Turnovers Cost Georgia State in Thriller - BionicBeard52's Dynasty

BionicBeard52's Dynasty Blog

Turnovers Cost Georgia State in Thriller

Posted on December 18, 2013 at 04:31 PM.

(0)

Samford Bulldogs at Georgia State Panthers
Aug 28, 2013	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Samford Bulldogs (1-0)	0	21	7	10	38
Georgia State Panthers (0-1)	14	7	0	13	34

A new era of Panther football started with a loss Saturday as the Panthers failed to build on a 14-0 lead early, leading to a frustrating 38-34 loss. Sophomore QB Ben McLane struggled, throwing 3 INTs and coughing up the ball once as well for 4 total turnovers. A bright spot for the Panthers was Junior HB Gerald Howse who ran for a school record 203 yards on 26 carries. Quite a performance Howse and perhaps an indicator of what is to come for Georgia State and this offense who ran the ball very efficiently.

The Panthers almost came up with the win after McLane connected with fellow Sophomore Avery Sweeting for the 38 yard TD to put Georgia State up 34-31 with 1:10 left. The Bulldogs would not be outdone though as Senior QB Tim Brown led Samford down the field and into field goal range. With less than 30 seconds left Brown was able to find his receiver open near the goal line and connected with him for a 14 yard TD pass to put the Bulldogs up for good.

Head coach Trent Miles was asked how he thought his team played in their first game as a FBS school, "Well we lost to an FCS school, no disrespect to Samford they played a great game, but we have to take better care of the ball if we're going to compete at this level." Offensive coordinator Zach Fanko also had a few words about how the offense ran, "I thought other than the turnovers our offense played very well, have to give credit to the o-line. They opened up some holes today for Gerald who ran the ball very well today. Hopefully we can fix the turnover issues before next week."

Georgia State will stay home next week as they welcome in the Mocs of Chattanooga.