Turnovers can hurt a team, especially for Savannah State who has only won two of their last 15 games.
Georgia State knew that going into their game against the Tigers and forced four turnovers to come away with a 55-21 win at the Georgia Dome Saturday afternoon.
Three of Savannah State’s turnovers came in the first quarter and Georgia State was able to produce 14 points out of the Tigers’ mistakes. The first score came off a pass intercepted by Louie Muasau which led to a Paris Lee 4-yard touchdown run.
“[Antonio Bostick]” likes to throw on the run,” Muasau said. “When he threw it, I was waiting there. I wish I had some moves like Paris Lee. I probably would have made a move but my legs got heavy”
They were able to score again shortly after as Bostick fumbled after a sack by Fred Barnes and was recovered by Muasau and that led to a Drew Little 9-yard touchdown pass to Sam Burkhalter and the Panthers were up by 14 before anyone can blink. Little had another strong game under center, going 16-of-25 with 166 yards and four touchdowns. But Kelton Hill and Star Jackson and both saw time on the field and both excelled when their number was called.
“Both backup quarterbacks are very gifted,” Georgia State head coach Bill Curry said. “We have more talent at quarterback than I have ever enjoyed at any other place I’ve been.”
The Panthers got things rolling in the second quarter, scoring 20 points to cushion their lead by 27 going into halftime. Ian Vance knocked down two fields goals (46 and 27 yards) and Little threw touchdown passes to Danny Williams and Albert Wilson.
Little threw another touchdown pass to Wilson in the beginning of the third quarter was done after that with the score being 41-7 at the point. Jackson came in after that to finish the game and Hill came in sparingly during the game to run quarterback draws. Hill led the team in rushing with 95 yards on six carries and one touchdown, while Jackson went 3-for-4 for 34 yards.
While there was a lot of good in the win for Georgia State, there was some bad Curry addressed after the game. The Panthers won the turnover battle, but did lose a fumble in the first quarter and it marks the fifth consecutive game the Panthers have committed a turnover.
“I really challenged the offense to go out and have zero turnovers,” Curry said. “We’re obviously capable of doing it, but it’s a function of maturity and concentration to drop balls and turn it over will get us beat against a lot of people that are on our schedule.”
Also, the defense did cause four turnovers, but Savannah State scored 21 points which is the most they scored all year. But Curry was quick to say even though they are now 0-6 for the year, they are more talented than one would think.
“I think they’re good,” Curry added. “Bostick is a tremendous talent at quarterback. I would love to not see him again.”
Georgia State will have another home game next Saturday when they take on North Carolina Central. Kickoff will be a 1:00 p.m. at the Georgia Dome. They now improve to 4-2 and have won three consecutive games.
Loading ...
