal class jumps 33 spots nationally after a 1-11 season, diagnosing offensive line as the core problem with Smith Jr. and Mascoll arriving to fix it.
our readbackground
Dell McGee's third season opens with a 1-11 losing record and a 1.0 win total drop, raising questions about whether the program's identity as Atlanta-FBS-newcomer-football can sustain momentum.
our readdeveloping
Jordan Simmons: a garbage time merchant signal screened this season.
our readbackground
Ted Hurst is a real deep-ball threat -- a high share of his targets come on throws past the sticks.
our readbackground
Georgia State, under Dell McGee's third season, seeks to revive its 2010 founding identity after a 1-11 losing record that contrasts sharply with its historic Atlanta-FBS-newcomer-football legacy.
our readbackground
Georgia State enters 2025 at No. 133 in SP+ — the 10-spot drop under McGee raises one question: Can talent rank #77 offset the losing record's momentum?
our readbackground
Outcome band · Georgia State · 2026
Floor, base and ceiling come from the season-path projection, which plays out conference title games and the CFP — so a ceiling can run past 12 games.
Georgia State signed a top-47 transfer-portal class — 33 additions headlined by Ayden Pereira (QB) from Merrimack and Darius Johnson Jr. (CB) from Gardner-Webb. Portal pickups don't redshirt. The coverage sees this as a targeted, ready-to-contribute class built for snap competition, not depth-chart filler. The coverage reads this as a credible, targeted haul.
The 'portal class fills the gaps' believers -- upgrades at real positions of need.
The 'portal is a gamble' counter -- departure losses and the 'plug-and-play doesn't work' read.
Nothing in our corpus yet — this door stays open for when there is.
Only 2 of 66 board posts mention it — below our floor to call a community stance. Shown as texture, not a verdict.
The boards ≠ the fanbase: a vocal, self-selected slice.
Georgia State win total fell from 4.5 to 3.5 (-1 wins) between Aug 24 and Aug 25, 2026 (tier C). It is win total down 1.0 — solo market signal, no peers moved the same direction. The coverage is pushing back on the drop. The fan base is running warmer than the market. The coverage runs bullish despite the drop.
The 'market knows something fans don't' read -- when odds move, it's on information.
The 'markets overcorrect' counter -- lines move on noise too; the receipts may not hold.
Nothing in our corpus yet — this door stays open for when there is.
Only 13 of 66 board posts mention it — below our floor to call a community stance. Shown as texture, not a verdict.
The boards ≠ the fanbase: a vocal, self-selected slice.
Fan mood index · most recent r/cfb data
More in this tab
Georgia State is the Sun Belt program whose 2010 program founding + Center Parc Stadium (former Turner Field) + Shawn Elliott era define what Atlanta-FBS-newcomer-football looks like.
S Keenan Nelson Jr. transfer commits from Ohio State
Safety room burned through 10 departures and still had a starter gap after losing Jaylen Jones — Nelson Jr. leaving the Big Ten depth chart for Sun Belt playing time is the kind of portal math that fills holes on both ends.
Win total: 4.5 → 3.5 (▼1)
Win total dropped from 4.5 to 3.5 with conference peers flat — the books see something program-specific.
Thalia Martin commits to Georgia State
Auburn-to-Sun Belt is a tier drop on paper, but McGee's top-60 portal class keeps stacking — Martin lands in a DL room under real pressure with a class that's building identity, not just bodies.
Top 3 commits
Recruiting Footprint · 2026
GA leads the 2026 class with 12 commits. National footprint reaching 8 states.
Where they recruit · 2023-2026
90 signees across 17 states, 2023-2026. GA leads the pull.
Miles from home · 2026 roster
The median Georgia State player grew up 94 miles from campus.
Half this roster came from closer than that; half came from farther.
Straight-line distance from each player's listed hometown to Center Parc Stadium. Hometowns are placed at city-centroid precision, not street address — fine at this scale, but a player's true door-to-door number can differ by a few miles. 111 of 119 listed players have a geocoded hometown. Source: CFBD roster hometowns.
Top community posts · last 12 months · r/cfb
The penalty battle is a wash: 14 penalties committed vs. 11 drawn on opponents.
115 penalty yards committed vs. 105 drawn on opponents, 2026 season total.
Outcome band · Georgia State · 2026
Recruiting Footprint · 2026