ATLANTA — Christian Veilleux threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Ted Hurst with 15 seconds remaining, capping a wild fourth quarter that gave Georgia State a stunning 36-32 victory over Vanderbilt of the Southeastern Conference on Saturday night.
The Panthers blew a 12-point lead in the final period, with the Commodores (2-1) pulling ahead on Sedrick Alexander’s 1-yard touchdown run with 1:14 remaining.
But Veilleux completed five passes on a lightning-quick drive, the last of them the throw to Hurst down the left sideline. He managed to get a foot down and stick the ball inside the pylon on his way out of bounds, denying Vanderbilt its first 3-0 start since 2017.
The Panthers (2-1) won for just the second time in 18 games against a Power conference team, the only previous victory for the 14-year-old program coming in 2019 with a 38-30 upset at Tennessee.
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This wasn’t nearly as much of a stunner, but the Panthers celebrated wildly after beating the first SEC team ever to visit their home stadium, the facility formerly known as Turner Field.
Veilleux threw for 269 yards and three touchdowns, also connecting with Hurst on a 33-yard scoring play in the first half. The transfer QB had a score of his own on an 18-yard bootleg run with 11:42 left in the game, giving the Panthers a 29-17 lead.
AJ Newberry cut into the margin with a 3-yard TD run with 2:29 remaining and Georgia State botched the ensuing kickoff, only managing to return it to the 8.
The Panthers went three-and-out while the Commodores used up their timeouts, setting up a punt that gave Vandy the ball back at Georgia State 39 with 2:03 still remaining.
Consecutive personal fouls on the Panthers pushed Vandy to the 11. Two plays later, Alexander scored and it looked like the Commodores would survive despite a plethora of mistakes.
Georgia State had other ideas.
Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia threw for 270 yards and two touchdowns.
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The Takeaway
Vanderbilt: The Commodores simply made too many boneheaded mistakes. Pavia lost a fumble that led to a Georgia State field goal, and Steven Sannieniola took an inexplicable safety after fumbling a kickoff in the end zone, taking a knee after the ball rolled back across the goal line. CJ Taylor was ejected for targeting on a helmet-to-helmet hit.
Georgia State: Even though Vandy is perennially the worst team in the SEC, it was still a significant win for the Panthers program that has struggled to make much of a mark in the crowded Atlanta sports market.
Up Next
Vanderbilt: Travels to No. 6 Missouri (3-0) next Saturday for its Southeastern Conference opener. The Commodores are looking to snap a nine-game losing streak in league play. Their last SEC win was a 31-24 triumph over Florida on Nov. 19, 2022.
Georgia State: The Panthers are off next weekend. They host rival Georgia Southern on Sept. 28 to open Sun Belt Conference play.
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