ATLANTA – Dan Ellington threw for two scores and Tra Barnett added one on the ground Saturday to lead Georgia State to a 28-15 Sun Belt Conference football victory over the University of South Alabama at Georgia State Stadium.

Ellington was 21-of-27 passing for 208 yards while Barnett carried 23 times for a game-high 128 yards as the Panthers improved to 7-4 overall and 4-3 in the conference.  Jhi'Shawn Taylor paced GSU with 7 stops and Trajan Stephens-McQueen added six — including 1½ for loss — in limiting the Jaguars (1-10, 0-7 Sun Belt) to 154 yards through three quarters.

Desmond Trotter threw for a career-high 218 yards and two scores in addition to rushing for 37 yards, with Tra Minter adding 70 yards on 18 carries for the Jags.  Nick Mobley shared game-high honors with seven stops, and A.J. DeShazor and Keith Gallmono posted six tackles apiece to lead South's defense.

Georgia State 28, South Alabama 15 (final stats)
South Alabama/Georgia State photo gallery

GAME FACTS
-The Jags scored the only points of the opening period on a 34-yard field goal from Diego Guajardo.
-GSU recorded 145 yards of offense in the second quarter and after reaching the end zone on back-to-back drives took a 14-3 lead at the half.
-The Panthers held a 173-23 edge in total offense in the third period — running 24 plays to the Jaguars' 10 — while extending their advantage to 21-3 on a Barnett two-yard run midway through the quarter.
-Jalen Wayne and Jalen Tolbert caught touchdown passes of 20 and 52 yards, respectively, in the final six minutes for the Jaguars to close out the scoring.
-Each team averaged a little over five yards per play, but the Panthers recorded 11 more snaps than the Jaguars.
-Three of GSU's four scoring drives took more than four minutes off the clock as the Panther offense held the ball for just over 32½ minutes.

NOTES
-The all-time series between the two programs is now tied 4-4, with the home team claiming seven of the eight match-ups.
-This was the Jaguars final game on the road this fall.
-The Panthers were the last Sun Belt East Division opponent on the Jags' 2019 schedule as well.
-Minter had 12 rushing yards on the Jaguars' opening possession to become the school's all-time leader in all-purpose yards, ending the contest with 4,210 over the last two-plus seasons after posting 127 against the Panthers.
-It was the team-leading sixth time this year that Mobley has led the Jags in tackles.
-This was the sixth game in a row with stop for loss for Jeffery Whatley — the senior shared game-high honors in the category with Travis Reed after both finished with two — while it was the fourth time this season that the defensive lineman has been credited with multiple tackles behind the line in a game.
-Junior Kawaan Baker tied for the most catches on the team after posting three receptions for 56 yards, marking the first time he has finished with over 50 receiving yards since recording a career-best 126 against Georgia Southern on Oct. 3.
-He tied with TE Brandon Crum for team-high honors, as the freshman entered the contest with one catch in South's first 10 outings of the year but finished with three for 51 yards.
-Devin Rockette accounted for the only takeaway by the Jag defense with his first career interception in third quarter.
-It was the second time in three weeks that Wayne has scored; after going without a catch in his first five appearances this year he now has four receptions for 48 yards this month.
-Tolbert ended up with 74 yards on a pair of catches to lead the team in receiving yards for the third time this season, with all of those games coming in conference play.
-Although Gaujardo has handled kickoff duties for the Jaguars all season it was the first field-goal attempt of his career.
-Fellow freshman Jack Brooks averaged a career-best 49.6 yards on five punts, and he matched another career high after three of those efforts ended up inside the Panther 20-yard line.

THEY SAID IT
South Alabama head coach Steve Campbell
On what he told the team in the locker room after the game: "I told them I was disappointed.  I thought that we took a step backwards today.  The last two weeks, I've felt we had chances to win the game against Louisiana and Texas State, and I thought if we made improvements like we had the last two games, that we would win the game.  We didn't do that though."
On the game against the Panthers: "I thought we started off well; we took it down the field and got a field goal our first drive.  The defense was playing well early, and then we just couldn't muster anything offensively.  We had a chance later in the game to put another drive together, but we got the block in the back penalty that thwarted that drive and we weren't able to overcome it.  We couldn't get anything going the rest of the first half.  We had opportunities in the second half and just left some plays out there.  It's disappointing."
On the program's Senior Day game against Arkansas State: "We'd love to send the seniors out as winners in the final game at Ladd and for our program.  This senior group has been a great group and has provided a lot of leadership through some adverse conditions.  We've got six days to prepare for Arkansas State, if we improve during this next week of practice and become a better football team we'll have a chance to win the game; that's what we need to do.  It would be big to send those guys out as winners."

Junior OL Brian Ankerson
On the game against Georgia State: "We came out and moved the ball pretty well on the first drive, and when we moved the ball after that we were never able to get in the end zone until much later in the second half.  We can't do that to our defense."
On having another opportunity to play on Friday: "It's a big deal, we get to come back home and play one last game for our seniors.  Hopefully we will get a victory for them and send them out the right way."

Sophomore LB A.J. DeShazor
On the mood in the team's locker room: "We felt like we left some plays out there on the field that could've affected the game.  I have pride in my brothers, I never doubt them and I don't doubt our coaches either.  We have to do a job of making a few more plays than the other team."
On playing Arkansas State on Friday: "It's a blessing.  We have to look at every game and every opportunity that's given to us and take advantage of it.  I know my goal is to win the game for our seniors and finish with a bang."

Up next: The Jaguars will play host to Arkansas State on Senior Day, with game time on Friday set for 4 p.m. (CST).

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

Join the South Circle, the unrestricted giving option of the University of South Alabama Athletics.  Contributions to South Circle directly support all 17 sports in addition to various support programming. For more information on how you can join visit: http://jaguarathleticfund.com/give

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