Georgia State coach Shawn Elliott challenged his players to return to their roots of physical football after the team’s disappointing loss to Appalachian State. The result, 10 days later, indicates the Panthers accepted the challenge and responded positively.
On Saturday, Georgia State celebrated Homecoming with an emphatic 31-17 win over Old Dominion at Center Parc Stadium, a victory that emphasized a fierce running attack that consumed massive amounts of the clock and an aggressive defense that silenced two of the hotter players in the country.
The win puts the Panthers at 3-5 overall and 2-2 in the Sun Belt. The goal of reaching a bowl game for the fourth consecutive year remains on the table.
“Last Monday, coach Elliott said this is the first day of a five-game win streak,” Georgia State running back Tucker Gregg said. “We’re going to win every one of the five games. We’re not going down. We’ve got four more games to go, and we’re right back on track of where we need to be.”
Gregg, a fifth-year senior, rushed 19 times and gained 52 yards to become the school’s all-time rushing leader. He now has 2,165 yards and 24 rushing touchdowns for his career. He also caught his first two passes of the season, for 24 yards.
Gregg was part of Georgia State’s ground-control machine that ran 62 times for 218 yards, threw for 195 and kept the ball for 37 minutes, 20 seconds. Quarterback Darren Grainger completed 14 of 20 passes and one touchdown and was sacked only once. Grainger also ran 19 times for 104 yards and one touchdown.
“Offensively, handling the possession time by running the football,” Elliott said. “They weren’t just huge bursts of run, but they were tough runs – four or five yards and a few longer ones.”
Georgia State had three drives that lasted 10-plus plays, one leading to a touchdown and another to a field goal that made it a three-score game and turned the lights out on Old Dominion (3-5, 2-2).
And as dominant as the offense was, the defense did its job, too. It limited ODU to 26 yards rushing, came up with six sacks, one fumble recovery and one interception. The Monarchs had 257 yards through the air, but 93 of those came on two catches. And in the final quarter, once Georgia State had its 17-point lead, the Panthers relentlessly attacked the quarterback.
“I’d say we stopped them from running the ball first because once we stopped them in the first half, they really didn’t run it at all,” linebacker Justin Abraham said. “They started putting it in the air. We trust and rely on the DBs to do their job, and they did.”
Abraham had four tackles, one hurry, one breakup and his first career interception, which he celebrated by taking the ball to his mom and giving her a kiss.
Starring on the line were Thomas Gore (two sacks, one forced fumble), Jeffery Clark (1.5 sacks), Jontrey Hunter (seven tackles, one sack) and Javon Denis (one-half of a sack, one fumble recovery).
“As a former defensive lineman, there’s nothing better than knowing you’ve got somebody on the ropes and you can just get ready to rush that passer,” Elliott said. “It’s getting to me right now. It’s third down, and I’ve got to lay it back and push those tackles back and create havoc. … I’m all for havoc.”
Old Dominion’s Ali Jennings, the nation’s leading receiver, was limited to three receptions for 24 yards. Blake Watson, who had rushed for 259 in an upset win over Coastal Carolina, had only 53 yards on 14 carries.
The first half was close. After both teams failed to convert fourth-down gambles on their opening possessions, the Monarchs got on the board when quarterback Hayden Wolff lofted a pass to Javon Harvey for a 61-yard touchdown.
Georgia State was moving the ball effectively on the next possession, but Tailique Williams had the ball stripped by Robert Kennedy at the end of a catch, and ODU’s Tre Hawkins recovered. But the Monarchs couldn’t move the ball and were forced to punt, and Williams redeemed himself with a 28-yard return to the 9. Two plays later, Gregg scored on a 4-yard run to tie the score at 7-7.
Georgia State took a 14-7 lead with 10:04 left in the half when Grainger threw a 38-yard touchdown to Jamari Thrash, who had a 37-yard catch earlier in the drive. ODU then answered on a 75-yard drive capped by a 12-yard touchdown pass from Wolff to Ali Jennings to tie the score at 14-14.
Georgia State went ahead 21-14 when Grainger finished a 17-play, 80-yard drive with a 1-yard keeper at 5:00 in the third quarter. Grainger converted two third downs with keepers on the drive.
The Panthers made the score 28-14 after Gore sacked and stripped Wolff. Denis recovered for GSU at the 11, and Marcus Carroll ran it in on the next play for his first touchdown.
Georgia State put it away with 6:20 left on a 26-yard field goal by Hayes, which completed a 17-play drive and extended the lead to 31-14.
Old Dominion broke the scoreless streak when Ethan Sanchez, kicked a 41-yard field goal with 4:51 left, to make the score 31-14. The Monarchs failed to recover the onside kick but, helped by a holding penalty, forced the Panthers to go three-and-out and keep their hopes alive. That evaporated when Abraham intercepted Wolff’s fourth-down pass.
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