 38 |
GAME #70
Center Parc Stadium |
 31 |
| Trip Dates | 10/23/2025 – 10/24/2025 |
| School | Georgia State University |
| Visiting Team | South Alabama Jaguars Pre-game Record: 1-6 |
| Home Team | Georgia State Panthers Pre-game Record: 1-6 |
| Game Time (ET) | 7:30 PM Eastern |
| Weather | Sunny |
| Attendees | Jarrett & Al |
| Jarrett’s Pick | South Alabama Jaguars (46 and 23 record) |
| Al’s Pick | South Alabama Jaguars (43 and 26 record) |
| Attendance | 13,673 (not a chance) |
| Capacity | 25,000 |
| TV | ESPN2 |
| Length of Game | 3:27 |
| Seat Location | Various (we moved around) |
| Miles Traveled | 917 |
| Photo Album | Click here for the GSU Photo Album |
Introduction
The Georgia State Quest trip was a two fer as we head to Atlanta for a Thursday night game at Georgia State and then will continue onward to South Carolina for a Saturday game. This weekend’s adventures will have many guests. Debra is joining for the full weekend experience as she is coming to Atlanta for the Georgia State game. The South Carolina game will have many other visitors and more about that can be found in that trip report including the preparations that took place before the Thursday departure.
Travel
Thursday began at the kind of hour that should only exist for those who “make the doughnuts”, as I had to head to Fort Lauderdale for a 7:45 departure and I had to leave time to park at one terminal and walk to another since I’d be returning Sunday on a different airline. Better I walk without Beth than with her once we land on Sunday as I am sure she’d agree.
So I arrived at FLL and parked at Terminal 1 and walked to Terminal 2, because why would convenience ever be part of air travel? But in the grand scheme of things, no big deal. But lesson learned from last trip, I pulled a ticket and did not attempt to use the Sunpass lanes, because that never works at the airport.
CLEAR was a nice touch, a rare bit of efficiency in an air travel system otherwise designed for maximum suffering. However, it is a bit ridiculous that our government outsources to a private company and then the TSA allows you to then skip the line. I always thought that was odd. And now that I have it, it is still odd. But I will take advantage. I had a bit of time, as I usually do since I am one of those who arrives early to the airport, so I went to the Delta Sky Club, courtesy of my new credit card. It was fine. The Wi-Fi was the bright spot but beyond that, it was just an average waiting room with slightly better snacks.
My Delta flight could have passed as Southwest as the entire flight preboarded and was in wheelchairs. Boarding took forever because every roller bag had to be placed behind where the person was actually sitting. That’s going to be a disaster upon landing, good thing I was towards the front. Welcome to Fort Lauderdale. Somewhere along the way, Quest HQ’s carefully timed travel plan went up in smoke as I landed in Atlanta hours ahead of Al and Debra. Still unclear what happened there, Al. The folks at HQ are requesting a full debrief.
MARTA to the hotel was smooth, though the hotel wasn’t quite ready for me. Despite being a Hilton Gold member, early check-in was going to cost an extra $50. The “your room’s ready but we’re still charging you” scam continues. I declined on principle. So I dropped my bag and headed out.
Georgia State University
I decided to begin the campus tour. Turns out the GSU campus is directly across from the hotel. Surprising, since pre-trip research suggested it was farther.
The bookstore took some effort to locate, involving an elevator ride to nowhere before realizing I needed to go up to 3, not down to 1. Inside, the selection was bleak. No shirts in my style and no shot glasses. I resigned myself to searching online, an exercise that looked increasingly doomed.
Defeated, I sat down to try finding a Georgia State shot glass online. Spoiler: it’s going to be a challenge. So, I put Beth on it, who was sitting in a car with the Miralles family making her way up through Florida on her way to South Carolina. Beth loves a good shopping mission.
Eventually, I decided to follow some crowds in search of a place to eat. After cutting through a park full of the local unhoused population (take note of my extremely politically correct phrasing), I emerged onto a lively stretch of Broad Street filled with local joints and what looked like endless options for a place to get something to eat. I opted for a crowded Mexican joint, which turned out to be a classic case of quantity over quality. The chimichanga was edible in the technical sense, drowned in an aggressive cheese sauce and filled with steak that could double as a dog chew toy. Lunch was achieved.
After lunch, I headed back to the hotel to check in. At the check in desk was Al & Debra who had finally arrived. Still no explanation for the flight delay, Al. After a small respite at the hotel, we headed out together.
Georgia State University, Part Deux
We retraced my steps from earlier, heading to the bookstore so Al & Debra could do some shopping. Alas, they had not added any shot glasses in the few hours since I had been there earlier.
We stumbled into an ESPN remote from outside the student union. The crowd was small but lively. The anchors and ESPN staff were chowing down on some chicken and waffles. The Georgia State coach was there to do a segment. It was a festive atmosphere. We hung for a bit and then moved on.
We found the GSU beach volleyball courts and some other random buildings before Al found the find of the day.
Georgia State Capitol
Al discovered that the Georgia State Capitol was just a few blocks away, so off we went. After passing through the tight security, we embarked on a self guided tour. The state legislature is only in session for 40 days at the beginning of the year, so it was a quiet building. As an aside, how does one obtain a job that only works 40 days out of the year? And don’t give me any of the “they are back in their district with their constituents the rest of the 160 working days of the year” nonsense. The chambers were closed, but wandering the rotunda and other parts was still worthwhile.
We stumbled upon the Office of the Governor, Brian Kemp. A cheerful lad named William invited us in. It was a slow day around the office and William was desperate for something to do. The Governor was not in (although there was someone at his desk and when we came in, that door shut quickly) and William wanted something to do. So he showed us around the office. The office has quite a nice collection of challenge coins which William was quite knowledgeable about and he went into some depth. Of course, we have no idea what he was talking about and he spoke confidently so he could have been just feeding us a bunch of BS. But we bought most of it. We spent a bit of time in the office speaking with William who knew his Georgia history. We got our Georgia peanuts on the way out and thanked him for the tour.
Cocktails
Then it was back to the hotel bar for what might have been the best drink of my life. We stopped in at By George Restaurant & Bar in the hotel lobby for a drink. The menu had something that I did not get the name of. The drink arrived and was fantastic. Some sort of combination mojito based drink but mixed with something else. I figured I would get the name on the way out. And of course, I forgot. So I figured I would look it up later. It is, of course, not on the restaurant’s web site. But in reconstructing, I think it was a Mojito Colada. Excellent. Debra enjoyed her drink as well. Al just had a beer. But it was a tall one.
Pre Game
The rideshare to the game went smoothly and we were dropped off at the main gate area where all the festivities were happening. But the media will-call window was not there. It was on the other side. There was no easy way from here to there as the stadium is a baseball stadium with locked gates everywhere. This prompted a full lap around the perimeter. But eventually we were in.
We headed down to the field for our usual field pics and scouting. Of course, we had to stand at home plate and look out at a football field criss-crossing a stadium and field that was built for baseball.
Stadium food options were slim, it was hot dogs or pretzels. Maybe pizza.
Both of us picked South Alabama, for reasons that remain unclear. When both teams are 1-6, you are really just taking a stab at it.
The Game
If you arrived late to this one, congratulations, you probably missed six touchdowns in the first eight drives. The game opened with Georgia State going three-and-out, a performance that suggested they were still mentally in the locker room. South Alabama promptly took advantage of the provided short field and rolled 53 yards in 10 plays for a touchdown, establishing early that defense would not be attending tonight’s event.
Georgia State answered immediately, needing only 74 yards and 80 seconds to even things up. The teams then traded touchdowns like baseball cards, three straight drives each ending in the end zone, with no actual “stops” occurring anywhere, all drives of 75 yards. By the end of the first quarter, it was already clear that anyone expecting punting, tackling, or restraint of any kind was in the wrong stadium.
The second quarter brought a slight change of pace, not because anyone played defense, but because the drives just got longer. South Alabama orchestrated a 14-play, 82-yard march that consumed nearly seven minutes. Georgia State responded with an 11-play drive that stalled at the 32, resulting in a field goal attempt that was no good. South Alabama closed the half with another methodical 14-play possession, ending in yet another field goal attempt which was no good. It was 28-14 USA at the half.
After halftime, both teams decided to experiment with the concept of punting. South Alabama opened the third quarter with a brief 3-and-out, possibly confusing their own fans, and Georgia State answered with a more respectable 15-play drive capped by a field goal. South Alabama then went backward seven yards on their next drive. Could GSU be playing a bit of defense? Georgia State, perhaps offended, responded with a 13-play touchdown drive that consumed most of the quarter. The 2 point conversion failed and we had a close game at 28-23 South Alabama.
The fourth quarter began with more misery for South Alabama, another punt, followed by another Georgia State touchdown, their fifth of the night with a successful 2 point conversion and a 31-28 lead. South Alabama finally moved the ball again, reaching the Georgia State 5-yard line before settling for a field goal, and a tie game.
Just as the Panthers prepared to ice the game, they coughed up a fumble at their own 40. South Alabama turned it into a touchdown. Georgia State’s last gasp ended in an interception, which South Alabama used to run out the clock. South Alabama 38 Georgia State 31.
The final game analysis is that the first quarter started like a bat out of hell. The second quarter was methodical ball control disguised as “defense.” In the third quarter the GSU defense showed a little bit. The fourth quarter South Alabama takes it away. The attendance figure reported was for the greater Atlanta area and if it truly was an attendance figure it included all living creatures including insects and rodents. The game took an eternity to play but was highly entertaining.
Post Game
The night wrapped with a very fast pickup from the rideshare as there was not much crowd to deal with. We arrived back at the hotel and ended a very long day.
The trip report continues with our onward journey to South Carolina the next day.
Postscript
To be posted at the end of the season.
Photo Gallery
For our Georgia State photo album, Please click here. You can view as a collage or run as a slideshow. There are comments to explain what is in the photo but most are self explanatory. Thanks to Google, I can no longer embed the slide show with comments.