Despite taking a huge lead early, Georgia State football fell to 1-1 on the young season with 34-31 defeat at the hands of the New Mexico State Aggies on Saturday afternoon from the Georgia Dome.
In similar fashion to last week’s matchup against the Abilene Christian Wildcats, the game started out in promising fashion for Georgia State. The Panthers got on the board first with their first possession in the first quarter. On a third and eight play from their 32 yard line, Nick Arbuckle completed to Donovan Harden for a 68 yard pass for a touchdown to take a 7-0 lead.
Two possessions later, Aggies’ quarterback Tyler Rogers ran the ball for a six yard loss that was recovered by Bryan Williams at New Mexico State’s 28 yard line. Georgia State had to settle for a 38 yard field goal from Wil Lutz to go ahead 10-0.
The first quarter concluded with the Panthers ahead by ten. With over twelve minutes remaining in the first half, an eight yard run from Krysten Hammon put the Panthers ahead 17-0.
The momentum seemed to be all on Georgia State’s side as on the ensuing New Mexico State possession, the Panthers defense stopped the Aggies on a 4th and 1. The ball was on the New Mexico State side of the field. Georgia State was forced into a three and out as they were not having the same success running the football that they had against Abilene Christian.
The Aggies would get on the board with their next possession and were able to drive the ball into the Georgia State red zone. The Panthers defense held New Mexico State to a 41 yard field goal by Maxwell Johnson to make the score 17-3.
On the following Georgia State possession, a pass from Arbuckle was tipped by New Mexico State defensive end Jay Eakins and picked off by Rodney Butler for a 40 yard return to the end zone. The Aggies were within seven at 17-10.
The Panthers would get the ball back and would drive to the New Mexico State 13-yard line. On a 2nd and 9 play, Arbuckle ran the ball before fumbling. The ball was recovered by the Aggies’ Winston Rose.
The turnover did not result in points for the Aggies but Arbuckle was sacked on the Panthers’ final possession to end the half.
New Mexico State was having more success in containing the Georgia State running game than Abilene Christian did the previous week. The Panthers only ran for 28 total yards in the first half while Arbuckle passed for over 200 yards. They had over 100 yards rushing at the half against Abilene Christian.
Linebacker Trey Payne also saw playing time after originally being suspended by Head Coach Trent Miles for four games.
Georgia State would score on the opening possession of the second half with Krysten Hammon ran the ball 54 yards for a touchdown. It put the Panthers ahead 24-10 and was the third longest touchdown run in school history.
Later in the period, New Mexico State would cut the Georgia State lead to seven at 24-17 when quarterback Tyler Rogers connected with wide receiver Teldrick Morgan for a 36 yard touchdown pass.
As the third quarter was nearing its close, the Panthers would commit another turnover when Hammon fumbled the ball and Eakins recovered. The Aggies would convert the Georgia State turnover into points with a 30 yard field goal to make the score 24-20.
The next Georgia State possession would result in a three and out deep in their own territory. New Mexico State started their next drive with great field position at their own 48 yard line and concluded it with a touchdown pass to wide receiver Joseph Matthews. The Aggies would take their first lead of the game with over eight minutes left to play at 27-24.
Late in the fourth quarter, the Panthers would retake the lead with over two minutes left when when Arbuckle kept the ball and found the end zone from one yard out. The score was 31-27.
Needing a touchdown, the Aggies would have one more offensive possession for the game. New Mexico State was able to move the ball efficiently on their final drive, resulting in a touchdown pass from Rogers to Morgan to put the Aggies ahead 34-31 with 15 seconds remaining.
The final Panthers offensive possession concluded in an Arbuckle interception by Dalon Herrington.
Arbuckle finished the game by completing 21 out of his 37 passes with 294 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. He also ran for 11 yards and a touchdown. Rogers ended up with 241 yards on 25 out of 44 passing and three touchdowns and one interception.
After the game, Miles said that the loss was due to turning the ball over too many times.
“We basically self-destructed,” Miles said. “We allowed them to get momentum and get back into the game. The lesson here is to learn how to finish when you go ahead. You cannot allow teams to get back into games.”
Hammon, who finished the game with 25 carries and 127 rushing yards felt that the team started to get comfortable after Arbuckle’s late touchdown.
“We thought we had it won. We just didn’t finish,” Hammon said. “I feel like when we got up that we relaxed a little bit. We should’ve done the complete opposite. It’ll hurt for a bit, but we will shake it off and come back stronger next week.”
The team will conclude its opening homestand next week on Saturday, Sept. 13 when they place Air Force at 2 p.m.
