LAFAYETTE, Louisiana -- Georgia State needed a stop inside its own 10-yard line in the final minute on Saturday night and got it with Gavin Pringle's game-saving interception in the end zone with 30 seconds left to seal the Panthers' 20-17 victory over Louisiana at Cajun Field. The win extends Georgia State's best start to 6-1 and makes the Panthers bowl eligible.

"What an incredible finish, with our backs against the wall," head coach Shawn Elliott said. "We were doing nothing offensively [in the second half] and we leave it right there for our defense to make the biggest play of year to seal that victory. It was an incredible finish.

"We overcame a lot tonight," Elliott continued. "We didn't play very well offensively in the second half. I made a very, very dumb call at the end of the first half where ended up giving up a sack-fumble and giving them seven points. They got momentum, came back and set up for an unbelievable finish.

"But here we are, sitting here in Lafayette, first time victorious over this bunch, first time 6-1 in school history, bowl eligible with a lot to play for coming up this Thursday night at Georgia Southern."

Marcus Carroll rushed for 110 yards and added 55 receiving yards and tight end Ahmon Green caught two touchdowns, but Georgia State's defense was the story as the Panthers earned their first ever win over Louisiana after six losses.

The Panthers (6-1, 3-1 Sun Belt) held Louisiana (4-3, 1-2) to 289 yards of offense. 

Darren Grainger passed for 211 yards and two touchdowns and added 18 yards rushing. Tailique Williams pulled in six catches for 81 yards.

Josiah Robinson added seven tackles, 2.0 TFL, and one sack. Jontrey Hunter had eight tackles, including 2.5 tackles for loss.


How It Happened
Georgia State took the opening kickoff and drove down the field but fumbled at the goal line. After a scoreless first quarter, the Panthers scored the game's first points as QB Darren Grainger connected with tight end Ahmon Green on a 24-yard touchdown pass. Tailique Williams had a 47-yard reception to put the Panthers in the red zone. After a missed extra point, GSU led 6-0 with 13 minutes left in the first half.

Grainger and Green connected again, this time on a 3-yard scoring play that put the Panthers up 13-0 with 9:49 left in the half. The score was set up by Marcus Carroll's 49-yard reception down to the 3-yard line. Those are the first two touchdowns of Green's career.

Georgia State was driving again when Grainger left the game due to injury. Backup QB Mikele Colasurdo, seeing his first significant action, stepped in and moved the Panthers down the field, capping the 68-yard drive with a 3-yard scoring run for a 20-0 lead with 4:23 left in the half.

Louisiana converted a fumble recovery into a touchdown with 30 seconds left in the half, sending GSU to locker room with a 20-7 lead.

The Ragin' Cajuns kicked a field goal on the opening possession of the second half and then closed then pulled within 20-17 on a touchdown with two minutes left in the third quarter.

Louisiana started its final possession at its own 20-yard line with seven minutes left and moved down the field. The Ragin' Cajuns had 3rd-and-4 at the GSU 7 with less than a minute to play when Gavin Pringle picked off Zeon Chriss's pass in the end zone.

Game Notes
» Georgia State outgained Louisiana 343-289, including a 214-124 advantage through the air.
» The Panthers scored first with 13:07 left in the second quarter and never trailed the rest of the game on their way to victory.
» Georgia State tallied 20 points in the second quarter, accounting for all of their points.
» Grainger completed 77.3% of his passes on the day, going 17-for-22 while averaging 9.6 yards per attempt.
» With 211 yards passing and 18 yard rushing, Grainger now has 7,552 yards of total offense in his three seasons at Georgia State. He is just 15 yards away from breaking Nick Arbuckle's school record of 7,566 yards of total offense.
» Zeon Chriss led the Ragin' Cajuns passing attack, completing 14 of his 28 attempts for 106 yards and one touchdown with one interception.
» Chriss led the Louisiana rushing attack with 119 yards.