The Machine

Georgia State

Sun Belt · 5-4CFP unranked

Georgia State is 5-4 and No. 95 of 138 in the machine's ratings, 7.2 points below an average FBS team. Last game: won 39-23 at App State in Week 10.

Week 11: vs Georgia Southern, Saturday, Nov 14: the matchup, unit by unit

Machine rankNo. 95of all FBS teams
Rating now−7.27.2 points below an average FBS team
Since July+8.0from −15.2 in the preseason rating

Why Georgia State is No. 95

  • Georgia State's rating is −7.2: the machine's estimate that Georgia State is 7.2 points worse than an average FBS team on a neutral field. That is No. 95 of 138. For scale, 0 is an average FBS team: right now the closest to it is No. 68 Arizona State (0.2).
  • It started the season at −15.2, ESPN's preseason Football Power Index from July. Its results since have moved it up 8.0.
  • The biggest weekly moves: +5.1 after Week 2 (W 31-17 at Kennesaw State) and +4.0 after Week 5 (W 42-10 vs Old Dominion).
  • Its record is 5-4. The 4 losses were to No. 51 James Madison, No. 56 UCF, No. 102 Coastal Carolina, No. 115 Arkansas State, by 14.5 points on average. The 5 wins came by 26.4 points on average; the best was over No. 106 App State. The rating weighs how much a team won or lost by and against whom, not just the win-loss count.
  • Its FBS opponents so far average No. 99 in the machine's ratings.
  • Just above is No. 94 Tulane (−7.2); just below is No. 96 California (−7.7).

The rating, week by week

Strengths and weak spots

Head coach

Dell McGee is in his 3rd season at Georgia State (since 2024). This season: 5-4. At Georgia State overall: 9-24, counting this season.

Data provided by CollegeFootballData.com.

Team stats

Season totals and averages over 9 games, each with its national rank among 138 FBS teams (No. 1 = best). The game-by-game story is in the season, week by week.

Passing

Completions-attempts167-263
Passing yards2023
Touchdowns-interceptions22-8
Yards per attempt*7.7No. 55 of 138
Explosive pass rate12.7%No. 24 of 138
Sacks allowed (rate)4.7%No. 51 of 138

Rushing

Carries-yards351-1862
Yards per carry5.3No. 16 of 138
10-plus-yard runs (rate)17.0%No. 15 of 138
Stuffed at or behind the line (rate)15.8%No. 48 of 138

Scoring

Points per game34.4No. 26 of 138
Yards per play6.36No. 34 of 138
Third-down rate44.3%No. 33 of 138
Red-zone TD rate56.8%No. 95 of 138
Giveaways13No. 95 of 138

Defense

Points allowed per game26.2No. 83 of 138
Yards per play allowed5.81No. 91 of 138
Yards per pass attempt allowed7.5No. 92 of 138
Yards per carry allowed4.1No. 75 of 138
Sack rate7.2%No. 31 of 138
Takeaways12No. 51 of 138
Third-down rate allowed29.1%No. 6 of 138

Totals are the official box score. * Yards per attempt and the rates come from the play-by-play, where passing yards count on completions only, so they can differ from the box score by a play or two.

Data provided by CollegeFootballData.com.

Player leaders

The top 3 in each category over the same games. Passing yards count every completion (official box score).

Passing

  1. Cameran Brown110-166, 1356 yds, 14 TD, 5 INT
  2. Ayden Pereira51-90, 578 yds, 7 TD, 3 INT

Rushing

  1. Lanear McCrary Jr.105 carries, 526 yds, 4 TD
  2. Qwantavius Wiggins76 carries, 496 yds, 3 TD
  3. DJ Murray Jr.50 carries, 328 yds, 2 TD

Receiving

  1. Rodshaun Dorsey29 catches, 476 yds, 9 TD
  2. DJ Riles33 catches, 341 yds, 3 TD
  3. Grant Hollier15 catches, 223 yds, 2 TD

Tackles

  1. Jaydon Hood50
  2. Coby Owens47
  3. Donovan Faria41

Sacks

  1. Xavier Esquillen9
  2. Jabriel Rhodes-Nelson6
  3. Kelan Butler2.5

Interceptions

  1. Coby Owens2
  2. Alex Mullings1
  3. Deuce Lee1

Data provided by CollegeFootballData.com.

Who's playing

Based on who has actually played this season, from the box scores, not the team's published depth chart. Each bar is that player's share of the team's attempts, carries (quarterbacks left out), catches or tackles. The box score lists no positions, so there is no offensive line here.

Throwing

  1. Cameran Brown7 games166 attempts63%
  2. Ayden PereiraMost passes in the last game7 games90 attempts34%

Carrying

  1. Lanear McCrary Jr.9 games105 carries40%
  2. Qwantavius Wiggins9 games76 carries29%
  3. DJ Murray Jr.7 games50 carries19%
  4. Savion Hart4 games10 carries4%

Catching

  1. DJ Riles9 games33 catches20%
  2. Rodshaun Dorsey9 games29 catches17%
  3. Grant Hollier7 games15 catches9%
  4. Qwantavius Wiggins7 games14 catches8%

Tackling

  1. Jaydon Hood9 games50 tackles10%
  2. Coby Owens9 games47 tackles9%
  3. Donovan Faria9 games41 tackles8%
  4. Tyson McCrary8 games36 tackles7%

Data provided by CollegeFootballData.com.

The season, week by week

  1. Week 1 W 59–10 vs North Carolina A&T. North Carolina A&T is an FCS team, so there is no FBS baseline to grade this one against. The defense had 5 sacks.
  2. Week 2 W 31–17 at Kennesaw State. The passing game was the strength: 11.0 yards an attempt, 4.0 more than Kennesaw State usually allows.
  3. Week 3 L 30–44 at UCF. The run defense gave ground: UCF got 7.6 yards a carry, 4.7 over what it usually gains. Lost the turnover battle by 2.
  4. Week 4 W 35–14 vs Northern Illinois. The run game struggled: 4.1 yards a carry, 1.6 less than Northern Illinois usually allows. The defense had 5 sacks.
  5. Week 5 W 42–10 vs Old Dominion. The passing game was the strength: 11.8 yards an attempt, 5.5 more than Old Dominion usually allows. Its most yards an attempt of the season.
  6. Week 7 L 22–49 at James Madison. The run game was the strength: 5.1 yards a carry, 2.0 more than James Madison usually allows. The most yards an attempt it has allowed all season.
  7. Week 8 L 32–38 at Arkansas State. The pass defense gave ground: Arkansas State got 9.7 yards an attempt, 1.8 over what it usually gains. The machine had Georgia State by 3.4 (58%), so this was a loss it did not see coming; Georgia State lost the turnover battle by 2.
  8. Week 9 L 20–31 vs Coastal Carolina. The passing game struggled: 5.2 yards an attempt, 3.3 less than Coastal Carolina usually allows. The machine had Georgia State by 9.5 (73%), so this was a loss it did not see coming; Georgia State won the turnover battle by 2.
  9. Week 10 W 39–23 at App State. The run game was the strength: 5.1 yards a carry, 1.4 more than App State usually allows. The machine had App State by 0.7 (52%), so this was a win it did not see coming; Georgia State won the turnover battle by 3.

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