ATLANTA – Quarterback Darren Grainger passed for 200 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for a career-high 91 yards to lead Georgia State to its second straight win, 28-16 over Texas State on Homecoming Saturday at Center Parc Stadium.
 
Behind Grainger, Tucker Gregg (115 yards) and Jamyest Williams (77 yards and two touchdowns), the Panthers (3-4, 2-1 Sun Belt) piled up 298 yards on the ground, while the Georgia State defense held the Bobcats (2-5, 1-2) to just one touchdown and three field goals.
 
"Great Homecoming win! It was just a gutsy performance," head coach Shawn Elliott said. "I'm just really proud of our football team.
 
"It certainly was a 60-minute game. I kept feeling like we were going to pull away, but their quarterback is a crafty player and kept scrambling and making plays. But I'm pleased with our effort, and certainly pleased with the win to keep us right there, neck-and-neck, at the top of the league," continued Elliott, whose Panthers are tied for first in the Sun Belt East Division.
 
Gregg, the senior from Chatsworth, Ga., topped the 1,000-yard milestone for his career on a first-quarter run. He now has 1,072 career yards.
 
But his biggest play was a 14-yard run in the third quarter. With the Panthers holding a 14-13 lead but facing 4th-and-1 at the GSU 42, Gregg took the handoff and appeared to be stopped at the line of scrimmage, but he bounced outside and raced 14 yards around the right end for the first down and his sixth fourth-down conversion of the season.
 
Three plays later, Williams ran for a 28-yard touchdown, his second of the day, to give Georgia State a 21-13 lead with eight minutes in the third quarter.
 
After Texas State managed its third field goal of the day to pull within 21-16, Georgia State answered with another touchdown, driving 75 yards on 11 plays, capped by Grainger's 27-yard touchdown pass to tight end Aubry Payne on the first play of the fourth quarter. Payne's third scoring pass in the last two games put the Panthers up 28-16.
 
The GSU defense made the lead hold up by forcing two huge turnovers in the fourth quarter. After the Bobcats drove to the GSU 34, cornerback Jaylon Jones intercepted Brady McBride's pass near the goal line.
 
The Panthers drove down the field and eight up nearly seven minutes on the clock but Noel Ruiz missed a 40-yard field goal attempt with 2:46 left, snapping his streak of 14 consecutive makes.
 
Texas State managed to move down the field late in the game, but defensive end Shamar McCollum forced a fumble that noseguard Dontae Wilson recovered at the 10-yard line to seal the win.
 
Trailing 6-0 in the first quarter, the Panthers got on the board with a 99-yard touchdown drive, the second 99-yard drive in program history. Grainger completed four straight passes to give the Panthers a first down at the Texas State 18, and then Jamyest Williams burst through the middle for the touchdown to put GSU ahead 7-6 with 54 seconds left in the first quarter.
 
On Georgia State's next possession, Grainger connected with Jamari Thrash for a 35-yard touchdown pass over the middle and a 14-6 lead early in the second quarter. But Texas State managed its only touchdown of the game, and the Panthers led 14-13 at the half.
 
"I looked at the stats at halftime, and we'd only had the ball for 10 minutes but we had 247 yards of offense," Elliott said. "So I knew the tables would turn, we just had to do some smarter things."
 
In addition to Gregg's milestone, tight end Roger Carter topped the 1,000-yard mark for career receiving yards.
 
Georgia State plays its next three games on the road, beginning next Saturday at Georgia Southern. The annual rivalry game will kick off at 6 p.m. at Paulson Stadium and be televised on ESPN+.