Georgia State football coach Shawn Elliott saw 'glaring flaws' in Tennessee Vols

Two Tennessee defenders lay sprawled face down at the 10-yard line as Georgia State quarterback Dan Ellington cruised into the end zone with the game-sealing touchdown.

It was a fitting symbol for what transpired on Saturday afternoon at Neyland Stadium.

Showing no fear or intimidation, a Georgia State team that finished 2-10 last season upstaged Tennessee in the season opener to record the first victory over a Power 5 conference team in the program’s 10-season history.

The 38-30 win sent Georgia State players streaming onto the field in celebration and showering their coaches with ice baths and chest bumps.

“One of the happiest days of my life by far,” Georgia State senior linebacker Ed Curney said. “We knew it was going to happen. We prepared all week. Our coaches told us all week if we do what we are coached to do — we play fast, have fun, play our game — this would be the outcome.”

Georgia State entered the game as a 26-point underdog but used the doubt as motivational fuel. The Panthers scored the first touchdown and steadily gained confidence with every successful first down and defensive stop.

“We just came out and played every play like it was our last,” Ellington said. “Coming in here to an SEC opponent, we knew all the odds were against us. I think we had like a two percent chance to win this game. That is what the people in Vegas said anyway. We just wanted to come in here and prove everyone wrong and I thought we did that today.”

Having viewed tape of Tennessee, Georgia State coach Shawn Elliott thought the Panthers could exploit the Vols' weakness in the trenches.

“It may be one of the glaring flaws to some degree for Tennessee. I didn’t know because I watched last season, but there were some things I felt like we could control,” Elliott said. “Not that we were going to dominate the line of scrimmage by any stretch, but I thought we had the quickness in our defensive line to give their offensive line some problems and I thought we could push them a little bit with our offensive line.”

Trailing 17-14 at halftime, Georgia State drove 75 yards to open the second half as Ellington found Aubry Payne for a 6-yard touchdown.

Although Tennessee would go back on top 23-21, Elliott had a “feeling” the drive would foreshadow what was to come down the stretch.

“I almost saw them spit the bit out when I saw that score went in. I saw a lot of heads dragging,” Elliott said of the Vols. “I am big on demeanor and what teams look like. When we notched that score, there was a like a chink that snapped in their armor and it started putting doubt in their mind and it just steamrolled from there.”

Elliott, in his third season at GSU, ranked the victory behind only the program’s inaugural bowl win over Western Kentucky in 2017.

“We are just 10 years old. We just did something a lot of teams couldn’t do,” Elliott said. “Tennessee is going to win games this year. But for our football program to come in here, and nobody thought we could, nobody thought we had a chance other than the guys in that locker room that held hands and took a knee and talked with one another.”

Before leaving the field, the Panthers rushed over to the small section of blue-clad fans that traveled from Atlanta to celebrate with them. Coaches hugged family members, and players mugged for cameras.

Georgia State received $950,000 from Tennessee to play the Vols, but left with much, much more.

“Georgia State University will be seen across the country numerous times tonight all through tomorrow. We will be talked about the next four to five days,” Elliott said. “What it has done for our football program from a publicity standpoint, a recruiting standpoint when you go and beat them, it pays huge dividends and we are going to see it pay off for us.”