Saturday, October 15, 2016
Troy 31, Georgia State 21
TROY, Ala. (AP) Brandon Silvers threw two touchdown tosses in the fourth quarter as Troy held off Georgia State 31-21 in Sun Belt Conference play on Saturday.
Georgia State scored to close within 10 and was driving midway through the final quarter when Junior Gnonkonde sacked Conner Manning, causing a fumble. Troy's Baron Poole fell on the loose ball to stop the Panthers.
Silvers threw for 235 yards with one interception. Deondre Douglas grabbed six passes for 97 yards and one touchdown and Jordan Chunn rushed for 91 yards and a score.
Troy (5-1 3-0 Sun Belt), which opened conference play 3-0 for the first time since 2010, was trailing 14-6 midway in the third quarter. The Trojans pulled away to a 31-14 lead with 9:14 left in the game.
Manning hit Ari Werts on a 14-yard scoring play to close the gap before the Troy defense stopped Georgia State (1-5, 1-2).
Idaho 55, New Mexico State 23
MOSCOW, Idaho (AP) Matt Linehan threw for 476 yards and accounted for five touchdowns - both career highs - to help Idaho beat New Mexico State 55-23 on Saturday.
Linehan, who came in with four touchdown passes this season, threw for a career-best four scores and added a 10-yard TD run that made it 55-16 in the fourth quarter. The junior moved past his dad (and current offensive coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys), Scott Linehan, into sixth on the school's career passing yards list with 7,101.
Tight end Deon Watson had six catches for a career-high 129 yards and a score, Alfonso Onunwor had nine receptions for 117 yards and a touchdown, and Jordan Frysinger added four catches for 102 yards and a TD for Idaho (4-3, 2-1 Sun Belt). It was the first time since Oct. 16, 2010 that three Vandals had at least 100 yards receiving in the same game.
New Mexico State (2-4, 1-2) led 13-7 at the end of the first quarter, but Idaho scored 20 in the second - including field goals of 33 and 37 yards by Austin Rehkow - and took a 27-16 lead into halftime. Rehkow has made a school-record 62 career field goals.
UL Monroe 40, Texas State 34
MONROE, La. (AP) Will Collins threw two touchdowns passes, Ben Luckett ran for two more scores and Louisiana-Monroe held on to beat Texas State 40-34 on Saturday night.
Luckett had 100 yards rushing, and Duke Carter ran for 104 yards and a third-quarter touchdown for Louisiana-Monroe (2-4, 1-2 Sun Belt).
Tyler Jones ran for two touchdowns and Stedman Mayberry had a scoring run for Texas State (2-4, 0-2).
Jones ran for a 3-yard touchdown to put the Bobcats up 14-10 late in the first quarter. Collins threw touchdown passes on consecutive drives, Luckett ran for his second score, and Craig Ford's 40-yard field goal stretched the Warhawks' lead to 33-14 at halftime.
The Bobcats' Stan Kanu had a 53-yard interception return for a touchdown. Damani Alexcee recovered Luckett's fumble and ran the ball 50 yards into the end zone, and Jones' 16-yard scoring run with about three minutes left capped the scoring.
Jones led the Bobcats to the Warhawks 32 before throwing an incomplete pass as time expired.
Arkansas State 17, South Alabama 7
JONESBORO, Ark. (AP) Chris Humes returned a fumble 60 yards for a touchdown, and Arkansas State held South Alabama to 255 total yards in a 17-7 win on Saturday night.
After a scoreless first quarter, South Alabama moved the ball to Arkansas State's 41-yard line. Kevin Kutchera caught a pass from Cole Garvin, but the Red Wolves defense swarmed Kutchera, with Humes forcing the fumble and returning it for the touchdown with 12:50 left in the half.
Arkansas State (2-4, 2-0 Sun Belt) forced a three-and-out on the ensuing Jaguars possession, and Johnston White capped an 11-play drive with a 14-yard TD run to make it 14-0.
White rushed for 58 yards on 12 carries. Warren Wand added 88 yards rushing as Arkansas State finished with 204 yards on 54 attempts.
After J.D. Houston's 25-yard field goal in the third quarter made it 17-0, Xavier Johnson's 2-yard scoring run late in the fourth put South Alabama (3-2, 0-3) on the board.
Georgia Tech 34, Georgia Southern 24
ATLANTA (AP) Beating state rival Georgia Southern won't make Georgia Tech's season.
Even so, it provided much-needed relief.
Justin Thomas was the difference in the matchup of spread-option offenses, running for two touchdowns and passing for another, and Georgia Tech beat Georgia Southern 35-24 on Saturday to end a three-game losing streak.
''It's definitely better than being on the other side,'' said Yellow Jackets senior center Freddie Burden.
Georgia Tech (4-3) enjoyed a dominant opening quarter and put the game away with two fourth-quarter touchdowns. Dedrick Mills had a 20-yard scoring run, his second of the game, with less than four minutes remaining.
Thomas had a season-high 172 yards passing and 78 rushing. Georgia Tech gained 437 yards with three plays of at least 50 yards.
Georgia Southern coach Tyson Summers said this week he thought his defense's familiarity with the option attack would help when preparing for Georgia Tech. But the super-quick Thomas adds a different edge to the Yellow Jackets' version of the spread option.
''It's the speed and the cutting,'' Summers said. ''Those are the two things that you cannot simulate.''
Burden said Thomas ''is just amazing, he is just one of a kind.''
Georgia Southern (3-3) has lost three straight - all on the road. The Eagles rank sixth in the nation in rushing but managed only 167 yards - more than 100 below their average - on 50 carries.
It was a confidence-building win as the Yellow Jackets look to end a 2-10 two-year skid in Atlantic Coast Conference games, including a 1-3 ACC start this season.
A 58-yard scoring run by Thomas and a 65-yard scoring pass from Thomas to Clinton Lynch gave the Yellow Jackets a 14-0 lead. A 50-yard run by Marcus Marshall set up Mills' 6-yard touchdown run for a 21-7 lead late in the first quarter.
''We came out fast like we needed to, to put pressure on them,'' Thomas said.