Football Opens Sun Belt Conference Play with 24-9 win over South Alabama
MOBILE, Ala. – The Georgia Southern defense held its opponent out of the end zone for the second consecutive week, and Favian Upshaw accounted for 235 total yards of offense as the Eagles opened Sun Belt play with a 24-9 win over South Alabama Saturday night at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.
An interception in the end zone by redshirt freshman Jessie Liptrot with less than a minute to go sealed the win and preserved an impressive streak that began in the same stadium in the GoDaddy Bowl last December. The Eagles (2-0, 1-0 Sun Belt) have kept their opponents out of the end zone for 10 consecutive quarters and over 150 minutes, dating back to the first half of the bowl win over Bowling Green.
Ukeme Eligwe and Ironhead Gallon led the way tonight with seven tackles apiece, and Eligwe also had a tackle for loss. Georgia Southern held the Jaguars (1-1, 0-1 Sun Belt) to 73 yards on the ground and combined for seven tackles for loss and a sack. The Eagle pressure forced South Alabama to convert on just five of their 19 third and fourth-down chances.
On the other side of the ball, Upshaw and the Georgia Southern offense also picked up right where they left off in the GoDaddy Bowl, as the Eagles accounted for 441 total yards of offense – 304 on the ground and 137 through the air – and three rushing touchdowns. Upshaw rushed for 108 and threw for 127 off a 6-for-9 performance, and Kevin Ellison ran for 86 yards and a score. BJ Johnson III caught three passes for 63 yards, while Wesley Fields and L.A. Ramsby ran for TDs.
The story
Trailing 24-9, South Alabama moved the ball down the Eagle 6-yard line, but Liptrot thwarted any hopes of a last-gasp comeback by leaping high in the air to pull down a Dallas Davis pass. He seemed to think about running it out but decided discretion would be the better part of valor in this scenario and went down for the touchback.
After holding a 10-6 lead at halftime, Georgia Southern opened the second half with a nine-play, 73-yard drive, capped by a Fields 5-yard touchdown dive to put the Eagles up 17-6. The Eagles held the Jags scoreless in the third quarter, and Ellison added to the lead with a 27 yard TD run 49 seconds into the fourth.
The Georgia Southern defense forced South Alabama to turn the ball over on downs three times inside the Eagle 40-yard line in the second half and held the Jags to field goals three times after moving the ball inside the GS 25-yard line in the game.
Quotable
Head Coach Tyson Summers
On the defense
"What you're seeing is a talented group of guys who have come together and are playing hard and are playing well. As long as we can continue to get a good push up front like we have been, we'll have a chance to continue to be successful."
"Part of us playing good defense the last two weeks is our ability to run the ball, control the clock and give our defense some rest."
On penalties
"Certainly, we have to get the penalties cleaned up, and if we do that, I feel like we have a chance to be good football team."
Senior quarterback Kevin Ellison
On the offense
"I'm very comfortable in our offense. Coach Gillespie and the staff does a great job fitting the scheme to what we do best, and our offensive line did a great job tonight."
On the defense
"This is the best defense I've seen since I've been at Georgia Southern."
Sophomore safety Joshua Moon
On the defense
"I give all the credit to the D-line and the linebackers. They keep it so the quarterback doesn't have much time to throw, and we have the opportunity to bite a little more."
Georgia Southern Football Post-Game Notes
• Captains: #4 Kevin Ellison, #5 Darius Jones Jr., #13 Favian Upshaw, #27 Ironhead Gallon
• Georgia Southern won the toss and deferred to the second half. GS has won both coin tosses this year.
• When South Alabama scored on its opening drive, it marked the first time since the second quarter of the 2015 GoDaddy Bowl that the Eagles had trailed in a game. GS trailed Bowling Green 27-23 in that contest, which was played here in Mobile.
• L.A. Ramsby scored the Eagles' first touchdown of the game on a 1-yard run. It marks the 10th-straight game that he's played in that he scored a touchdown dating back to last season.
• The Eagles led 10-6 at the half, marking the eighth straight game they've led or been tied at the break. The last game they trailed at halftime was the Appalachian State game on Oct. 22, 2015, where they trailed 17-7 and lost 31-13. GS was tied with Georgia 7-7 and tied with Georgia State 7-7 in the streak and the Eagles lost both of those games.
• Freshman tight end Mark Michaud started the second half, making him the seventh true freshman to play this year. Six true freshmen played in the opener: Monquavion Brinson, Kindle Vildor, Todd Bradley, Drew Wilson, Mike Jackson and Ty Phillips.
• Matt Breida had 54 yards rushing in the game, giving him 3,230 for his career, which moves him past Tracy Ham (3,212) for eighth place all-time at Georgia Southern. He now needs 80 yards to pass Greg Hill for seventh place all-time at GS for career rushing.
• The last touchdown given up by the Georgia Southern defense was late in the first half of the 2015 GoDaddy Bowl here in Mobile, 10 full quarters ago and 1:50:36 of game clock. That streak spanning 28 drives. It's the first time with two straight games with no touchdowns allowed since November of 2002.
• The Eagles have now won 17 straight games when leading at the break. The last time they lost when leading at the half was the 2014 season opener when they led NC State on the road 17-3 but lost 24-23.
• The win breaks a four-game losing streak in road openers.
• Georgia Southern is now 3-0 all-time in Mobile and at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.
• GS has played 17 Sun Belt games as it plays its third season in the conference. The Eagles are 15-2 in conference games, although the 2014 win over ULM was vacated due to NCAA violations to make GS officially 14-2 in SBC games.
Next up
The Eagles return home next weekend for their second Sun Belt Conference game, this time against the Warhawks of UL Monroe in Paulson Stadium. The game against the Warhawks will be the Eagles' annual Family Weekend as well as the GATA Club Reunion. The weekend will also include the induction ceremony into the Georgia Southern Athletics Hall of Fame. Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m.
Georgia Southern Athletics provides up-to-date information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics, twitter.com/GSAthletics, iOS app Georgia Southern Eagles and Android app Eagles GATA. Fans can purchase tickets to Georgia Southern Athletics events by visiting GSEagles.com/Tickets.
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Apps White Hot in Home Opener; Roll Past ODU, 31-7
BOONE, N.C – Marcus Cox started the “Whiteout” white hot and the Appalachian State defense did the rest. Cox rushed for three first-half touchdowns, and the Appalachian State defense held Old Dominion to a lone second-quarter touchdown in the Apps’ home opener on Saturday in front of 23,374 fans at The Rock.
Cox had a pair of short TD runs in the first quarter as App State (1-1) roared to an early 17-0 lead. He opened with a 1-yard score to cap an explosive 72-yard opening drive and followed with a 2-yard plunge late in the first to push the lead to 14-0.
The defense did the rest.
The Apps held ODU to 2-of-13 on third-down conversions and 0-of-2 in the red zone. ODU amassed only 140 yards of total yards in the second half and never really mustered enough offense to threaten the Mountaineers’ lead. Tee Sims had two sacks and Kennan Gilchrist (11 tackles) and Eric Boggs (12 tackles) kept ODU quarterback David Washington on the run all afternoon.
Ray Lawry’s 27-yard run in the second quarter cut the lead to 17-7 for a brief moment, but Cox answered with 10-yard score to close out the half and put the Monarchs in a deep hole at the break, 24-7.
Cox carried the load for an App offense that piled up 230 yards rushing and had 318 yards of offense at the half. Taylor Lamb was 14-of-21 for 181 yards and found Barrett Burns and Jaquil Capel in key spots early. Capel had a 40-yard reception on the opening drive to set up Cox TD run and Burns had a pair of long receptions to set up App State in the red zone.
Cox finished with 133 yards on 18 carries, posting his sixth career three-touchdown game. It was also his school-record 24th 100-yard game.
Lawry had 119 yards on 15 carries and the Monarchs’ only score. ODU’s Anthony Wilson had three sacks and 11 tackles to lead the Monarchs’ defense.
App State hosts Miami in a much-anticipated meeting next Saturday at noon at Kidd Brewer Stadium. Kickoff is at noon. The game will be carried on ESPN or ESPN2, which will be announced in the coming days.
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Troy Takes No. 2 Clemson to the Brink
CLEMSON, South Carolina – Troy traveled to No. 2 Clemson as a heavy underdog and walked off the turf of Memorial Stadium with the respect of the nation as the home-standing Tigers escaped with a 30-24 victory over the Trojans on Saturday afternoon.
Clemson (2-0) led by just three points, 13-10, at the half and jumped out to a 17-point lead early in the fourth quarter following a pair of controversial non-fumble calls. Brandon Silvers threw a pair of touchdown passes to Deondre Douglas over the final five minutes of the game around a Clemson field goal to pull Troy within six, 30-24, but an on-sides kick attempt with under a minute to play was unsuccessful.
Troy (1-1) put a stir into the nation midway through the second quarter as head coach Neal Brown went for it on 4th-and-1 from his own 34-yard line. True freshman running back Jabir Frye made the gamble pay off as he went around the edge 66-yards for the game-tying touchdown.
Silvers finished the game 24-of-42 for 233 yards, a pair of touchdowns and two interceptions. Douglas made a game-high 11 catches for 93 yards and two touchdowns, while Emanuel Thompson had six catches for 47 yards.
The Trojans forced Clemson into five three-and-outs in the game and became the first non-conference team to pick off Heisman Trophy candidate Deshaun Watson multiple times as Jalen Rountree and Cedarius Rookard came away with interceptions.
Watson completed just 27-of-53 attempts for 292 yards and three touchdowns, while rushing 10 times for 55 yards. Clemson marginally outgained Troy in the game, 414-386, despite running seven more offensive plays.
Quotable
"Never okay to lose ... that was my message to our football team, and I mean that … I mean that to our fan base," Troy head coach Neal Brown said. "I am proud of all of our coaches and players. I thought our staff did a tremendous job putting our guys in position in all three phases. I am really proud of them. Our players competed and fought all the way to the very end. We played the No. 2 team in the country and gave them everything they wanted. We didn't play our best in any phase, offensively, defensively or special teams. We did not play our best."
Turning Point(s)
Clemson led 13-10 with the ball late in the third quarter and was driving just outside the red zone. Deshaun Watson appeared to complete a pass to Trevion Thompson as he had possession of the ball and made a football move before Troy safety Kris Weatherspoon laid a jarring hit that forced the ball on the turf and the Trojans fell on the loose ball. The play was ruled incomplete and was not reviewed.
Six plays later as Clemson faced 2nd-and-goal on the 1-yard line. As Tyshon Dye attempted to cross the goal line, the ball was knocked out of his hands before a whistle had blown and Troy's Junior Gnonkonde returned it 98-yards for what would have been a go-ahead touchdown. However, officials ruled that forward progress had been stopped and the play was not reviewable.
Stat Geek
After forcing just three turnovers in the first six games of last season, the Trojan defense has forced 20 turnovers over the past eight games dating back to last year, including three today at Clemson.
Notable
Troy falls to 1-20 all-time against ranked opponents. Today's 6-point loss was Troy's second-smallest margin of defeat against a ranked opponent (24-20 at No. 17 LSU in 2004).
Stat of the Game
Troy's defense finished with 5.0 tackles for loss and held Clemson to just 3.8 yards per carry. The Tigers averaged 4.9 yards per carry last season.
Up Next
The Trojans hit the road again next week as they travel to Hattiesburg, Miss., for a matchup against C-USA West Division favorite Southern Miss. The Golden Eagles knocked off Kentucky during the opening weekend of play. This will be the first regular season meeting between the two schools since 1977.
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Oklahoma’s Fast Start Stalls Warhawks
NORMAN, Ok. – A week after a season-opening loss and a fall from the top five rankings, 14th-ranked Oklahoma came out and scored 21 first quarter points on the way to a 59-17 victory over visiting ULM on Saturday night.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: #14 Oklahoma 59, ULM 17
LOCATION: Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
RECORDS: ULM (1-1)
Oklahoma (1-1)
TURNING POINT
-Oklahoma struck first, traveling 75 yards in the opening two minutes before quickly getting the ball back and going on a two minute, 64-yard drive to jump out to the two touchdown lead. They closed the first quarter with their third 60+ yard drive to take a 21-0 lead after the first 15 minutes.
HOW IT HAPPENED
-Oklahoma tallied 640 total yards, including 459 in the first half, while the hosts were 6-for-6 inside the red zone and the Warhawks did not notch a trip to the red zone.
-ULM converted just two third downs in 14 attempts. Oklahoma converted only three attempts, but were forced into only eight third down opportunities.
-Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield tallied 244 yards passing in one half of action. ULM quarterback Garrett Smith finished 22-for-35 passing with 251 yards and two passing touchdowns, both coming in the third quarter.
-10 different Warhawk receivers caught balls in the game, led by R.J. Turner’s seven reception, 135 yard night. Turner caught Smith’s first touchdown pass early in the third quarter, while Alec Osborne (2 catches, 40 yards) pulled down the second touchdown of the night.
-Osborne became the first ULM tight end to score a touchdown this season when he hauled in his pass from Smith. True freshman Kyle Nevels also made the first reception of his career.
-Ben Luckett led the ULM offense with 34 yards rushing on nine attempts. Freshman Duke Carter totaled 20 yards, while wide receiver Marcus Green notched 15 yards rushing off of a reverse play.
-Tre’ Hunter led the Warhawk defense with 10 total tackles (six solo), while 25 total players recorded at least one tackle in the game.
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
-ULM defensive end Caleb Tucker’s third-quarter sack of OU backup quarterback Austin Kendall gave him one sack in each of ULM’s first two games this season.
-Oklahoma moved to 17-1 in home openers and 97-8 in Norman under Bob Stoops.
-Sophomore R.J. Turner’s 73 yard touchdown was his first collegiate touchdown.
-ULM actually had a longer time of possession (30:43) than Oklahoma (29:17).
-Saturday night’s game was the first in the updated Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium after Oklahoma fully enclosed the second endzone during the offseason. The attendance of 87,037 was the largest crowd in OU history and also becomes the largest attended sporting event in the history of the state of Oklahoma.
UP NEXT
The Warhawks now get set to open Sun Belt Conference play next Saturday on the road at Georgia Southern. The Eagles defeated South Alabama 24-9 earlier on Saturday afternoon.
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Auburn Runs Past A-State Football 51-14
JONESBORO, Ark. (9/10/16) – The Arkansas State football team fell to Auburn 51-14 at Jordan-Hare Stadium Saturday night it its first non-conference road game of the season.
“I didn’t see anything where guys didn’t play or anything like that in the second half,” A-State head coach Blake Anderson said. “We were able to put together some drives in the second half and do some things that looked at times. We’ve seen this before and went through this last year and we just have to get through it and get ready for next week.”
Arkansas State scored its first touchdown of the night thanks to a 68-yard pass from Chad Voytik to Christian Booker on the Red Wolves’ second drive of the night. The senior quarterback hit Booker for a pass across the middle of the field and was tackled at the Auburn 1-yard line to setup a quarterback sneak by Voytik on the next play to tie the game a 7-7 with 4:27 to go in the first quarter.
Voytik also led A-State on a 6-play, 53-yard scoring drive in the third quarter that was highlighted by a 34-yard pitch-and-catch to Blake Mack. The senior signal caller capped the drive by running the ball up the middle from five yards out for the Red Wolves’ second score of the night.
Voytik finished the game with two rushing touchdowns, while completing 15-of-21 passes for 215 yards.
Auburn scored on six of seven possessions in the first half to spark a 31-0 run to end the half and a 38-7 halftime advantage. The Tigers racked up 452 yards of total offense in the half and scored five touchdowns. Meanwhile, A-State managed 154 yards of offense in the opening half and struggled to get Auburn off the field as the Tigers converted 7-of-8 third down opportunities.
Arkansas State looked to capitalize early in the game when Auburn fumbled on its opening drive. The Tigers were initially ruled down on the play, but after an official review it was ruled that the play was a fumble and Quanterio Heath had recovered the ball.
Auburn used a pair of big plays in the first quarter to score its first two touchdowns. The Red Wolves drove into Auburn territory thanks to a run by Cam Echols-Luper and a personal foul call on the Tigers, but the drive eventually stalled when Wand was stopped for no gain on a fourth-and-2 play. Auburn took advantage of the A-State miscue and took just four plays to score when Sean White connected with Kerryon Johnson on a screen pass on a busted play and took it 47-yards for the game’s first score.
The Tigers scored again when White connected with Kyle Davis on a 42-yard pass that setup a 1-yard run for Johnson to put Auburn ahead 14-7 near the end of the quarter. Auburn scored again on a 24-yard pass from White to Tony Stevens early in the second quarter, while White connected with Will Hastings for a 29-yard score with 1:49 remaining in the half. Daniel Carlson also scored from 20 yards on a fake field goal and then connected on an 18-yard field goal as time expired to end the half.
Carlson also added a pair of field goals in the second half and a second touchdown pass from White to Stevens rounded out the scoring on the night.
Auburn outgained the Red Wolves with 706 yards of total offense to the Red Wolves’ 326. A-State finished with 260 passing yards and had five tackles for loss on the defensive side. Xavier Woodson-Luster led the team with 10 tackles on the night, while Ja’Von Rolland-Jones had a sack.
A-State will take to the road for its next matchup when it travels to Logan, Utah to take on Utah State Friday, Sept. 16. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. (CT) and the game will be shown on the CBS Sports Network.
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Huskies overwhelm Vandals
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Box Score SEATTLE, Wash. – There are times, coach Paul Petrino said, when you just get beat. Saturday at Husky Stadium that was the case for the Idaho Vandals as they lost 59-14 to eighth-ranked Washington – a team Petrino said is worthy of its ranking.
"We just got whupped," he said. "They whupped us."
That's not to say he thought the Vandals were at their best.
"We didn't play anywhere like I thought we would," he said, "but give them credit. They just got after us up front.
"Our guys stayed fighting in the second half."
Idaho's defense stepped up in the first quarter and allowed just 52 yards total offense. The Huskies' lone score in the first 15 minutes came after a fumble recovery on the opening kickoff gave them the ball on the Idaho 21. They scored in one play on a pass from Jake Browning to Dante Pettis just 16 seconds into the game.
From that point on, Idaho's defense stepped up with a fumble recovery by Tony Lashley (forced by Kaden Elliss) along with two key tackles for loss to keep Washington at bay – for a while.
Washington made it 14-0 with 12:09 left in the first when Browning found Pettis again with a seven-yard pass to cap a 41-yard drive. From that point one, the Huskies started to click. By halftime, they led 35-0. It wasn't until 4:44 remained in the third quarter that the Vandals scored on a 20-yard pass from Matt Linehan to Buck Cowan.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Gunnar Amos scored his first collegiate touchdown on a six-yard run in the fourth quarter.
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PANTHERS FALL TO AIR FORCE 48-14
Colorado Springs, Colo. -- Georgia State fell at Air Force 48-14 Saturday at Falcon Stadium.
Georgia State (0-2) got off to a strong start with a touchdown on its opening drive, and the Panthers trailed 20-14 late in the second quarter, but Air Force (2-0) scored on its final possession of the first half and first two of the second half to take a 41-14 lead midway through the third quarter.
While the Panthers struggled offensively, Air Force rushed for 464 yards, led by quarterback Nate Romine with 124 yards, to win its 14th consecutive home game.
On Georgia State's first possession, quarterback Conner Manning moved the Panthers down the field with a 34-yard completion to Robert Davis and a 17-yard third-down conversion to Glenn Smith before hitting Ari Werts with a 22-yard scoring pass. Werts' first career touchdown gave the Panthers a 7-0 lead three minutes into the game.
But Air Force answered immediately as Tim McVey returned the ensuing kickoff 100 yards for the tying touchdown.
The Falcons put together two time-consuming drives, but both times the Georgia State defense forced Air Force to settle for field goals, the second one giving the Falcons a 13-7 lead early in the second quarter.
After Air Force converted a short field into a touchdown to take a 20-7 lead, Glenn Smith delivered an 88-yard kickoff return to set up the Panthers. Smith bounced off a tackler on the right side of the field, cut back to his left and raced down the sideline before he was finally brought down at the 6-yard line. With Aaron Winchester at quarterback, GSU needed just two plays to get into the end zone with Kendrick Dorn taking it in from the 2 for his first career touchdown. That brought the Panthers within 20-14 with nine minutes to play in the first half.
After an exchange of punts, Air Force quarterback Nate Romine completed consecutive passes of 14 and 32 yards to set up the Falcons' final score of the first half, a 10-yard run by Tyler Williams that put the Falcons ahead 27-14.
Late in the half, Manning hit Davis for 40 yards down to the Air Force 28, but after three straight incompletions, GSU missed a 45-yard field goal attempt.
After Air Force scored on the first possession of the second half, the Falcons executed an onsides kick to regain possession at the 50-yard line to set up another touchdown and a 41-14 advantage with nine minutes to play in the third quarter.
"We couldn't keep our offense on the field .We've got to find our who we are and find a way to run the ball because we just can't keep leaving our defense out there," head coach Trent Miles said. "We've got a lot of things we've got to fix. Our kicking game is struggling right now, and we've got to do a better job of coaching it and executing it.
"We had some opportunities that we couldn't take advantage of. Instead go three-and-out and put the defense back on the field, and they wear you down. Give credit to Air Force; we got beat by a better football team today."
Davis finished with three catches for 79 yards, and the GSU senior is now nine receptions behind the Panthers' career record of 175 by Albert Wilson (2010-13). Davis also topped the 2,500 mark for receiving yards.
Georgia State played without standout receiver Penny Hart and starting defensive end Mackendy Cheridor due to injury.
Georgia State plays the second of three road games next week at Wisconsin with kickoff at 12 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.