Witnesses to history

Under the gleaming Georgia Dome lights on Sept. 2, 2010, the Georgia State University football team introduced itself to college football with a 41-7 win over Shorter University in front of 30,237 fans.

While the margin of victory might not have come as a surprise to some, the fan turnout certainly did, as Georgia State served notice that the school and its fans are serious about college football.

To put it into perspective, Georgia State is second only to the Big East's University of South Florida in terms of first-game attendance record by a college football start-up.

"I am shocked and excited to do 30,000," said Cheryl Levick, Georgia State's Director of Athletics.

Levick was not the only one in shock, as the talk of the town that night was the fact that Georgia State, a start-up college football program, outdrew the Atlanta Braves by roughly 5,000 fans. The first-place Atlanta Braves are currently in a heated pennant race and have had one of the highest attendance averages in recent years, in part due to Rookie of the Year candidate Jason Heyward.

The turnout was so big that Georgia State's senior associate athletic director, Kosha Irby, noted in an e-mail that the athletic department is taking measures to improve ticket operations because ticket lines at the Georgia Dome were so long that some fans gave up and went home, according to the Atlanta-Journal Constitution.

Gov. Sonny Perdue, former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young, Sen. Johnny Isakson and a number of other dignitaries were just some of the impressive names to grace the stands, but perhaps the most remarkable fan turnout was by the 11,000 rabid Georgia State students.

"They're electric down there," Levick said from the press box. "They finally have a team, and they're proud of them."

Panther pride was in full display as the students did not sit down or let down before and during the game. The lower-bowl student section of the Georgia Dome was filled almost an hour before kick-off, and the overflow of students had to be directed into the mezzanine level.

"Our student section was already full, their bodies were painted and I'll never forget the excitement of those kids," Georgia State President Mark Becker said. "The students have been behind this program. To see the student excitement and to see them fill the student section straight away will be with me forever."

Over two years of anticipation for Georgia State football reached a boiling point when the fans erupted as the first-ever Panther football team ran out of the tunnel, with thousands of camera flashes lighting up the Georgia Dome.

"The team was shocked by what they saw," said Georgia State's safety Brandon Jones.

"The team really came together when we saw all that fan support."

The Panthers fed off of the fans' energy, opting to receive the ball after winning the coin toss, and capping off the program's first-ever, 63-yard drive with a 4-yard rushing touchdown by running back Parris Lee.

The momentum from that opening drive carried on throughout the game, as the Panthers piled up 366 yards of total offense, including 212 yards rushing, while allowing Shorter offense inside the red zone just once for the entire contest.

 "You always hope and pray that it all manifests on the field when the lights come on," Georgia State's head coach Bill Curry said in his postgame radio interview immediately after the game. "I had no doubt that we would dominate this game."

The Panthers never let up after the first drive, as Georgia State scored three times in the second quarter on two Iain Vance field goals and a touchdown drive of 30 yards after the Panthers recovered a Shorter fumble. 

Quarterback Drew Little, who turned down an offer from Boston College to jump-start the brand new program in Atlanta, etched his name into the record books when he found tight end Emmanuel Ogbuehi for an 8-yard score and the Panthers' first-ever touchdown through the air.

At the start of the second half, quarterback Kelton Hill took over the offense for the first drive, which resulted in the first of the period's two field goals. 

Lee's second touchdown of the game was a 10-yard run into the corner of the end zone with 2:12 left in the third quarter.  Little would end up finding wide receiver Jordan Giles from 16 yards out for the Panthers' first score of the fourth quarter and his second passing touchdown of the night.

Little, who beat out former University of Alabama quarterback Star Jackson for the starting role, completed 13-of-17 passes for 135 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions on the night.

"I wish it was 17 for 17," Little said with a smile after the game.

Hill capped the scoring in the game with a 24-yard touchdown run with eight seconds remaining on the clock.

Perhaps the most important statistic for the young Panthers was the number zero in the turnover category.

"When you don't turn the ball over and you get some turnovers you almost always win," Curry said. "That is an incredible coefficient of victory that we have hammered and preached so hard."

Defensively, safety Brandon Jones led the team with six tackles on the night, followed by outside linebacker Jake Muasau with five.

Shorter's lone score came with 8:14 left in the game with a 1-yard touchdown run by quarterback Ben Williams.

When the dust settled and the final whistle was blown, the young Panther team rushed onto the field as the fans cheered Georgia State's first-ever football victory.

The key now for Georgia State is to carry the momentum into the next game against Lambuth on Sat., Sept. 11.

"The fans come back when you have a quality product, so the biggest challenge is going to be to build a great program that the fans keep coming out and keep coming back for," Becker said.