Valiant comeback comes up short at Georgia Southern

Saturday, October 6

Statesboro, Ga.

2 p.m. ET

South Dakota State University

2-4

Georgia Southern

4-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

South Dakota State

Georgia Southern

10/6/2007 1:00:00 AM | Football

Box Score

By: SDSU Sports Info

STATESBORO, Ga. ? Jesse Hartley's 54-yard field goal as time expired lifted Georgia Southern to a 41-38 victory over South Dakota State in a game full of twists and turns Saturday at Paulson Stadium.

Mistakes plagued the Jackrabbits in the first half and again down the stretch as they fell to 2-4 on the season. Georgia Southern, 4-1 overall, took full advantage of three South Dakota State first-half fumbles, turning the miscues directly into 21 points en route to a 31-7 halftime lead.

Georgia Southern scored on its opening drive, marching 96 yards on 13 plays. Lamar Lewis capped the drive with a 1-yard run at the 8-minute, 55-second mark of the first quarter.

The Eagles made it 14-0 less than two minutes later as Chris Rogers scooped up a Cory Koenig fumble and ran it back 46 yards for a touchdown.

SDSU countered with its first scoring drive of the day early in the second quarter. Ryan Berry hooked up with JaRon Harris on a 30-yard pass play to close out a seven-play, 80-yard drive. It was the fourth consecutive game in which Harris has caught a touchdown pass.

Despite the Jackrabbit defense holding GSU off the board in its next possession, the Eagles regained the momentum as the beneficiaries of another SDSU fumble. This time, Kyle Minett fumbled and Larry Beard scooped up the ball and rumbled in from 29 yards.

A 24-yard field goal by Hartley with 1:27 remaining in the first half made the score 24-7, but the Eagles weren't done scoring in the first half. GSU forced another Jackrabbit fumble on the second play of the next SDSU drive, taking over at the Jackrabbit 35.

Four plays later, Jayson Foster hit Irving Campbell in the back of the end zone for a seven-yard scoring strike. Foster, who completed his first 11 passes of the game, established a new single-game career high for passing yards by halftime. He finished the first half 14-of-16 for 164 yards and ran for another 56 yards.

The second half was a different story.

After holding GSU three-and-out on its first offensive possession of the second half, SDSU put points on the board. Parker Douglass made his 13th consecutive field goal attempt, a 32-yarder five minutes into the half, to pull the Jackrabbits to within 31-10. SDSU kept the drive alive as Berry connected with Harris for 33 yards on fourth-and-one to put the ball at the GSU 12.

The Jackrabbits picked up a defensive score of their own midway through the third quarter as Tyler Koch picked off a Foster pass and returned it 71 yards down the right sideline for a touchdown. It was Koch's second interception of the season and the third interception return for a touchdown by SDSU in the past two games.

SDSU further grabbed a grip on the momentum as it again stopped Georgia Southern, then pulled to within a touchdown with a nine-play, 64-yard drive. Berry connected with Chris Wagner from 14 yards out to finish off the drive.
Georgia Southern attempted to put the game away with a 14-yard touchdown run by Foster on the first possession of the fourth quarter to make the score 38-24.

But the Jackrabbits continued their comeback with two fourth-quarter touchdowns to tie the game at 38-all. Berry and Wagner hooked up again for a 2-yard scoring play, then Kyle Minett scored the tying touchdown on a 7-yard run with 6:28 left to play.

After another defensive stand by the Jackrabbits gave them the ball at midfield, SDSU appeared on the verge of taking its first lead of the game. Koenig gained 39 yards on the drive, but a holding penalty stalled the drive before Parker Douglass missed his first field goal attempt of the season, missing wide right on a 37-yard try with 2:23 remaining.

Again the Jackrabbit defense held firm, and took over with another chance to win it in the closing seconds. On the first play from scrimmage Berry's pass intended for Mike Steffen was intercepted and returned to the GSU 46.

With 21 seconds remaining, Foster scrambled for six yards and then completed a pass to Lewis for a first down at the SDSU 37. After GSU called timeout with seven seconds left, the Eagles opted for the field goal, which Hartley, whose previous long make this season was 33 yards, drove through the uprights.

Total offense was nearly even as GSU gained 451 yards, compared to 450 by the Jackrabbits. Berry completed 25-of-47 passes for a career-high 335 yards and three touchdowns. Harris ended the day with six catches for 122 yards and Chris Doblar contributed six receptions for 91 yards.

Koenig led the ground game with 19 carries for 87 yards.

Defensively, the Jackrabbits were led by Andrew Hoogeveen's 11 tackles.

Foster ended the day 92 yards rushing and 225 passing for GSU. He completed 23-of-31 attempts, seven of which went to Campbell for 122 yards.

SDSU is off from action for a week before returning home to play Cal Poly Oct. 20 in the Great West Football Conference opener. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Coughlin-Alumni Stadium.

Notes: Attendance was listed at 15,912 ... Paul Aanonson returned four punts for 29 yards and five kickoffs for 115 yards ... Douglass' consecutive field goal streak ended at a school-record 13 ... nine different Jackrabbit players caught passes ... SDSU recorded 10 tackles for loss, including three by Danny Batten ... defensive lineman Steven Bazata recorded a career-high seven tackles, two for loss ... SDSU converted all three of its fourth-down attempts ... the Jackrabbits are now 0-3 in series history against Georgia Southern ... Berry has thrown for 574 yards and eight touchdowns in two career starts against GSU ... offensive guard Mitch Erickson made his 39th consecutive start ... Harris recorded the fifth 100-yard receiving game of his career ... SDSU had not had a fumble returned for a touchdown since a game Sept. 27, 2003, at North Dakota State