Donovan Harden may have been the lone bright spot on the field for Georgia State in Saturday’s 69-31 loss to Georgia Southern at the Georgia Dome.
Harden caught a school-record four touchdown passes, which also set the school record for touchdowns (rushing or receiving) scored in a game.
His 11 receptions tied a school record, and his 186 yards set a school record.
“It’s hard to be excited about it (breaking the records), especially when I dropped a fifth touchdown pass,” Harden said.
Harden became the first player in the program’s short history to catch at least two scoring passes in back-to-back games.
The first touchdown covered 3 yards in the second quarter and the second came on a 59-yard pass later in the quarter.
Harden dropped a would-be touchdown pass midway through the third quarter. He was open running down the seam and looked up as the pass came in.
He bounced back with touchdown receptions of 35 yards and 36 yards in the fourth quarter.
In the past two weeks, Harden has caught 21 passes for 318 yards.
Harden and quarterback Nick Arbuckle said they have been able to take advantage of man coverage the past two weeks.
Two of the touchdowns in Saturday’s game weren’t the result of the play that was called. Arbuckle said he saw the coverage and checked to a different play. On another, Harden recognized the coverage and signaled to Arbuckle to change the play.
“It’s a trust thing between us,” Arbuckle said.
Attendance: There was one good thing for Georgia State from Saturday's game: the attendance.
The announced attendance of 28,427 was the second-most in program history behind the 30,237 in announced attendance for the inaugural game in 2010.
The Eagles’s contingent of fans appeared to be at least 10,000.
“I really respect the Georgia State fans,” Georgia State coach Trent Miles said. “I thought they were loud and showed up pretty well. … I didn’t really pay attention to the other side. We only pay attention to our side.”
Penalties: Georgia State did nothing to help itself early in the game, committing three false-start penalties and two holding penalties when the outcome was still in doubt.
Two penalties, a hold and a false start, on the first drive took Georgia State from first-and-10 at the 12 to third-and-25 at the 27. The Panthers settled for a field goal and a 3-0 lead.
Later in the half with the Panthers trailing by 10 and driving, Arbuckle threw an interception as he was hit while trying to throw the ball out of bounds.
Miles said the offense felt the pressure of needing to score on every possession.
“Peyton Manning has a hard time doing that,” Miles said. “Everything becomes harder when you know you’ve got to go out and score every time.”
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