TROY, Ala. – Georgia State fell at Troy 45-21 in a Sun Belt Conference game Saturday at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
Georgia State (1-9, 0-7 SBC) quarterback Nick Arbuckle surpassed the school's season and career records for touchdown passes and the GSU season record for passing yards as the Panthers put up 394 yards of offense but hurt themselves with three turnovers.
Arbuckle threw two touchdown passes to senior LynQuez Blair and one to freshman Todd Boyd, giving the GSU quarterback 19 TD passes on the season. That breaks the Georgia State season record of 18, set by Drew Little in 2010, as well as the career mark by Little (2010-11) and Ronnie Bell (2012- present).
Arbuckle finished with 293 yards passing, raising his season total to 2,812 yards and surpassing Bell's record of 2,573, set last season. Arbuckle also passed Bell in total offense with 2,799 yards this season.
Troy (2-8, 2-4 Sun Belt) rushed for 324 yards, led by Brandon Burks with 118 yards. Five different Trojans scored rushing touchdowns, and quarterback Brandon Silver added one TD pass and 111 yards through the air.
The Trojans took the opening kickoff and drove for a score with a 15-play, 66-yard drive that lasted 6:41. Georgia State answered with a 12-play, 78-yard drive, capped by Arbuckle's 21-yard scoring pass to Boyd, who caught his first touchdown.
With Troy leading 14-7 in the second quarter, Arbuckle was intercepted at the Troy 30 and then at Troy 5 on consecutive possessions, and the Trojans took a 21-7 lead into the locker room. The Panthers fumbled on their opening drive of the second half to set up a short touchdown by Troy as the Trojans took control with a 28-7 lead.
Retiring Troy head coach Larry Blakeney earned his 100th home win in his 24th season with the Trojans.
Georgia State managed 101 net yards rushing, including 86 yards by Marcus Caffey on 18 carries.
“Our kids played hard, but we were just not good enough all the way around,” head coach Trent Miles said. “We turned the ball over, we couldn't stop the run, we didn't kick it where we wanted to, and we didn't coach well enough. And we've got to get healthy.”
Georgia State is off next week before playing at Clemson on Nov. 22.
NOTING THE PANTHERS:
- LynQuez Blair had a career-high nine catches for 62 yards with touchdown receptions of 13 and 19 yards. He now has five touchdowns on the season.
- True freshman Todd Boyd enjoyed his best game with three catches for 91 yards.
- Game captains were Joseph Peterson, Donovan Harden and Tim Wynn.
- Playing near his hometown of Dothan, Ala., Peterson played as much as he could despite an ankle injury and made four tackles. He had numerous family and friends in attendance.
