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MOBILE, Ala. – In a game that saw five lead changes in the second half, Brandon Bridge and Danny Woodson II combined for the final points of the night with an 18-yard touchdown pass to lift the University of South Alabama football team to a 30-27 Sun Belt Conference victory over Georgia State Saturday at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.

It capped a three-play, 85-yard march — one that required just 62 seconds — with four minutes and two seconds left, helping the Jaguars (4-2, 3-1 Sun Belt) to their third straight win; all of those have come in league play.  It also helped USA extend its win streak on Homecoming weekend to six.

Trailing 27-23 after the Panthers (1-6, 0-4 SBC) scored with 9:48 to go on a one-yard Duvall Smith run, Bridge broke loose for a 65-yard run then hit Woodson II two plays later as the Jags earned their second win in as many years over GSU.  After E.J. May stopped Nick Arbuckle four yards short of a first down with two-and-a-half minutes left to play, Kendall Houston picked up two first downs while recording 17 yards on four carries to seal the victory.

"I told the team after the game that I'm not real pleased with some of the things we did tonight, but there are some things I am pleased with.  It wasn't a complete game for us, but it's a win," said Jaguar head coach Joey Jones.  "You can't always play great.  I didn't think we played great tonight and we still won; I thought that was a big deal.  The last three series were in our favor — we scored, stopped them and then ate the clock up.  I thought that was a great way to win."

Bridge would lead USA in rushing for the first time with a career-best 137 yards on 15 attempts, the most ever by a Jag quarterback.  He added 126 yards passing for 263 yards of total offense while accounting for three scores.

GSU took its final lead with a drive that covered 76 yards in 11 plays and just over five minutes, with the biggest gain coming on a 29-yard completion from Arbuckle to Robert Davis.  The two combined for a 57-yard pass early in the third quarter as well, with Arbuckle hitting Donovan Harden for a five-yard touchdown and a 21-17 Panther advantage with nine-and-a-half minutes left in the third quarter.

Arbuckle completed 23-of-40 attempts for 311 yards and three touchdowns, while Harden led all players with 132 yards on 10 receptions.  Davis surpassed the 100-yard mark for the second year in a row against the Jaguars after finishing with 108 on just four catches, and Joel Ruiz had seven receptions for an additional 75.

Jeremé Jones' 48-yard run back on his first punt return of the season allowed USA to take over on the GSU 15-yard line late in the third quarter, however, with Aleem Sunanon's 28-yard field goal bringing the Jaguars within a point, 21-20, with two-and-a-half minutes left in the period.  The sophomore would hit again from 43 yards outs 10 seconds into the final quarter, giving the Jags a 23-21 edge.

It's the first time the Jaguars have won when trailing after three quarters since picking up their first-ever conference victory with a 37-34 double-overtime decision over Florida Atlantic on Oct. 20, 2012.

Theo Rich ended the Panthers' opening possession of the second half with his school game-record third sack of the night, with a 27-yard punt leaving the Jag offense a short field to work with.  Jay Jones carried for pick ups of 13 and 12 yards to move USA to the GSU-16, and two plays later Bridge gave the Jaguars a 17-14 lead with a 15-yard touchdown pass to Shavarez Smith.

Rich would go on to add on to his mark with another half-sack early in the fourth quarter, posting a career-best eight stops overall.  Terrell Brigham paced USA with 10 tackles, Roman Buchanan added nine and a pass break up, while the quartet of Maleki Harris, Jesse Kelley, Desmond LaVelle and Demarius Rancifer collected six stops each — both Kelley and LaVelle were credited with two behind the line of scrimmage.

Jones finished with 71 yards on 16 carries, with Xavier Johnson supplying 58 yards and Houston a season-high 55 as the Jags finished with a 321-90 advantage on the ground.  USA outgained the Panthers 447-401 overall on the night.

After the opening kickoff, USA marched down the field 76 yards in 16 plays — five more than their previous longest scoring drive of the year — and nearly six minutes before Bridge scored on a run from five yards out to put the Jags up 7-0.  They picked up six first downs on the possession, including five on the ground on gains of 10 yards from Bridge, eight by Jones and three from Houston before Johnson rushed for pick ups of three and 13 yards; the first moved the Jaguars into the red zone, the second to the GSU-5.

The Panthers would respond just over a minute-and-a-half later, capping their initial possession with a 44-yard touchdown pass from Arbuckle to Harden, with GSU getting the ball back after a three-and-out.  But after picking up a first down Buchanan forced a fumble following a completion that Davin Hawkins recovered at the Panther 45-yard line, leading to a season-long 43-yard field goal from Sunanon and a 10-7 USA advantage with just over three minutes remaining in the opening quarter.

GSU looked like it would once again answer a Jag score with points of its own, but was stopped twice on plays from the USA-1.  First Rancifer and Montell Garner combined to stop Jonathan Lytle just short of the goal line, and on fourth down Brigham and Buchanan pulled down Arbuckle in the backfield for a loss of one yard.  Arbuckle would put the Panthers in front 14-10 on their next possession, however, when he hit Ruiz for a one-yard score with 12:45 left in the half to cap a 50-yard drive after the GSU defense forced a three-and-out.

"We knew going in — other than last week — that Georgia State is playing unbelievable this year.  They are the most improved team in the Sun Belt," explained Jones.  "They're very good on offense, but our guys really played well inside the red zone.  [Defensive coordinator] Coach [Travis] Pearson really stresses that — it's a big deal.  They're not in there until they're in there and our guys fought and kept them out of there.  Some of the biggest plays of the game were on the goal line."

Gerald Howse led GSU's rushing attack with 53 yards on 13 attempts.  Defensively Tarris Batiste was credited with a game-high 11 tackles, while Trey Payne and Joseph Peterson each added 10.

"We had opportunities to win the game, but give South Alabama credit, they stepped in and did it at the end when they had to," Panther head coach Trent Miles stated.   "Joey is doing a great job with them, he's done a great job building the program the right way.  We're trying to build our program, and our kids are battling their tails off.  I'm proud of them.  We're going to start winning football games, I don't know when it's going to happen but it will."

USA will play host to conference rival Troy Friday at 6:30 p.m., with the game scheduled to be broadcast nationally on ESPNU.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

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