MOBILE, Ala. – Tucker Gregg scored three second-half touchdowns on Saturday to help rally Georgia State to a 31-14 Sun Belt Conference football victory over the University of South Alabama at Hancock Whitney Stadium.

Gregg finished with a game-high 79 yards on 18 carries, with Jaymest Williams posting 68 yards as well as the Panthers (4-4, 3-4 Sun Belt) rushed for 222 yards in the contest.  Cornelious Brown IV threw for 334 yards on 19-of-28 passing , with Sam Pinckney posting 176 receiving yards on five catches.

Jared Wilson and Carlos Davis rushed for 49 and 38 yards, respectively, with each scoring a touchdown for the Jaguars (3-6, 2-4 SBC).  Desmond Trotter completed 25-of-43 attempts for 211 yards, finding Jalen Tolbert and Kawaan Baker each five times with the latter recording 75 yards.

Nick Mobley led all players with 16 stops, and Riley Cole added 11 to go along with a forced fumble for South.  Trajan Stephens-McQueen matched Cole with 11 tackles to pace the GSU defense.

Georgia State 31, South Alabama 14 (game stats)
South Alabama/Georgia State photo gallery

GAME FACTS
-Christian Bell's interception on the second play of the game led to a Davis 17-yard touchdown run four snaps later, with the Jags holding that 7-0 advantage at the end of the opening quarter.
-The score was tied at the break after the Panthers capped a 15-play, 96-yard march with a one-yard Brown IV touchdown run less than two minutes into the second period.
-After Wilson gave the Jaguars a 14-7 advantage, GSU responded with back-to-back scoring drives — Gregg reached the end zone from three and 33 yards out — taking less than two minutes off the clock to go ahead 21-14 before the end of the third quarter.
-Michael Hayes converted a 23-yard field goal and Gregg scored a third touchdown in the final period to close out the scoring.
-The Panthers held a 556-324 advantage in total offense, outgaining South 284-152 in the second half.
-The Jaguars forced four turnovers in the contest, but GSU's defense countered with seven sacks.

NOTES
-It was the Panthers' first victory in the series in Mobile.
-This was the Jaguars first home game in 28 days and the only time they will play at Hancock Whitney Stadium this month.
-Bell and Shawn Jennings became the second and third Jaguar linebackers to post their first career interceptions this fall, joining Mobley who accomplished the feat a week ago at Louisiana.
-USA had intercepted three passes in their first eight contests in 2020 before picking off three in this contest.
-It was the most turnovers South has forced since recording six in a Nov. 11, 2017, victory over Arkansas State, which was the last time the unit had four takeaways in a half prior to today.
-Mobley posted a double-figure tackle total for the second straight outing, the first time he's done so in back-to-back games in his career.
-This was Cole's team-leading fourth outing with 10-plus stops.
-Davis' touchdown run was his first dating back to when South defeated Texas State in its Sun Belt opener on Oct. 17.
-Wilson reached the end zone for the first time in over a year, having last accomplished the feat on Nov. 16 against Louisiana before scoring in the third quarter.
-He entered play with 34 yards in the Jaguars' first eight games this fall.

THEY SAID IT
South Alabama head coach Steve Campbell
On the loss: "We didn't play well enough to finish.  Defensively, we created some turnovers; our defense played well early, especially creating turnovers to give us some opportunities to create some separation.  We couldn't score points, and that's been our issue and you have to score points to beat a good team. We weren't able to move the ball enough to score points."
On moving on from the loss: "I'm very disappointed in the outcome of this game.  The guys played hard, but we obviously need to play better — we need to score more points and be able to get off the field a little more defensively.  Now, we'll have a chance to show our character.  Two weeks from today the regular season is over.  We have Arkansas State and Troy left, and what we need to do now is regroup and refocus, and find a way to go win this week against Arkansas State.  And after that we have the 'Battle for the Belt.'  We're playing for a lot.  We need to get back and find a way to overcome some of the things that are stopping us right now, and pull together and go win this football game."
On the second half: "Jared has as good a series as a guy can have.  We had the momentum at that point in time, and from that point on we couldn't make a play to score again and we had a hard time making a play to get off the field.  Those are the things that we have to find a way to where when things start slipping away, somebody has to step up and make a play."

Senior LB Christian Bell
On the loss: "It wasn't good.  I'm very upset right now, but we're going to go back to work, put this in the past and move on to Arkansas State."
On the Georgia State offense in the second half: "I don't think we made enough plays on defense.  On defense you have to make plays for it to be good, and we didn't do that in the second half."
On his interception: "Their quarterback faked it to the running back and pulled it, and tried to hit a quick ball.  I just put my hands up, and luckily the ball fell right into my hands when I blocked it."

Sophomore QB Desmond Trotter
On the game:  "It was very disappointing.  When the defense goes out gets you four turnovers, we have to execute and capitalize when we get the ball back.  We had momentum and we just kept losing it.  We were like 'we're this close' and we have to finish."
On not scoring off the turnovers: "It definitely cost us.  We got drives started, but we could never finish.  You cannot ask for a better performance out there [from the defense].  Georgia State had a lot of yards, but the defense forced four turnovers.  We have to capitalize."
On what head coach Steve Campbell said after the game: "We have to keep pushing.  We can see it, but we have to finish drives and put points on the board."

Up next: USA plays its final road game of the regular season at Arkansas State at 2 p.m. (CST) on Saturday.

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).

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