ATLANTA — An interception on South Alabama’s opening possession set the tone Thursday night, and Georgia State held on to beat the Jaguars 21-13 at Georgia State Stadium, ending South Alabama’s two-game winning streak.
The loss dropped South Alabama to 3-5 overall and 2-2 in the Sun Belt Conference. Georgia State improved to 4-3 and 3-1 in league play.
The Jaguars did not reach the end zone until under three minutes remained, when quarterback Dallas Davis connected with Jamarius Way on a 75-yard touchdown pass. South Alabama recovered an onside kick on the next play but turned the ball over on downs near midfield.
Early Turnover Sets the Tone
On the second play of South Alabama’s first drive, a Davis pass deflected off the hands of Messiah Francis and was intercepted at the 36-yard line. The Panthers returned it to the Jaguars’ 3 and converted the turnover into a touchdown.
South Alabama answered with a drive from its own 23 to the Georgia State 25, but Gavin Patterson’s 42-yard field goal attempt drifted wide left.
Early in the second quarter, a 38-yard punt and a four-yard return gave the Jaguars the ball at the Georgia State 42. The drive reached the 11 before stalling, and Patterson made a field goal to cut the deficit to 7-3.
After the teams traded possessions, a Corliss Waitman punt was downed at the Georgia State 8, and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty pushed the Panthers back to their own 4 with 5:14 left in the half. Georgia State then went 96 yards in 3:31 to score and take a 14-3 lead into halftime.
Penalties Extend Third-Quarter Drive
Both teams went three-and-out to open the second half. Georgia State then put together a 14-play, 51-yard drive that took 7:39 off the clock.
Midway through that drive, South Alabama appeared to have forced a stop on third-and-9, but two flags were thrown. Jimmie Gipson was called for roughing the passer after making low contact with quarterback Conner Manning as he threw. Nigel Lawrence was flagged for targeting on a hit that knocked the ball loose for an incompletion. The targeting call was overturned on review, but the roughing penalty gave the Panthers a first down at the South Alabama 40.
Two holding penalties against Georgia State followed, and the Panthers eventually missed a 50-yard field goal attempt wide right.
South Alabama took advantage of the field position with a seven-play, 32-yard drive that ended in a 46-yard field goal, making it 14-6 with just over a minute left in the third quarter.
Hart Touchdown Restores Two-Score Lead
Georgia State responded immediately. Penny Hart turned a short pass into a 45-yard gain to the South Alabama 20, and the Panthers followed with a 10-yard run while playing at tempo. A few plays later, with a Jaguars defensive lineman jumping offside, Manning threw a back-shoulder pass to Hart in the corner of the end zone for a touchdown and a 21-6 lead with 12:55 remaining.
South Alabama was moving on its next possession and had converted a third down when Cedric Stone stepped in front of a Davis pass along the right sideline for an interception, returning it to the Jaguars’ 26. The South Alabama defense held, taking the ball back on downs after four plays.
The Jaguars then drove from their own 34 to the Georgia State 7, but three straight incompletions led to a turnover on downs.
Late Rally Falls Short
South Alabama got the ball back with 2:45 to play. After a five-yard sack on first down, Davis found Way behind the defense down the left sideline for a 75-yard touchdown that made it 21-13.
Waitman followed with an onside kick that Blake Worthy recovered at the Georgia State 49 with 2:11 remaining. Deonta Moore ran for seven yards on first down, but three consecutive incompletions ended the threat. On the final play, Davis looked for Way, who was double-covered.
By the Numbers
South Alabama outgained Georgia State 338 to 309 in total offense. The Jaguars threw for 297 yards and rushed for 41. The Panthers had 195 passing yards and 114 rushing yards. South Alabama converted 5 of 16 third downs and held the ball for 31:30 to Georgia State’s 28:30.
Davis completed 27 of 48 passes for 297 yards with one touchdown, two interceptions and one sack. He also led the team in rushing with 11 yards on seven carries. Foster added 11 yards on one carry. Xavier Johnson, who had trouble with his footing on the stadium’s newly installed turf, finished with minus-3 yards on seven attempts.
Way caught six passes for 118 yards and the touchdown. Sam Harris had seven receptions for 73 yards, and McCray caught three for 35. Seven other Jaguars also caught passes.
Waitman punted five times for a 46.4-yard average, with a long of 51 and four punts downed inside the 20.
For Georgia State, Manning completed 17 of 31 passes for 195 yards and two touchdowns. Hart caught six passes for 98 yards and a score, and Glenn Smith had two catches for 36 yards and the other touchdown. Smith also rushed 17 times for 73 yards, Kyler Neal added 32 yards on 10 carries and Manning ran three times for eight yards.
What They Said
South Alabama head coach Joey Jones said the opening interception swung the game.
“It was a case of Georgia State grabbing the momentum early on with the first interception and turning that into a touchdown,” Jones said. “We never got the momentum back after that. We never really did anything to flip it back our way, except late in the game when we got the long touchdown pass and recovered the onside kick. We had a chance to drive the ball down and score, but didn’t get that done.”
“It just felt like we were climbing out of a hole the whole game,” he added. “We have to learn from this game, because over the last two weeks, we’ve been able to take the momentum away from teams and held it, but we didn’t do anything to turn the momentum in our favor tonight.”
Davis took responsibility for the offense’s performance.
“Offensively, we just didn’t execute,” Davis said. “The offensive line did a good job and gave me all the time in the world to throw but we just didn’t execute out on the perimeter, and we have to be able to do that to win games. I feel like we came out flat today, and that’s on me; I have to get the offense going, so I take the blame for it.”
Safety Jeremy Reaves said the team needed to move on quickly.
“We have to bury this game and put it behind us,” Reaves said. “Sunday starts a new week for us when we get back on the practice field. You just have to learn that you can’t come out flat. Every team you play is going to give you their best every week; you can’t expect to just show up and beat someone. We have some good ball clubs in the Sun Belt.”
Up Next
South Alabama opens a two-game homestand Saturday, Nov. 4, against Louisiana-Lafayette, with kickoff set for 3 p.m. The Jaguars’ remaining schedule also includes Arkansas State, Georgia Southern and New Mexico State. South Alabama needs to win three of its final four games to become bowl eligible.
