MOBILE, Ala. – Junior Tucker Gregg rushed for three scores and redshirt-freshman quarterback Cornelious Brown IV passed for a career-high 334 yards to back a strong defensive effort as Georgia State topped South Alabama 31-14 Saturday at Hancock Whitney Stadium.
 
Gregg rushed 18 times for 79 yards and scored all three touchdowns in the second half, in which Georgia State (4-4, 3-4 Sun Belt) outscored South Alabama 24-7. He tied the school record for rushing touchdowns in a game.
 
Brown was 19-of-28 for 334 yards, hitting redshirt-sophomore Sam Pinckney five times for a career-high 176 yards. The 176 receiving yards by Pinckney, who made several highlight-reel grabs in traffic, are the sixth-most in a single game in school history and just 15 shy of Penny Hart's school-record of 191 set in 2017.
 
Georgia State outgained South Alabama (3-6, 2-4 Sun Belt) 556-to-324 yards in total offense, and the Jaguars could only turn GSU's four first-half turnovers into seven points.
 
Defensively the Panthers tied a school record with seven sacks as Hardrick Willis recorded 1.5 sacks to set a new school career sacks record with 11.5. Jordan Strachan, already the GSU single-season leader, added two sacks as the Panthers raised their season total to 30, another school record.
 
"I can't say enough about our defense and the pressure they put on the quarterback all day," head coach Shawn Elliott said. "It was a really good win. I'm very proud of all our players and coaches.
 
"Our defense stood strong and paved the way for us to get untracked offensively," Elliott continued. "We were coming off an emotional game last week and we started a little slow today.To have four turnovers in the first half … but we had a good talk at halftime. We knew if we came out and played a clean second half we'd have great opportunity to win, and that's exactly what we did."
 
The defense was outstanding despite playing without two key starters due to injury in noseguard Dontae Wilson and safety Antavious Lane.
 
South Alabama got on the board quickly after Brown was intercepted on the second play of the game. Four plays later the Jaguars scored on a 17-yard run by Carlos Davis. It was the first of two turnovers for the Panthers in the first quarter.
 
Late in the first quarter, the Panthers took over on the South Alabama 4-yard line, and Brown led the Panthers down the field on a 96-yard drive after the redshirt-freshman ran it into the end zone on a 1-yard run to tie the score at 7-7 with 13:31 to play in the opening half. But that would be all the scoring in the first half as Georgia State squandered a chance to take the lead in the final minute of the second quarter when Brown was intercepted in the end zone.
 
After South Alabama went ahead 14-7 on a Jared Wilson rushing touchdown with 6:11 to play in the third quarter, Georgia State immediately responded with a three-play, 75-yard drive capped to tie the game just 55 seconds later. On the second play of the drive, Brown connected with Pinckney on a 65-yard completion, the Panthers' longest play of the year, as the GSU receiver caught a short pass over the middle and nearly reached the end zone but was knocked out of bounds at the 3. Gregg punched it into the end zone on the next play to knot the score at 14-all.

Following a quick three-and-out forced by the GSU defense, the Panthers drove 80 yards, capped by Gregg's 33-yard touchdown, run to take a 21-14 lead with just over two minutes to play in the third quarter.
 
Georgia State pushed its lead to double figures, 24-14, when redshirt freshman Michael Hayes, filling in for starter Noel Ruiz, kicked a 23-yard field with just over 11 minutes to play. Hayes also averaged 44.2 yards on six punts with no return yards.
 
Gregg added another one-yard touchdown run with 5:33 to play to extend the GSU advantage to 31-14.
 
Jamyest Williams added 68 yards rushing on 10 carries, along with five receptions for 48 yards.
 
"Jamyest Williams came in and gave us a spark, Tucker Gregg had the big touchdown run, and the offensive line came to play," Elliott said. "Sam Pinckney is just remarkable, the effort he gives to go up and bring down those balls."
 
Brown recovered from his slow start in the first half to complete 11-of-14 throws for 206 yards in the second half.
 
Georgia State closes the regular season hosting in-state rival Georgia Southern at Center Parc Stadium next Saturday. Kick is set for Noon on ESPN3.