Coastal Carolina is still searching for its first win in the Sun Belt Conference.
The Chanticleers trailed from the opening kickoff, which was returned 90 yards for a touchdown by Glenn Smith, and fell 27-21 to Georgia Southern in its second conference game Saturday night at Brooks Stadium.
Coastal fell behind 14-0 and rallied to twice pull within a touchdown in the fourth quarter, but the rally fell short when Georgia State recovered an onside kick and earned a first down in the final minutes.
On the opening kickoff, Smith headed right initially and came to a near stop as things were bottled up around the 20-yard line, then headed left where he had open field and broke an attempted tackle on the sideline by kicker Masamitsu Ishibashi around the CCU 20 to reach the end zone.