Box Score Game Book (pdf)
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Georgia Southern spoiled homecoming for Wofford College, handing the Terriers a 26-21 defeat at Gibbs Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The Terriers had two receiving touchdowns, but the Eagles used two long field goals from Adrian Mora to provide the winning margin.
The Terriers fall to 1-4 on the season and 0-2 in the SoCon, while Georgia Southern is 3-2 overall and 2-1 in the conference. The Terriers were led by Mike Rucker with 95 yards on ten carries. Brenton Bersin and Justice Joslin both had two catches and each had a touchdown. The Eagles were led by Darreion Robinson with 78 yards rushing and a touchdown, while quarterback Lee Chapple was 25-of-28 for 187 yards and a touchdown.
“There are reasons you win and reasons you lose,” said head coach Mike Ayers. “We fought the whole way and I thought our kids got better this week, but we didn’t win this week. Why didn’t we win? We probably didn’t do everything that we needed to do from a fundamental standpoint. We had mistakes in critical times. Those things are going to cause problems for you. Georgia Southern is a good, athletic team and they did a nice job defensively in terms of scheming. It was one of those days where you had to make plays. They were not going to give us anything. I thought we fought all the way through. If people would take a look at the roster and see that we are young and getting younger as the games go on. We have to learn from this and get better. We have two weeks to get ready for one of the best teams in America, Appalachian State. The kids are working really hard. The thing that I believe is that they will bounce back. It is not going to be easy, but that is part of life. If you get knocked down, you have to get back up.”
The Eagles took the opening drive 78 yards and scored on a 14-yard pass from Lee Chapple to Jamere Valentine for a 7-0 lead at 12:16. Wofford went three-and-out on their first drive of the game, but also forced Georgia Southern three-and-out after a sack by Keaton Thompson.
Wofford got the ball back and got the ball to the Eagles’ 27-yard line, but a fourth down pass was incomplete to turn the ball over. Georgia Southern put together an eight-play drive, but was forced to punt.
With the ball back to start the second quarter, the Terriers used a 65-yard run by Mike Rucker to set-up a nine-yard touchdown pass to Justice Joslin from Mitch Allen. The game was tied at 7-7 at the 13:49 mark of the second quarter. The Eagles answered with a 10-play drive that was capped by a 48 yard field goal by Adrian Mora to take a 10-7 lead at 9:59.
The Terriers were able to put together a scoring drive using two first down runs by Alex Dunmire. The sixteen-play drive ended with a three-yard run by Mitch Allen to regain the lead at 14-10 with 1:54 left in the second quarter. The Eagles gained one first down before the clock ended the first half.
To open the second half, the Terriers went three-and-out and punted. The Eagles took their first drive of the half 58-yards in six plays and scored on a 24-yard run by Darreion Robinson to take a 17-14 lead.
Wofford punted on their next drive and with the ball back the Eagles were able to add to the lead with a 50-yard field goal by Adrian Mora at 6:13 for a 20-14 advantage. Mitch Allen was intercepted on the third play of the next drive and the Eagles converted the turnover into points on a four-yard run by Adam Urbano for a 26-14 lead at 4:14 in the third. after the two-point conversion failed.
Wofford gained one first down on their next drive, but were forced to punt. The Wofford defense then forced a three-and-out as well. With the ball back, the Terriers scored on a 21-yard touchdown pass to Brenton Bersin from Mitch Allen at 10:47 in the fourth quarter to make it a 26-21 game.
The Terrier defense got another big three-and-out, giving Wofford the ball back with nine minutes to play in the game. However after gaining one first down, the Terriers punted. The Eagles picked up one first down before being forced to punt. The punt went only three yards, giving the Terriers the ball at the Eagles’ 42-yard line with 1:47 left in the game.
Following a holding call on the second play of the drive, Wofford had second and seven, but a fumble was forced by the Eagles and recovered by Tavaris Williams. Georgia Southern took a knee three times to run out the clock on the 26-21 win.
Wofford had 317 yards of total offense, while the Eagles had 335. Each team had six penalties. Wofford was 6-of-15 on third down and 1-of-3 on fourth down. Georgia Southern was 5-of-13 on third down and had a 31:44 to 28:16 lead in time of possession.
Wofford will be off next week before returning home on October 17 to host Appalachian State in a game to be broadcast on SportSouth.
Wofford vs. Georgia Southern Post-Game Notes
The Terriers recorded four sacks in the game, tied for the season high with the Charleston Southern game. The Terrier offensive line did not allow a sack for the second game this season.
The receiving touchdown by Brenton Bersin was the first of his career.
On homecoming, Wofford is now 40-21-2 all-time.
Six of the last eight games with Georgia Southern have been decided by a touchdown or less.
Wofford had two turnovers in the game while not forcing a turnover. In all four losses this season Wofford has had more turnovers than the opponent.
Game captains for Wofford were Pat Illig and Cody Van Der Linden.
Attendance was 8,490 at Gibbs Stadium.
