Game notes
- Time and date: Saturday, September 6 at 7:00 p.m. ET
- Network: ESPN+
- Location: Center Parc Stadium — Atlanta, GA
- Spread: Memphis (-13.5)
- Over/under: 56.5
- All-time series: Memphis leads, 1-0
- Last meeting: Memphis 59, Georgia State 22 — September 14, 2018
- Current streak: Memphis, 1 (2018)
Setting the scene
Center Parc Stadium will be overtaken by a sea of blue Saturday night, whether its the home fans repping the Panthers or the visitors donning their Tiger stripes.
Memphis and Georgia State meet for the first time in seven years, and unlike the first installment in the American vs. Sun Belt series, this time the Panthers play host. The teams produced contrasting results in Week 1 with Memphis dominating FCS opponent Chattanooga 45-10, while Georgia State wound up on the wrong side of an annihilation
in a 63-7 result at Ole Miss.
Memphis is 11-0 against the Sun Belt since joining the American in 2013, but Georgia State is 2-0 against the American since bowing out to Memphis in 2018. Also at stake is the Tigers’ 5-game win streak, which is tied with five other schools for the longest in the FBS.
Memphis Tigers outlook
Memphis retains head coach Ryan Silverfield for the sixth-consecutive season. Offensive coordinator Tim Cramsey is in year four at the helm, while defensive coordinator Jordon Hankins enters year two. Yet, with all the staff continuity, the 2025 Tigers feel like a brand new team.
Memphis retained just one two offensive and one defensive starter, replacing Seth Henigan, Chandler Martin, and a slew of stars responsible for 21 wins across the last two seasons. With five incoming transfers occupying starting roles on offense and 10 transfers starting on defense, it was best for the Tigers to experiment with their new roster against FCS competition. The opener went as expected with Memphis producing a 35-point advantage after three quarters before Chattanooga landed its first touchdown.
Quarterback Brendon Lewis started his 36th collegiate game and first with the Tigers after stints at Colorado and Nevada. Lewis’ production was promising with 22 completions on 28 attempts for 199 yards, supplemented with a touchdown and interception. But the most notable aspect of Lewis’ game — something Memphis lacked during its recent run of great quarterbacks — is his mobility. The 6’3”, 210 pound senior accrued a team-high 81 yards on 10 attempts, and he is capable of producing on designed runs and broken plays alike.
The veteran running back corps also proved to be an early strength for the team as all three components — Greg Desrosiers Jr., Sutton Smith, and Frank Peasant — averaged at least 6.5 yards per carry in the opener. Memphis should continue to rotate between the three, and Smith’s 60 yards and a touchdown were a promising sight in Week 1 after the tailback suffered an ACL injury one quarter into his 2024 campaign.
Wide receiver remains more of a question after the Tigers lost three 450+ yard finishers from 2024. Cortez Braham Jr., a fellow Nevada transfer having pre-established rapport with Lewis, emerged as the premier threat in the opener with 52 yards and a touchdown on three catches. But the unit still has substantial room to grow after three drops and a general lack of explosiveness — with no receptions exceeding 25 yards.
One promising development since Hankins took over as coordinator is Memphis’ increased prowess on defense. The Tigers ranked 55th in scoring defense a year ago for their best showing since 2014. The starters lived up to the expectation against Chattanooga with only three points surrendered in three quarters.
Memphis limited the FCS foe to under 120 yards in each the aerial and ground departments, providing constant backfield pressure with two sacks, 10 tackles for loss, and four quarterback hurries. The only non-transfer starter William Whitlow Jr. is a welcome presence after a First Team All-AAC selection in 2024. Whitlow remains a forceful pass rusher after landing a team-high 4.0 sacks in 2024, and he’ll receive assistance from new faces like 305-pound defensive tackle Pooda Walker, who tallied 1.5 tackles for loss and a QB hurry in the opener.
The linebacking corps featured the most experience among the transfers with Sam Brumfield (Virginia Tech) and Drue Watts (Nevada) stepping into starting roles, but perhaps the biggest surprise of Week 1 was the emergence of the new strong safety. Chris Bracy from UAB shined in the secondary with 10 tackles and a deflection, while fellow transfer defensive backs Chauncey Logan and DeMarco Ward corralled an interception apiece.
Georgia State Panthers outlook
Only two FBS programs have a 50-point loss this year. One is Missouri State, which dropped its first-ever FBS game at USC, 73-13. The other is Georgia State fresh off a 63-7 drudging at Ole Miss.
When a score is that lopsided, one can assume almost everything went wrong, and that’s exactly what happened in Oxford. Some of the eye-popping statistics included 695 yards allowed including 400 in the passing game, 69 passing yards generated on a 12-of-25 showing, and a 2-of-15 showing on third down — leading to eight punts and a missed 31-yard field goal.
Georgia State received some buzz Monday with an official transfer portal addition at quarterback. TJ Finley, who previously started games at LSU, Auburn, Texas State, and Western Kentucky dating back to 2020, is now officially on the Panthers’ roster. After a brief stop and dismissal from Tulane in April, Finley joined the program in May but was held out of fall camp as the team awaited his official eligibility ruling from the NCAA. Now that he’s cleared, Finley could see playing time any week now. But Georgia State could use the more familiar options of Christian Veilleux and Cameran Brown at quarterback.
Veilleux struggled in the opener with four completions on 11 attempts but fired for over 2,000 yards as the Panthers’ primary starter in 2024. The former Penn State and Pitt transfer produced multiple showings of 260+ yards and three touchdowns a year ago, so Dell McGee and the coaching staff understand his potential even after a rough season debut.
Although Georgia State couldn’t generate anything through the air outside of a 43-yard touchdown reception, the Panthers saw promising numbers on the ground vs. the Rebels. The team collectively generated 191 yards on 5.5 yards per carry, led by Rashad Amos’ 68. Amos, a former 1,000-yard rusher at Miami (OH), never saw a negative carry in nine attempts and accumulated at least three yards on eight of them. On his seventh school since 2022, the well-traveled tailback should be a focal point, boosting a Georgia State ground attack which ranked 92nd nationally last year.
The offense committed one turnover and allowed one sack while generating a quality rushing game, so things weren’t all gloomy in the 56-point defeat. However, the defense was diced apart in all facets as Ole Miss cashed in 400 passing yards and fell five yards short of 300 from a rushing standpoint. Georgia State even intercepted Rebels’ starter Austin Simmons twice in the first quarter, but those picks only delayed the inevitable as the unit couldn’t find other ways to generate stops.
East Carolina transfer free safety Jordan Huff was among the top defensive talents in Week 1, producing eight tackles, one tackle for loss, and an interception in the defeat. The other pick belonged to former walk-on Chams Diagne, who secured five tackles in his new starting cornerback role. But the key to stopping this Memphis team involves getting tackles at the first level of defense. Thus, defensive tackle Henry Bryant (4.0 sacks in 2024, two QB hurries in Week 1) will be tasked with slowing down Lewis and the Tigers’ wealth of tailbacks.
Prediction
There are so many moving parts on Memphis, highlighted by the 15 starting transfers alluded to earlier. We also don’t know much about this Tigers team as its only opponent hailed from the FCS, and the Tigers completed the usual FBS vs. FCS beatdown. However, Ryan Silverfield’s team should be pretty potent in the run game. Brendon Lewis’ presence at quarterback gives the offense a new dimension it didn’t previously have. And while the Tigers’ passing attack may take a step back without Seth Henigan this year, their run game remains loaded with a litany of viable options in the backfield. Memphis should have no problem running through a Georgia State defense which nearly yielded 300 yards to Ole Miss.
Georgia State’s offense may see some level of success. The quarterback situation is unclear, but Rashad Amos and the Panthers’ offensive line could win a fair share of matchups to get the Panthers in scoring position multiple times. But Memphis will light up the scoreboard in Atlanta and claim their 12th-straight against the Sun Belt and their FBS-best 42nd-straight game with 20+ points.
Prediction: Memphis 38, Georgia State 17
