South Alabama Suffers Fourth-Consecutive Loss With 31-14 Defeat By Georgia State
South Alabama’s losing streak grows to four after Georgia State comes into Hancock Whitney Stadium and brings home a 31-14 win.
The Jaguars (3-6, 2-4 Sun Belt Conference) attempted to take control of the game in the second half after taking a brief 14-7 lead in the third quarter. However the Panthers (4-4, 3-4 SBC) scored 24 unanswered points to finish the game.
The struggling offensive line allowed seven sacks in the game. That number tied the school record by an opponent that was set in 2012 when the Jags traveled to NC State. The offensive line was missing starters Jacob Shoemaker and Connor Estes for the second-consecutive game due to Covid and contact tracing.
Over the last four games the Jags offensive line has allowed 20 sacks. To say the offensive line pay has been atrocious would be an understatement.
South Alabama has guaranteed a seventh consecutive losing season with only two games left in the 2020 season.
On the second offensive play of the game, South Alabama’s Christian Bell picked off quarterback Cornelious Brown IV at the Panther 34 yard line. They capitalized quickly when Carlos Davis took it in from 17 yards out to give the Jags a 7-0 lead with 13:05 remaining in the opening quarter.
Georgia State was threatening to score when Keon Voisin recovered a fumble at the Jaguar 19 yard line with 8:37 left in the first quarter. However the Jags couldn’t get anything going and punted the ball away.
The Panthers were able to capitalize on their next possession to tie the game 7-7 with 13:25 left in the first half. The Jags were aided by an unsportsmanlike penalty on the PAT.
On the ensuing kickoff, Kawaan Baker fielded the kick at the 21 and seemingly got a big return, was hit deep in Panther territory and fumbled, which was recovered by a Jag and advanced into the end zone for what seemed like a touchdown. However an illegal block was called on Cade Sutherland brought the ball back to the Jaguar 22.
Facing 4th and 8 at the Panther 39 yard line, head coach Steve Campbell opted to go for it. All of Trotters options down field were well covered and he was forced to dump it off to Carlos Davis, who was dropped for a two yard loss and giving the ball to the Panthers at their own 41 with 9:40 left in opening half.
The Jags got the ball back again when Shawn Jennings intercepted the Panthers at the 11 yard line and returned it 15 yards. But the Jags gave the ball back a few plays later when Terrion Avery fumbled and the ball was recovered at the Panther 38.
The Panthers were threatening to take the lead just before halftime but Devin Rockette made a spectacular play to intercept the fade pass in the end zone with one hand and still manage to get his foot down inbounds.
The Jags came out flat in the third quarter but finally got in gear offensively about midway through the quarter.
After taking over on their own 30 yard line, the Jags quickly drove 70 yards on 8 plays only consuming 1:32 off the clock. Jared Wilson had a fumble overturned by replay officials after finding he was down before the call came loose. He then carried the ball three more times for 31 yards, aided by a 15 yard personal foul penalty, to score on a 7 yard touchdown run to put the Jags ahead 14-7 with 6:11 left in the third quarter.
The Panthers answered right back with a lightning fast 3 play, 75 yard drive in only 55 seconds. The big play was on 2nd and 3 when Brown hooked up with Sam Pinckney for 65 yards to the Jaguar 3 yard line.
After a three-and-out by the Jags, the Panthers put together a 5 play, 80 yard drive in only 1:46 to take their first lead of the game 21-14 with 2:05 left in the third quarter.
The Jags had another three-and-out to give the ball back to the Panthers with 43 seconds left in the third quarter. THe Panther drive would stall at the Jaguar 5 yard line and they would have to settle for a 23 yard field goal to extend their lead to 24-14 over the Jags with 11:03 left in the game.
The Jaguar offense finally broke their three-and-out streak when Trotter connected with Jalen Tolbert for 30 yards to the Georgia State 48. But the Jags would give the ball back over on downs when they could not convert 4th and 11.
The Panthers picked right back up where they left off and hit on a 43 yard pass on their second play of the possession to get to the Jaguar 7 yard line. They would punch it in from the 1 yard line to make it 31-14.
Georgia State rolled up 556 yards of total offense on the Jaguar defense. The Panthers threw for 334 yards and rushed for 222 more while converting 9-of-14 on third down.
Brown went 19-of-28 for 334 yards with three interceptions for the game. Sam Pinckney led all receivers with 176 yards on five catches. Roger Carter and Jamyest Williams both caught 5 passes as well for 71 and 48 yards respectively.
Tucker Gregg led all rushers with 79 yards on 18 carries with three touchdowns. Jamyest Williams added 68 yards on 10 carries in addition to his receiving yards.
South Alabama had 324 total yards of offense, 211 yards through the air and 113 on the ground. They were a mere 8-of-19 on third downs and 0-of-3 on 4th down attempts.
Desmond Trotter went 25-of-43 for 211 yards. Jalen Tolbert led the Jags with 75 yards on five catches. Baker added 37 yards on five catches.
Jared Wilson rushed for 49 yards on 7 carries with a touchdown. Carlos Davis added 38 yards on eight carries with a touchdown.
We’re very disappointed in the outcome of this game,” said head coach Steve Campbell after the game. “I thought the guys played hard, but we need to play better. We need to score more points. We need to get off the field more defensively.”
“We were up 7-0 early, but we couldn’t get any separation,” Campbell explained. “We couldn’t score points, and that’s been our issue. You’ve got to score to beat a good team, and we weren’t able to matriculate the ball down the field enough to score points.”
“It’s very disappointing,” Jalen Tolbert said. “The defense gave us four turnovers and we couldn’t get more points than we did. We’ve just got to execute better. We had all the momentum and we let it slip away.”
South Alabama will travel to Jonesboro, Arkansas for their final road game of the season when they face Arkansas State at 2pm. The Red Wolves will look to exact revenge for the regular season finale where the Jags upset them at Ladd-Peebles Stadium 34-30 last season.
