ATLANTA – Iain Vance hit a 33-yard field goal in overtime to push Georgia State past North Carolina Central, 20-17, in the Georgia Dome on Saturday. The victory pushed the Panthers’ overall record to 5-2, 4-1 against fellow FCS teams, and extends their winning streak to four games.
The game-winner was Vance’s second of the season. He hit a 30-yarder against Campbell with one second remaining to send the Panthers to a 24-21 victory three weeks ago.
“Every kick that you get like that, just like we do it every day in practice, obviously it helps,” said the fifth-year senior. “The snap, the holder and the kick all need to be in sync.”
The Panthers won the coin toss heading into the extra period and elected to play defense first. Cornerback Jamal Ransby made a touchdown-saving pass breakup on a third-down play, and Frankie Cardelle’s 45-yard field goal attempt sailed wide to turn the ball over to GSU.
It was the Panthers’ second overtime contest of their inaugural season; they lost the first one to Jacksonville State, 34-27, on September 18 at home. It was also their first come-from-behind victory when trailing at the half, as Central led 7-3 at the break.
“Another routine Georgia State win,” joked Panther head coach Bill Curry. “What a wonderful test for our guys.”
“In order to be a decent program, you have got to win these games.”
For the second week in a row, the State defense picked up four turnovers. Brad Chahoy, Brent McClendon and Fred Barnes all intercepted passes from Central quarterback Keon Williams (all in the first half), and Jake Muasau recovered a Williams fumble caused by Christo Bilukidi on the first play of the fourth quarter.
The Panthers trailed 14-10 in the fourth period before mounting an eight-play, 66-yard scoring drive that culminated in a 24-yard touchdown pass from Drew Little to Danny Williams to take a 17-14 lead with 5:36 left in the game.
After Jake Muasau batted down a pass on a fourth-down fake-punt attempt, the Panthers took over possession on the Central 39-yard line with 2:54 remaining. Faced with a fourth-and-1 three plays later, Little looked to sneak for a first down to ice the game but came up just short, giving the ball back to the Eagles with :50.
Central took off on a torrid drive, with Williams completing three straight passes to move to the GSU 27. After two straight incompletions, Cardelle came on for the game-tying field-goal attempt with just :10 remaining in regulation.
Cardelle’s attempt from 44 yards sailed wide left, but Panther head coach Bill Curry had called his final timeout prior to the snap. On Cardelle’s second try, the kick was good to send the game into overtime.
Little finished 16-of-29 passing for 205 yards and a touchdown. He also went his fourth straight game without an interception, a total of 18 error-free quarters. Danny Williams broke his own school record of 101 receiving yards, set the week before against Savannah State, by going for 103 yards on five catches and a touchdown.
Quarterback Kelton Hill led the team in rushing with 71 yards, but lost two fumbles.
The Panther offense struggled for much of the game, mustering only 28 rushing yards in the first half. GSU got its first points of the game late in the second quarter on a 32-yard field goal from Vance, who went 2-for-3 on the day to make him 10-for-12 so far this season.
“We are just glad to come out 5-2,” said Little. “We got a ‘W’ and that’s all that matters. That is what is going to go down in the books. We didn’t play as well as we would have liked to, but we came out on top.”
The Panthers picked up their first lead of the game in the third quarter. They embarked on their longest drive of the season so far, an 85-yard march that resulted in a 25-yard touchdown scamper by Travis Evans, his third of the season, to make it 10-7 with 3:50 to go in the third quarter.
Central got touchdowns from Arthur Goforth on a 29-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, and took a 14-10 lead in the fourth quarter when Williams hit receiver Geovonie Irvine behind the defense for a 47-yard touchdown with 9:58 remaining in the game.
The Panther defense set a season-high with the three interceptions. Fred Barnes led the team in tackles with 7.5 stops in addition to his interception, and Bilukidi and Khiry Karriem came up with a sack each.
“The defense played hard all day long,” Curry said. “They played their guys out all day.”
Bo Schlechter continued his stellar play at both punter and wide receiver. Schlechter, who started the season as a quarterback, punted four times for a 51-yard average, including two inside the 20-yard line. He also caught one pass, a key 23-yard reception in the third quarter on third down to help set up Evans’ touchdown run.
Saturday’s contest was Georgia State’s sixth home game in the first seven games of its inaugural season, and second-to-last home contest of the year. Remaining on the schedule is Lamar at the Georgia Dome on November 6, and road games at Old Dominion, South Alabama and defending FBS national champion Alabama.
Attendance was 13,378 on Saturday. The Panthers next play at Old Dominion on Saturday, October 23 at 3:30 p.m. in Norfolk, Va.
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