Georgia State Panthers fight hard early, ultimately run out of steam at Auburn
ATLANTA — It was a tale of two halves at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Al. on Saturday afternoon, as the Georgia State Panthers were anything but intimidated by the SEC crowd and immediately put Top 25-ranked Auburn on notice that they were there to compete.
The Panthers running game, led by senior bruiser Tucker Gregg, came bursting through the gates in this one, rushing over, around, and through Auburn鈥檚 seemingly uninspired defense for 219 yards in the first half. By the end of the second quarter, the upstart Panthers had put 24 points up on the board while their defense had limited Auburn to four field goals.
It was not to last for the Panthers however, as the Auburn defense regained focus and came out of halftime with necessary adjustments. After moving the ball almost at will during the first half, the Panthers were shutout over the final two quarters.
Finding the end zone remained a chore for the Auburn offense throughout this one, but a blocked punt that resulted in a special-teams touchdown in the third quarter got them to within one score. Later, a change at quarterback from junior Bo Nix to sophomore T.J. Finley would get the ball moving.
With less than a minute to go in the game, Finley found wideout Shedrick Jackson with a 10-yard scoring strike that put Auburn in front. That would be followed by a score via interception return on the Panthers ensuing drive that resulted in a surprisingly close 34-24 Auburn win.
This game was not without controversy as Panthers head coach Shawn Elliott made it known after that he was not too pleased with some of the officiating, particularly in regards to a replay decision he felt clearly went Auburn鈥檚 way. Coach Elliott also expressed that he 鈥渃ould not be prouder of our football team.鈥�
Next up, the Panthers will play host to Appalachian State on Saturday, Oct. 2 at 2 p.m. EST.
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