It took a heroic effort by a reserve quarterback to crush Georgia State’s dreams of another upset against an opponent from the SEC.
Sophomore T.J. Finley, inserted in the fourth quarter to replace struggling starter Bo Nix, directed a 98-yard scoring drive in the final three minutes Saturday to help the No. 23-ranked Tigers slip past Georgia State 34-24 and avoid the upset.
On fourth-and 8 at the 10, Finley dropped back under pressure, avoided the pass rush of Jontrey Hunter and Blake Carroll, and found a jumping Shedrick Jackson in the middle of the end zone with 45 seconds left. A two-point conversion pass from Finley to Kobe Hudson gave Auburn a 27-24 lead.
The outcome was sealed with 31 seconds left when Darren Grainger was intercepted by Auburn’s Smoke Monday, who returned the ball for a 36-yard touchdown to ice the game.
“It’s amazing it comes down to a fourth-down play where we get amazing pressure on a quarterback, and he delivers the game-winning touchdown,” Georgia State coach Shawn Elliott said. “It’s disappointing to walk in that locker room and see a team that’s given everything they had and come up short. This sport can rip you apart, and that was a tough one to lose tonight.”
The game was reminiscent of Georgia State’s win over Tennessee in 2019. But unlike that game in Knoxville, when Georgia State was dominant in the second half, the Panthers managed very little offense in the final two quarters. Auburn forced GSU to go three-and-out four times in the second half and held the Panthers scoreless and limited them to 85 total yards.
“I told them in the locker room (at halftime), we were fixing to get their best shot,” Elliott said. “They had to play better inside against us in the second half because we controlled the running game for the most part. ... In the second half we never got ahead of the chains. I thought we were going to continue to have success, and I thought we would have controlled it enough to get some points on the board, and it’s unfortunate we did not.”
Grainger completed 12 of 24 passes for 117 yards and two touchdowns, with one interception, and rushed 17 times for 61 yards. Tucker Gregg ran 12 times for 150 yards – only eight of those coming in the second half.
Finley, a 6-foot-7, 246-pound sophomore, completed nine of 16 passes for 97 yards. Bo Nix was 13-for-27 passing for 156 yards before he was replaced. Jarquez Hunter ran 10 times for 63 yards, and Tank Bigsby carried 18 times for 68 yards.
The second half was a complete reversal from the first half, when Georgia State showed its ability to run the ball against a bigger Auburn defense. Gregg broke through the left side and ran for a career-long 57 yards to set up Noel Ruiz’s 32-yard field goal. Ruiz has been good on his past 11 tries.
Auburn’s answer was a field goal, one of four kicked in the first half by Anders Carlson, who was good from 40, 23, 27 and 45 yards. Otherwise the Tigers had issues reaching the end zone, and the frustration from the homecoming crowd at Jordan-Hare Stadium reached several decibels as the team left the field at halftime.
Georgia State’s offense played with confidence. Grainger threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Jamari Thrash, who didn’t have a defender within 10 yards of him in the end zone, and a 7-yard touchdown to Roger Carter, who also was alone. The Panthers led 24-12 at halftime thanks to Gregg’s 50-yard touchdown run. He had 142 yards on six carries at the half.
“They’re a very different type of offense,” Auburn coach Bryan Harsin. “We had to make adjustments and had to play fast and physical, and we were able to do that.”
The GSU defense was able to prevent Auburn’s running attack from scoring on a big run and were able to hold Bigsby in check for 40 yards. The Panthers kept pressure on Nix, who was sacked once by Chris Moore and who completed only 11 of 22 first-half attempts.
Auburn finally got a break late in the third quarter. The Tigers bull-rushed punter Michael Hayes and Colby Wooden blocked the kick, which was recovered in the end zone by Barton Lester for their first touchdown.
“Each one of us played our hearts out, and we left it on the field,” Georgia State linebacker Jordan Veneziale said. “We have no regrets with the way we played. It was heartbreaking, but we left it all on the field.”
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