2025 Vanderbilt Football Opponent Preview, Game 4: Georgia State

When Vanderbilt went to Atlanta in 2024 to take on Georgia State, the Commodores walked in as 9-point favorites over the Panthers. But by the end of the night, Vanderbilt had taken its worst loss of its season, falling 36-32 to Georgia State.

Coming back down 12 late in the final quarter to go up 32-29, Vanderbilt felt as though it had avoided the upset. But with a little over a minute left, Georgia State went the length of the field and cashed in a game-winning touchdown with 15 seconds left and won by four.

Vanderbilt’s defense let up far too much against Georgia State’s offense. The Panther outgained the Commodores 426-365 in yardage and allowed Georgia State get gain 25 first downs throughout the game.

Diego Pavia threw for 255 yards and two touchdowns in the game while picking up 40 yards on the ground. Eli Stowers had a breakout night as he went for 110 yards and a touchdown on nine receptions, but it was not enough to beat Georgia State.

The Panthers’ season quickly took a turn for the worst after its upset win over Vanderbilt. After starting the season 2-1, Georgia State won just one of its last nine games and finished with a 3-9 record and finishing dead last in the Sun Belt East Division and second to last in the Sun Belt overall.

A year later, the two teams rematch in Nashville as Vanderbilt looks to take care of business this time around.

This season Georgia State enters the 2025 season with a new offensive and defensive coordinator in Hue Jackson and Travis Pearson. Jackson brings lots of coaching experience between stops as an offensive coordinator at USC and various NFL coaching jobs, including being the Cleveland Browns head coach from 2016-2018. Pearson comes from Troy, where he was the assistant cornerbacks coach for the past three seasons.

With a fresh start at both coordinator positions, Georgia State hopes to improve its record this season and try to achieve a bowl game appearance.

Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT on September 20, 2025 and will be streamed on ESPN2 or ESPNU. Let's take a look at how Georgia State stacks up this season.

Offense

Georgia State is coming off its biggest signing class in program history, welcoming 29 new players to the roster. Coming in at the No. 59 ranked 2025 signing class in FBS, Georgia State’s class is the top-ranked class in the Sun Belt.

One of those new players is wide receiver Derrick Avery Jr. The 6-footer from Chattahoochee, Georgia is one of 29 players in Georgia High School Football history to reach 3,000 receiving yards in a high school career.

Defense

On the defensive side of the ball, cornerback Damaryion Fillmore, a JUCO transfer from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, brings depth to the Georgia State defense.

In his sophomore season, Fillmore recorded 37 tackles and three interceptions in 10 games. Defensive end Cayden Adkins also can help apply pressure to opposing quarterbacks this season. In 2023, Adkins got 120 tackles, 40 tackles for loss, seven sacks and 12 quarterback hurries on defense.

Schedule

Georgia State showed no fear in its non-conference scheduling this season. In addition to going to Vanderbilt in late September, the Panthers will start its season in Oxford, Mississippi with a date against Ole Miss. Georgia State also hosts Memphis the week after playing Ole Miss. With the Sun Belt being a competitive group of five conference, Georgia State’s schedule does not get much easier once conference play starts. With the Sun Belt divided into an East and West division, the Panthers will face all its division opponents, including Marshall, Georgia Southern and James Madison, who all won eight or more games last season. While Georgia State gets to avoid Louisiana and Texas State this season, the Panthers will also have to host South Alabama, who also went to a bowl game last season.

Outlook

Georgia State is coming off a rough 2024 season with a 3-9 record. With a new offensive and defensive coordinator, it will be interesting to see what offensive and defensive schemes each unit will run. But with new coordinators comes the difficulty to forecast how a team will do. Reaching a bowl game with a first year coordinator on both sides of the ball would certainly make this season a success for Georgia State, but jumping from three wins to a bowl-caliber team will not be easy.

The Game

Date: September 20, 2025

Time: 6:30 p.m. CT

TV: ESPN2 or ESPNU

Location: FirstBank Stadium, Nashville, Tennessee

The Team

Head coach: Dell McGee (Second season)

Offensive coordinator: Hue Jackson (First season)

Defensive coordinator: Travis Pearson (First season)

2024-2025 record: 3-9

2024 rankings: 64th in total offense, 113th in total defense

The School

Location: Atlanta, Georgia

Founded: 1913

Enrollment: 52,400 (Fall 2024)

Nickname: Panthers

School colors: Blue and white

Mascot: Pounce the Panther

The Program

Series history: 1-0 Georgia State

Last bowl game appearance championship: 2023

Playoff Appearances: None

The Schedule

August 30: at Ole Miss

September 6: vs Memphis

September 13: vs Murray State

September 20: at Vanderbilt

October 4: vs James Madison

October 11: vs Appalachian State

October 18: at Georgia Southern

October 23: vs South Alabama

November 8: at Coastal Carolina

November 15: vs Marshall

November 22: at Troy

November 29: at Old Dominion