ATLANTA – Dan Ellington threw the go-ahead, 8-yard touchdown pass to tight end Aubry Payne with 7:41 to play and the Georgia State defense made a fourth-down stop to seal the Panthers' third straight victory, 28-21 over Army on a rainy night at Georgia State Stadium.

After Payne's catch, his fifth touchdown of the season, and Roger Carter's two-point conversion catch put the Panthers (5-2, 2-1 Sun Belt) ahead, Army drove inside the GSU 30-yard line with under two minutes to play. On 3rd-and-4 at the 28, Remy Lazarus and Quavian White made a stop for no gain, and then on fourth down, White intercepted Army (3-4) quarterback Kelvin Hopkins Jr. near the goal line.

"The effort and toughness we had to go out there and beat this Army team was a joy to watch," head coach Shawn Elliott said. "I tried to tell them before the game when you face an offense like those guys present, it is going to be a tough and physical ball game. That Army bunch is a tough outfit. I am so glad to get that one behind us with a great victory and I'm so proud our team and we are sitting here at 5-2."

Ellington passed for 232 yards and three touchdowns, while senior Tra Barnett rushed for 108 yards on 17 carries for his third straight 100-yard game, a first in Georgia State history. He also scored his 13th career rushing touchdown to tie the Panthers' career mark.

Leading the way for the Georgia State defense against Army's triple option was junior linebacker Trajan Stephens-McQueen, who set a school record with 20 tackles, including 10 solo stops. Lazarus had a fumble recovery and a key pass breakup, and noseguard Dontae Wilson added 10 tackles.

"Let's just talk about the entire defense," Elliott said. "That's such a tough offense to face, especially with only four days to prepare. The entire defense was phenomenal."

With the game tied at 14-14 at the half, Army drove 75 yards for a touchdown on its first possession of the second half. Georgia State responded with a 75-yard drive of its own, capped by Barnett's 1-yard scoring run. But a missed extra point left GSU trailing 21-20 late in the third quarter.

The GSU defense then forced a punt, and the Panthers took over at their own 19 to begin their game-winning drive. Ellington converted on 4th-and-1 at the GSU 28 with a 4-yard run and then hit Payne for a 29-yard completion down to the Army 39. Four straight runs by Barnett gave GSU a first down at the 14, and then Ellington hit Jonathan Ifedi for six yards before the touchdown to Payne.

"That's a magician over there," Lazarus said, pointing to Ellington. "I don't know how he does what he does, but I'm glad he's on our team and not anybody else in the country's team. He comes to play every day in practice, and the guy you see in the game is the guy you see in practice every day."

Ellington connected with redshirt freshman Sam Pinckney for two touchdown yards in the first half, but Army answered with a pair of short touchdown runs by Sandon McCoy.

The Panthers first touchdown came on the Panthers' second possession, after Army tried a fake punt on 4th and-8 from the GSU 43. Ellington needed just four plays for the touchdown, hitting McCoy from 24 yards out to put GSU up 7-0 midway through the first quarter.

Georgia State's second touchdown was set up by an Army turnover as Victor Heyward caused a fumble that Remy Lazarus recovered at the Army 46. Three plays later, Pinckney caught his second touchdown, this time from 24 yards, and GSU led 14-7 midway through the second quarter.

But Army drove 75 yards on 12 plays, chewing up 6:26 on the clock, before scoring with 1:15 left as the teams entered the locker room tied at 14-14.

Connor Slomka led Army with 10 rushes for 89 yards, while Sandon McCoy rushed 19 times for 71 yards.

The Black Knights controlled the clock with more than 38 minutes of possession and went 6-of-8 on fourth down.

Georgia State hosts Troy next Saturday at 7 p.m. at Georgia State Stadium.