Mobile, Ala. - Georgia State rallied with 13 fourth-quarter points before falling at undefeated South Alabama, 39-34, Saturday at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Ala.
Drew Little threw two touchdown passes and rushed for two more for the Panthers (5-4), but South Alabama's Kendall Houston rushed for 175 yards, including the first down that enabled the Jaguars to run out the clock and improve to 8-0 on the season and 15-0 in their two-year history.
Jaguar quarterback C.J. Bennett threw three touchdown passes as South Alabama scored 24 straight points in the second quarter to turn a 14-6 deficit into a 30-14 halftime lead.
Trailing 33-14, the Panthers began their rally as Little hit Danny Williams for a 47-yard touchdown pass to move GSU within 33-21 with two minutes left in the third quarter.
After South Alabama's T.J. Glover returned the ensuing kickoff to the GSU 38-yard line, the Panthers held the Jaguars to a field goal and trailed 36-21 with 13:25 to play.
Little found Sidney Haynes for a 39-yard completion to USA 25, and Travis Evans picked up 20 yards down to the one on a swing pass from Kelton Hill. Little kept it for the one-yard touchdown, and after Iain Vance's PAT was blocked, the Panthers trailed 36-27 with 11:24 left.
South Alabama managed another field goal to extend their lead to 29-27. After Albert Wilson returned the kickoff out to the 44 to give the Panthers good field position, Little drove GSU to a first down at the USA 20, On fourth-and-six at the 16, he hit Emmanuel Ogbuehi for 11 yards to the five, and then Hill scored a on a five-yard keeper, pulling the Panthers within 39-34 with 3:57 on the clock.
South Alabama took over at its own 26-yard line and managed to run out the clock. On third-and-four, Bennett found Courtney Smith for a six-yard gain and a crucial first down. Out of timeouts, Georgia State still had a chance after forcing a third-and-two with 1:28 to play, but Houston gained nine yards to seal the win.
"This team always fights back, and I'm proud of that," said head coach Bill Curry. "We have wonderful, tough, smart young men, but we're not mature and we're not consistent, and that is the head coach's responsibility. We will become a consistent football team. My job is to get that done this week."
The Jaguars rushed for 293 yards on the day, often breaking tackles after backs appeared to be stopped.
"You've got to tackle," said Curry. "We've work on that every single day in practice, but we didn't get it done today. [Houston] is a heck of a back and he kept fighting, but a lot of that was poor tackling."
For the second straight game, the Panthers took the lead in the first quarter. Georgia State opened the game with an impressive scoring drive, moving 60 yards in 10 plays, with Little hitting Sidney Haynes for a two-yard scoring strike and an early 7-0 advantage.
Georgia State took a 14-6 lead on Little's one-yard scoring run, which was set up when Kail Singleton recovered a fumbled punt at the South Alabama 14-yard line. That put the Panthers ahead by eight points with 11 minutes to play in the second quarter.
That marked the largest deficit that the Jaguars have faced in their two-year history, but it did not last long.
Bennett threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to Bryant Lavender to put South Alabama within 14-13 with nine minutes to play in the second quarter.
On the Panthers' next offensive play, Little's pass was tipped and intercepted by Tim Harvey at the GSU 39-yard line. Not only did that snap Little's streak of consecutive passes without an interception at 202, but it set up Bennett's nine-yard scoring pass to Kevin Helms. That gave the Jaguars a 20-14 lead with seven minutes still left in the second quarter.
After forcing a GSU punt, South Alabama put together an 80-yard scoring drive, capped by Bennett's three-yard scoring pass to Jereme Jones, extending the Jaguars advantage to 27-14 with 41 seconds left in the half.
Starting with good field position at the GSU 45, Little hit Danny Williams for a 13-yard gain to the South Alabama 42, but his next pass was intercepted, again by Harvey, who broke several tackles to return the ball all the way to the Panther 18, setting up Lawson McGlon's 35-yard field goal with just three seconds left.
Little completed 20 of 34 passes on the day for 234 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions, along with his two rushing touchdowns. Danny Williams caught five passes for 82 yards and a touchdown, and Sidney Haynes added four catches for 50 yards and a score.
Georgia State played without standout Bo Schlechter and starting linebacker Olufemi Opanubi, who each sustained knee injuries in practice this week
The Panthers return home for their final game next Saturday as they host Lamar at 1 p.m. at the Georgia Dome.
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