Georgia Southern head coach Clay Helton said earlier this week he felt like Houston quarterback Conner Weigman was one of the top five quarterbacks in college football. Saturday, he played like it as he accounted for all six Cougar touchdowns as he threw for four scores and rushed for another two as No. 25 Houston beat Georgia Southern 42-28.
Houston became the first Power-4 team to play in Paulson Stadium as former Eagle head coach Willie Fritz returned to Paulson for the first time since 2015.
Georgia Southern was unable to play solid in all three phases of the game as the offense and special teams played solid enough, but the Eagle defense let them down for the second-straight game, allowing Houston to score touchdowns on their first six possessions of the game and giving up 441 yards of total offense.
“We didn’t play well enough as a team to win tonight,” Helton said. “We knew against this offense we had to start fast tonight and we didn’t. I’m proud of the team to fight back to tie it at 14-14. We were able to trade blows in the second half but couldn’t catch up. Credit to their offense as they are as good as advertised. Our kids are fighting and still have everything in front of them as our new season starts next week.”
The Cougars marched down field on their opening possession and scored on a five-yard Weigman touchdown run for a 7-0 lead. Eagle quarterback Max Johnson fumbled on the next Georgia Southern possession and Houston took advantage of it scoring on 22-yard pass from Weigman to Koby Young for a 14-0 lead.
The Georgia Southern offense finally got on track early in the second quarter as they lined both Max Johnson and Weston Bryan in the backfield. Johnson got the snap and fired a 40-yard touchdown pass to Alex Taylor to cut the lead to 14-7.
The Eagles then successfully pulled off an on-side kick which was recovered by Josh Dallas. They would then go on an eight-play drive capped by a two-yard Ty Cummings touchdown tying the game at 14-14.
“I felt like the on-side kick really gave us some momentum,” Helton said. “I felt like we needed to get two takeaways or a change in possession by stealing a possession. We were able to get the stolen possession with the on-side kick but couldn’t get any takeaways.”
The Cougars would go on to score on their next two possessions. Weigman went in from a yard away and then threw a two-yard touchdown pass to Fredrick Traville for a 28-14 halftime lead.
In the second half Weigman connected with Trent Walker on a 23-yard pass to go up 35-14. The Eagles answered on a 23-yard touchdown pass from Johnson to Taylor once again to trim the lead to 35-21.
In the fourth Weigman found Amare Thomas to go up 42-21. Johnson capped the scoring with a five-yard pass to River Helms.
Johnson ended the game going 26 of 38 for 284 yards and three touchdowns in what Helton called his best performance as an Eagle.
“He got the ball out and was decisive with it,” Helton said. “He put the ball where it needed to be in the time he had. I think we still left a little meat on the bone on offense.”
With leading receiver Ashton Hollins out for the season with shoulder surgery the Eagles turned to Alex Taylor who came through with 119 yards receiving and two touchdowns.
“I felt like we really executed at a higher-level tonight,” Taylor said. “With Ashton being out and having played so well I knew I needed to step up. You just wait for your number to be called and I knew if they threw the ball my way I had to make the plays.”
The Eagles fall to 1-3 on the season. Up next they will be on the road for a 7:00 game at Coastal Carolina.
