Whatever could happen, did happen.
Except when Georgia Southern needed it most.
Wofford defensive end Alex Goltry sacked GSU quarterback Jaybo Shaw on 4th-and-11 with less than a minute to go, and the Terriers left Paulson Stadium with a win for the third time in as many tries, this time in the form of a 33-31 win that came down to the wire Saturday at Paulson Stadium.
Throughout the game, the Eagles were beneficiaries of a safety, a fumble recovery in the end zone for a touchdown, a third-quarter onside kick recovery, a pair of missed PATs, a faked punt which resulted in a 12-yard run by defensive end Dion DuBose and a clutch, 4th-down stop with 1:37 to go, but Wofford’s 302 rushing yards were enough to get the win.
"You’ve got to capitalize on those opportunities, and we didn’t do it," said GSU coach Jeff Monken. We gave it right back to them."
No. 21 Wofford (4-1, 2-0 Southern Conference) scored its final touchdown with 5:52 in the game, and left the door open for a game-winning GSU field goal that wasn’t meant to be after missing an extra point.
The No. 16 Eagles (3-2, 1-1) punted after a three-and-out with 4:23 to go, but got the ball back after Wofford went for it on 4th-and-1 and GSU corner Laron Scott stopped Mike Rucker two yards deep on the perimeter.
"It was a huge rollercoaster of emotions," said E.J. Webb, the GSU linebacker that jumped on the fumble in the end zone. "One play it swings our way, the next play it swings theirs, so you really can’t get too high or too low. You have to stay keyed in."
With 1:37 on the clock, Shaw completed a 12-yard pass to Tyler Sumner — a one-handed grab by the sophomore receiver — for a first down at the Wofford 37, but an incomplete pass and a negative six yard run off a draw by Lee Banks set up the fourth down that ended the game.
A 52-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Brenton Bersin put Wofford ahead 21-12 on the first WC drive of the third quarter, and as GSU’s offense continued to struggle, the defense continued to keep it in the game.
Charlie Edwards punted out of bounds at the Wofford 1-yard line for the second time — the first resulting in a first-half safety — with 8:13 to go in the third.
This time Webb recovered a fumbled pitch in the end zone to cut the Terriers’ lead to 21-19 late in the third.
Wofford’s next score, a two-yard plunge by Eric Breitenstein made it an eight-point game, but the extra point went wide left, leaving GSU down one possession at 27-19.
Shaw sparked a touchdown drive with a 40-yard pass to an outstretched Nico Hickey, and sophomore slotback J.J. Wilcox scored on an option pitch that he took to the paint from 22 yards out.
The two-point attempt failed, leaving GSU trailing 27-25.
"We go for two and we give up a sack," said Monken, "which seemed like a regular thing tonight. We’ve got a guy wide open, and we can’t protect him."
Wofford went three-and-out, and Darreion Robinson took GSU’s first play from scrimmage – an option pitch from Shaw, all the way in from 78 yards away.
The two-point conversion again fell short, leaving the Eagles with a 31-27 lead.
The Terriers moved the ball at will on their first two drives of the game, taking a quick 14-0 lead after two possessions.
They needed only six plays to go 73 yards on the first scoring drive, which was capped off with a 36-yard run around the end by senior running back Mike Rucker.
Georgia Southern turned it over on downs on its first possession, and Wofford got right back to work. Seven plays later, Fullback Arsenio Parks took a handoff up the gut for a 14-yard score and a 14-0 WC lead.
"I give credit to Wofford, because they made some plays to beat us," Monken said. "They made more plays than we did. They’re well coached. They fought and played hard."
The Eagles went three-and-out on the following drive, but Edwards changed the momentum in a huge way.
He punted 43 yards to the Wofford 1-yard line, and Carson Hill stopped it on the other end to pin the Terriers as deep as they could be pinned.
Two-straight runs by no gain for Wofford set up 3rd-and-10, and GSU got its first points when freshman defensive end Josh Gebhardt tackled Wofford running back Jeremy Marshall three yards deep in the end zone for a safety and GSU’s first points.
The Eagles trailed 14-2, and until that point, the Terriers had racked up 152 yards of offense. They didn’t gain another yard in the half.
Meanwhile, GSU finally did some offensive scoring.
A 35-yard field goal by Adrian Mora cut it to 14-5, and the final drive of the first half went 74 yards on 11 plays. Shaw’s two-yard touchdown was set up by 29-yard pass to Wilcox, and left the Eagles trailing 14-12 at halftime.
NOTES
: Mora’s two extra points made him a perfect 68 for 68 in his career, a new GSU record which broke the record of 66 set by Reed Haley in 1994. … Members of the 1985 Eagles, the team that won the first of Georgia Southern’s six national titles, were in attendance and honored between the game’s first and second quarters. … The Eagles won the pregame coin toss and elected to defer for the fifth-consecutive game.
Matt Yogus can be reached at (912) 489-9408.
