Georgia State intercepted four passes Saturday, but it was a forced fumble that turned out to be the back-breaker and allowed the Panthers to survive with a 41-33 win over rival Georgia Southern at Center Parc Stadium.
The Panthers had given the Eagles one final shot of life when they punted with 3:04 left in regulation. Georgia Southern had plenty of time, but on the second play, Southern quarterback Kyle Vantrease threw a short completion to Kaleb Hood, who had the ball stripped by Jontrey Hunter.
Georgia State linebacker Jordan Veneziale, the defensive star a week ago against Army, recovered the ball – tying a career record with his fifth recovery -- and the Panthers were one first down from victory. They nailed it down when Tucker Gregg picked up the first on a fourth-and-1, enabling the Panthers to run out the clock and win for the second consecutive week.
“Five turnovers. That’s an awesome job,” Georgia State coach Shawn Elliott said. “It says we’re in the right spots at times to take the ball away from them. You have to put pressure on that quarterback and make him uncomfortable, and we did that a few times. He delivered some throws, but all in all, we were right there making the plays.”
The win improved Georgia State’s record to 2-4 overall and 1-1 in the Sun Belt Conference. Georgia Southern fell to 3-3, 0-2. It was Georgia State’s third consecutive win in the series, which it now leads 6-3.
“This game means a lot to us. I won’t say all that coachspeak and stuff about every game is the same. That’s not true,” Elliott said. “This game means a lot.”
“State not Southern,” said GSU running back Jamyest Williams, echoing the school’s popular Twitter hastag.
Vantrese completed 30 of 49 passes for 359 yards and three touchdowns, but the four interceptions – which matched a school record for Georgia State – was too much to overcome. He had at least four passes dropped, one that would have been a touchdown.
Quavian White got the 11th interception of his career and ranks No. 4 among active FBS players. In addition to causing the key fumble, Hunter had his third career interception. Jamil Muhammad and Jordan Jones each had the first of their career.
“We just did what we’re supposed to do,” Muhammad said. “We just did it at a high level, like Coach always says. I feel like we did that today, and we look to do it again next week.”
The offense had another excellent running game, with Williams rushing 16 times for a career-high 129 yards and one touchdown and Gregg running 22 times for 111 yards and two touchdowns, extending his career record to 22. Quarterback Darren Grainger kept it 12 times for 70 yards.
“We’ve just got to go with what works,” Williams said. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. The main thing is for us all being on the same page. We all stand with each other.”
Grainger completed 16 of 25 passes for 186 yards and two touchdowns. Jamari Thrash caught five passes for 75 yards, including a 53-yard touchdown that he celebrated by blowing kisses to the Georgia Southern fans in the south end zone. Ja’Cyais Credle had four catches, Robert Lewis had three, including his sixth of the season, and Tailique Williams had two receptions.
Georgia State led by 17 after scoring on the opening drive of the second half when Gregg punched it in from the 2. But Southern, which beat Nebraska in its second game, wasn’t ready to give up. The Eagles answered with a 15-yard touchdown pass to Hood – who caught 11 passes for 120 yards – and a 24-yard throw to Amarie Jones that came as result of Marc Stampley’s interception.
But Georgia Southern’s extra-point attempt by Alex Raynor was blocked by Justin Abraham, changing the narrative for the rest of the game.
“That made a difference,” Elliott said. “You talk about a momentum change. They’re thinking, oh man, we just cut it to three, and they take that extra point for granted and that thing’s blocked. Now it’s a four-point game. That’s a big swing. Trust me, I know because we had one blocked a couple weeks ago, and that’s a big, big point.”
Georgia State answered with a touchdown on Gregg’s 33-yard run, the second consecutive week that he’s broken through the line and scored on a long run, only to have Southern pull back to within eight points on a 25-yard field goal by Raynor with 8:26 left.
Southern had two additional possessions, but both ended in turnovers.
“Two wins in a row,” Elliott said. “That’s great from where we started, and here we are making a run. There were times when I could have coached better and put ourselves in a position to be a little more successful, but we’ll get better, and our football team is going to improve. That’s what this game is all about.”
Georgia State doesn’t play again until Oct. 19, an unusual Wednesday night game, at Appalachian State. Georgia Southern hosts James Madison on Saturday.
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