What You Need to Know:
* Nick Arbuckle passed for 318 yards and three touchdowns, including a 75-yard TD pass to Robert Davis.
* Freshman Penny Hart had another big game with nine catches for 128 yards.
* Georgia State had 431 yards of offense, scored its most points against a Power 5 opponent and was within 47-28 in the fourth quarter, but the Panthers allowed No. 12 Oregon to score 24 points off turnovers.
EUGENE, ORE. -- Georgia State had 431 yards of offense and scored its most points against a Power 5 conference opponent, but No. 12 Oregon managed 24 points off turnovers en route to a 61-28 victory Saturday at Autzen Stadium.
Nick Arbuckle passed for 318 yards and three touchdowns, including a 75-yard touchdown pass to Robert Davis. Arbuckle also scored one touchdown rushing and had the Panthers within 47-28 in the fourth quarter when Oregon forced a fumble on a sack and returned it 52 yards for a score. The Ducks (2-1) also had an interception return for a touchdown, another touchdown set up by an interception and a field goal set up a fumble.
Freshman Penny Hart had another big day for the Panthers (1-2) with nine catches for 128 yards, giving him 20 receptions for 278 yards over his last two games.
Trailing 33-7 at the half, Georgia State forced a fumble on the opening kickoff to take over at the Oregon 32. Two plays later, Arbuckle found Todd Boyd in the end zone for a 14-yard touchdown pass, pulling the Panthers within 33-14.
After Oregon drove 98 yards for a touchdown, the Panthers answered on their next play as Arbuckle connected with Robert Davis for a 75-yard scoring strike to make the score 40-21. That equals the longest completion of Arbuckle's career and is Davis' sixth career catch of 50 yards or more.
With GSU down 47-21, Arbuckle moved the Panthers 75 yards, capped by a 6-yard touchdown pass to tight end Keith Rucker, and the Panthers trailed by 19 points, 47-28, late in the third quarter.
The Georgia State defense forced a punt, and after a 19-yard reception by Hart and a 20-yard run by Demarcus Kirk, the Panthers had a first down at the Oregon 48 early in the fourth quarter. Under pressure, Arbuckle overthrew Boyd down the middle on second down. Then on third down, he was sacked and fumbled, leading to Oregon's 52-yard fumble return that made the score 54-28.
"We can’t turn the ball over the way we turned it over. Give all the credit to Oregon, they did a great job, but when you’re playing a team of their caliber and you hand the ball over on a silver platter, it doesn’t help your cause," head coach Trent Miles said.
"Our kids did a great job of fighting back and we were in a position in the fourth quarter where we have a guy running wide open to the end zone and we overthrow him and come back on the next play [fumble return for touchdown] and instead of it being a 12-point game, it jumps up to be a 26-point game.
"Oregon is a great program with great players, but our kids are talented, too, and we came here to try to win a football game," Miles continued. "There are positives we can take away. We put ourselves in position to be in striking distance in the fourth quarter against a team that played for the national championship last year.
"The 61 points makes you cringe, but our defense did some good things, especially with some of the situations they were put in. And when we execute and don't turn the ball over, our offense can really click."
Georgia State fell behind early after an interception return for a touchdown and a pair of field goals by Oregon, one of them set up by a fumble.
Trailing 13-0, the Panthers got on the scoreboard with a five-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. Arbuckle opened the drive by hitting Hart down the left sideline for 44 yards to the Oregon 31. Then on first down at the 21, Arbuckle found Keith Rucker over the middle, and the GSU tight end was stopped just short of the goal line. On the next play, Arbuckle kept it for the touchdown, and the Panthers trailed 13-7 with two minutes left in the first quarter.
The GSU defense forced a punt and the Panthers took over at their own 15. GSU got one first down but then stalled. After a 14-yard punt, oregon capitalized on the good field position, needing just two plays to score a touchdown and take a 20-7 lead. Another Oregon touchdown in the second quarter was set up by an interception on a ball that was tipped at the line of scrimmage, and the Ducks added a pair of late field goals for a 33-7 halftime lead.
NOTING THE PANTHERS:
* With four points today, senior placekicker Wil Lutz raised his career total to 157 points to eclipse Albert Wilson's GSU scoring record of 156 points.
* True freshmen Marquan Greene and Marterious Allen played for the first time today. Redshirt freshman quarterback Emiere Scaife also saw his first action.
* Tarris Batiste had a game-high 10 tackles and three tackles for loss.
