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ATLANTA – Georgia State outgained the University of South Alabama football team by over 130 yards in the second half Saturday, using three scoring drives of six-plus minutes to rally for a 24-10 Sun Belt Conference victory over the Jaguars at the Georgia Dome.

Nick Arbuckle was 27-of-44 passing for 311 yards and a score, with the trio of Donovan Harden, Penny Hart and Robert Davis catching seven passes each to help the Panthers (4-6, 3-3 Sun Belt) snap a two-game win streak for USA (5-5, 3-3 SBC) in the series.  Both of GSU's victories over the Jags have come in Atlanta.

The Panthers had only 139 yards of total offense at the half, but recorded 245 after the break to finish with 384 while outgaining the Jaguars by 100 yards.

"Obviously they took over offensively and scored 17 points, and they had long drives where they kept the ball," explained USA head coach Joey Jones.  "Offensively we didn't really do a lot, we had chances in the first half but dropped four or five passes so we didn't take advantage of our chances to go up more.  We didn't play well at all on offense in the second half; we didn't have the ball much, but still didn't move it down the field when we got it."

The GSU rally began in the second quarter when, down 10-0, it responded by moving 76 yards in 18 plays, taking nearly six-and-a-half minutes off the clock before Arbuckle scrambled up the middle and found his way into the end zone from two yards out to make it a three-point contest midway through the period.

GSU used another drive of nearly seven minutes to tie the game with just over eight minutes left in the third quarter, taking the opening kickoff of the second half and going 63 yards before Wil Lutz kicked a 26-yard field goal to knot the score, 10-10.  On third-and-14 from the GSU-40 the Jags appeared to stop Harden shy of the first down marker, but the Panther receiver was ruled to have picked up 15 yards on the completion and a first down after video review.  Arbuckle and Harden connected again on third down later in the possession, with the pass for 23 yards moving GSU inside the Jaguar five-yard line.

After forcing a three-and-out, the Panthers took their first lead, 17-10, on the opening play of the final quarter when Demarcus Kirk scored on a one-yard run with GSU facing third-and-goal — Arbuckle found Davis for 21 yards to move the ball to midfield, then he hit Hart six plays later for 31 more to put GSU back inside the Jag five-yard line.

USA would have the ball for just three plays — gaining nine yards in two minutes and six seconds — in the third quarter, while the Panther drive to take the lead covered 78 yards in 12 plays and just over six minutes.  

With just over nine minutes remaining GSU doubled its advantage when Arbuckle connected with Hart on an 11-yard touchdown pass, capping an 85-yard march that required 10 snaps in a little less than four-and-a-half minutes.

Harden recorded a game-high 94 yards receiving, with Hart supplying 77 and Davis adding 67.

The Panthers were 13-of-20 on third downs, and they held the ball for 20 minutes in the second half — GSU had possession for 35 minutes and 10 seconds overall.

"We gave up a lot of third-down conversions, and on third-and-long too; whether it was third-and-12, third-and-11 or third-and-nine, they were converting," Jones commented.  "They had a lot of long drives — we only had the ball once offensively in the third quarter — so they controlled the ball and did what they had to do.  That's the way you win football games.  That's the way we have won football game, we just didn't do it tonight."

Joseph Peterson paced a Panther defense that surrendered only 112 yards after the intermission, finishing with eight stops — including one for loss — and a pass broken up.  Shawayne Lawrence chipped in with six tackles, Melvin King recorded five, and both Bobby Baker and Chandon Sullivan collected four apiece.  Eight different individuals contributed to a total of nine passes defensed for the unit.

Xavier Johnson ran back the opening kickoff 69 yards, setting up the Jag offense with a short field for their first possession.  Four plays and less than two minutes later, USA went up 7-0 on a 17-yard Tyreis Thomas touchdown run, the first of his Jaguar career.  Late in the period — after the two teams punted to end the next five drives — USA took over on its own 14-yard line with just over two minutes to go.  Cody Clements converted one third down with a nine-yard run, then another after finding Marvin Shinn for a gain of 24 yards down the right sideline; the Panthers were called for a late hit after the second play, moving the ball to the GSU-38.  Facing third down once again, Clements hooked up with Gerald Everett for a 19-yard completion, with another personal foul call — this time for a facemask — put the Jags in the red zone on the seven-yard line.  On the third play of the second quarter, Aleem Sunanon connected on a 47-yard field goal to extend the advantage to 10-0.

Those would be the only catches of the night for both Shinn and Everett.

The Jags finished with 159 yards on the ground, with Clements and Johnson recording 48 and 46, respectively, as each carried 10 times.  Thomas had six rushes for 43 yards as well.

D.J. Vinson led the team with four catches for 28 yards, Woodson II finished with 28 yards on three receptions, while Johnson and Kevin Kutchera caught two passes each.  Clements was 14-of-34 for 125 yards through the air.

Blake Dees paced all players with nine stops, including eight of the solo variety, while Jeremy Reaves posted seven solo tackles and Kalen Jackson was credited with a total of seven as well.  Antonio Carter, Devon Earl and Margo Reed finished with five stops each.

The Jags will return to the Peach State for their final road game of the regular season next Saturday when they visit Georgia Southern; kickoff in Statesboro is set for 1 p.m. (CST).

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).

—USA—