GREENVILLE, S.C. — With 20 seconds left in Georgia Southern’s 38-17 win Saturday over Furman, the Eagles scored to go up 36-17.

Running back Domonique Swope, who scored the touchdown, ran in a two-point conversion, causing the team’s head coaches to have a conversation after the teams left the field.

Furman coach Bruce Fowler and GSU coach Jeff Monken spoke for several minutes in front of the field house before going into their respective locker rooms.

Monken spoke about their conversation after the game, saying, "He came over just to say to me, ‘Jeff, I want to end this right here. I don’t want our kids to say anything that’s out of line.’ I said, ‘Bruce, that’s not what it’s about.’ I told him, ‘I apologize if it felt like we were running it up. That certainly was not my intention.’ I hope he knows that’s sincere. I would not do that to anybody, and certainly not Bruce Fowler."

Furman and GSU have a long history, dating back to before Georgia Southern joined the Southern Conference and the teams split national title games in 1985 and 1988.

"I would never try to put a black mark on this rivalry by trying to run up the score on them or anybody," said Monken. "But, you know, we had a tough, hard-fought football game. They were beating the pants off us in the first half, and we went in that locker room and I said, ‘They’ve got a good football team, and if we don’t get it going, they’re going to beat our butts.’ We’ve got a lot of season left. Our guys need to have things that help the momentum and help their confidence, and I’m going to coach them all the way to the end as hard as I can."

Monken and Fowler coached against each other as assistants both at the Football Championship Subdivision (I-AA) and Football Bowl Subdivision (I-A) level. Fowler was understanding of the situation after the game.

"It was just a hard fought game," said Fowler. "Coach Monken and I coached against each other as assistants in the opposite sides of the ball. I have a tremendous amount of respect for coach Monken and their program."

A Cherry on top

Georgia Southern kicker and punter Luke Cherry doesn’t mind helping out the team in other ways, too.

When one of the best running backs in the SoCon, Furman’s Jerodis Williams, broke off a long kickoff return, Cherry found himself as the last line of defense.

He upended Williams and saved a touchdown.

"I’m definitely not the fastest guy on the team," Cherry said, "so I had to take a pretty steep angle to him. Kickers don’t have a whole lot of expectations to make the tackle, so when I got there, it was pretty much win-win. I was lucky enough to get to him and get him off his feet."

The Eagles, who led 17-10 at the time, ripped off 21 fourth-quarter points after the play.

Did the tackle motivate the offensive output?

"I don’t know if it did, but if it did, I’ll take credit for it, and I’ll be happy about it," he said. "That would be awesome if it did."

This and that

McKinnon’s 75-yard touchdown pass to Zach Walker was a career long for both players. It was also the longest GSU pass of the season. … GSU’s six receptions and 165 passing yards were both season highs. … The game with Furman marked the first time in 2012 the Eagles did not have a 100-yard rusher. … Swope has scored a rushing touchdown in eight-straight games dating back to 2012. … Announced attendance at the game, which was Furman’s homecoming, was 11,191.