Box Score Game stats (pdf)
Game Highlights
STATESBORO, Ga. – The Wofford defense came up big in the fourth quarter as the football team downed Georgia Southern 33-31 at Paulson Stadium on Saturday night. In the final six minutes, the Terrier defense stopped the Eagles’ offense twice to secure the victory.
The Terriers are 4-1 on the season and 2-0 in the conference and the #13 ranked Eagles are 3-2 and 1-1 in the SoCon. The Terriers were led by Eric Breitenstein with 82 yards and two touchdowns, while Mike Rucker, Jeremy Marshall and Mitch Allen all had over fifty yards. The Eagles were led by Darreion Robinson with 116 yards and one touchdown. Wofford’s defense had four sacks and twelve tackles for loss.
“Your first thought is always your best thought and we tried to out-think ourselves on the fourth-and-one,” said head coach Mike Ayers. “That being said, our defense, except for a couple of times, was money tonight. The defensive front was amazing with Eric Eberhardt and Ameet Pall and those guys doing a fantastic job. I thought the secondary did some great things and the offense was able to move the ball and score some points. They were doing everything they could to stop our run and I am really proud of Mitch Allen who did a fantastic job of operating. We had some glitches in the kicking game tonight, but we will get that corrected. Overall when you come down here you know it is going to be tough and we made it tougher than it had to be. They are a much improved football team and we were fortunate to come down here and beat them.”
The Terriers took the opening kickoff and picked up two first downs before Mike Rucker went 36-yards for a touchdown at 12:04 in the first quarter. On the first drive of the game for the Eagles, they picked up three first downs before going for it on fourth-and-three, which was stopped by a sack by Eric Eberhardt.
After taking over on downs, the Terriers scored on a reverse by Devin Reed, however it was called back by a penalty. Wofford did not let that deter them, as Donovan Johnson scored two plays later from 14-yards out with 4:55 on the clock to take a 14-0 lead. Georgia Southern got a 60-yard kickoff return to open their next drive, but went three-and-out and punted to the one-yard line.
Georgia Southern was able to stop Wofford in the end-zone for a safety with 2:24 left in the first quarter. After the free kick, the Eagles gained two first downs, but had to punt after a sack by Alec Goltry.
With the ball back, the Terriers gained a first down before a fumble that was recovered by Wofford in the backfield. Two plays later, the Terriers were forced to punt. The Eagles were able to put together a drive that gained two first downs and ended with a 36-yard field goal by Adrian Mora for a 14-5 game at 5:27 in the second quarter. Wofford went three-and-out and punted on their next possession.
The Eagles moved the ball into Wofford territory before a sack and fumbled snap forced Georgia Southern to line-up to punt on fourth-and-three. However the Eagles ran a fake and gained the first down with just over a minute to play in the half. Jaybo Shaw ran the ball in from two-yards out with 31 seconds on the clock to make it a 14-12 game. Wofford was able to run one play before the end of the first half.
To open the second half, Georgia Southern had the ball and was forced three-and-out. Wofford converted a third-and-19 with a pass to Devin Reed. The Terriers hit a big play when Mitch Allen found Brenton Bersin all alone on the far side of the field for a 52-yard touchdown reception to take a 21-12 lead with 11:23 in the third quarter.
Wofford’s defense stood strong on the next drive by the Eagles and after a sack by Eric Eberhardt Georgia Southern punted and the ball was downed on the one-yard line. On third down, Wofford fumbled and E.J. Webb recovered the ball in the end-zone for a touchdown to make it a 21-19 game at 6:55 in the third quarter.
The Eagles recovered an onside kick after the touchdown and were forced to punt, but a personal foul for roughing the kicker gave Georgia Southern a first down. However a fumble was forced by Phillip LeGrande and recovered by Mike McCrimon to give the ball back to the Terriers. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Eric Breitenstein scored from two-yards, but the point after was missed, giving Wofford a 27-19 lead.
With the ball back, the Eagles completed a 35-yard pass for a first down deep in Wofford territory. J.J. Wilcox scored a 22-yard touchdown to end the drive and the two-point conversion failed with a quarterback sack for a 27-25 score with 12:13 remaining in the fourth quarter.
After a Wofford punt, the Eagles used a 78-yard touchdown by Darreion Robinson on the first play of the drive to take a 31-27 lead after the two-point conversion run was short with 10:15 left on the clock. The Terriers were then able to put together a ten-play drive that ended with a five-yard touchdown run by Eric Breitenstein. After two false start penalties on the extra point, the try was wide and the score was 33-31 with 5:52 left in the fourth quarter. The Terrier defense came up with a three-and-out and got the ball back after a punt.
Wofford gained one first down, then were faced with fourth-and-one at midfield with under two minutes left. The Terriers run came up short, giving the ball back to the Eagles with 1:37 left. After stopping their offense on the first three plays, a sack by Alex Goltry on fourth-and-eleven turned the ball back over to Wofford to run out the clock for the win.
The Terriers had 408 total yards, with 302 on the ground. Georgia Southern had 341 yards, 243 of which were rushing. Wofford had the time of possession advantage. Wofford was 8-of-13 on third downs. Georgia Southern was 3-of-13 on third down and one-of-three on fourth down. Wofford was penalized a season-high eight times for 97 yards, while Georgia Southern was flagged only once.
Next weekend Wofford will host Western Carolina at 1:30 pm at Gibbs Stadium.
Wofford vs. Georgia Southern Post-Game Notes
The visiting team has won the last six meetings in the series. Wofford has won four times at Paulson Stadium.
The safety by Georgia Southern was the first by an opponent since September 5, 2009 at South Florida.
Game captains for Wofford were Jeremy Marshall, Ameet Pall and Bryan Youman.
Freshman Donovan Johnson scored the first touchdown of his career in the first quarter.
Attendance was 21,403, the tenth largest crowd ever at Paulson Stadium.
