Box Score Game Box (pdf)
"Inside Wofford Football"
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford football team was defeated 31-10 by Georgia Southern on Saturday afternoon at Gibbs Stadium. The Eagles held the Terriers to a season-low 192 rushing yards as they secured the Southern Conference Championship.
The Terriers are 7-3 on the season and 5-2 in the SoCon. Georgia Southern is 9-1 overall and 7-1 in conference play. For Wofford, Mitch Allen led the team with 71 rushing yards and a touchdown, along with 4-of-8 passing for 86 yards. Eric Breitenstein had 64 rushing yards. The Eagles were led by Dominique Swope with 165 rushing yards, while Jaybo Shaw had 40 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
“We faced a good football team and they outplayed us,” said head coach Mike Ayers. “We had opportunities that were missed to stay in the game. They did a great job of executing. They did a better job as far as coaching and a better job of playing. We had some opportunities to stop them, but we just could not get them on the ground and get them off the field. We had a tough turnover right at the end of the first half and let them score. That was a tough one. They played better for four quarters than we did.”
The Eagles began the game with the ball and picked up three first downs before getting on the board with a 36yard field goal by Adrian Mora with 9:47 on the clock. Wofford was only able to gain one first down before punting back to Georgia Southern.
With the ball back, the Eagles gained three first downs before Preston Roseboro forced a fumble by Nico Hickey that was recovered by Alex Goltry. Wofford gained two first downs and then Mitch Allen ran 31-yards for a touchdown. The Terriers had a 7-3 lead with 13:20 on the clock in the second quarter. Wofford forced a three-and-out by the Eagle offense. The Terriers moved the ball across midfield, but had to punt back to Georgia Southern. On the next drive by the Eagles, they gained two first downs before punting back to the Terriers.
The Terriers got the ball back with 1:12 left on the clock. On the second play, Donovan Johnson fumbled and it was recovered by John Douglas of Georgia Southern. The Eagles completed a 30-yard pass play, which then set-up a 21 yard touchdown pass from Jaybo Shaw to Zach Walker as time expired in the half. Georgia Southern had a 10-7 lead at the break.
To open the second half, Wofford had the ball first but had to punt after gaining a first down. The Eagles then drove 90 yards in eleven plays and scored on a three-yard touchdown run by Jaybo Shaw for a 17-7 lead with 6:01 left in the third quarter. The Terriers completed a 47-yard pass to Brenton Bersin, which set-up a 23-yard field goal by Christian Reed. The score was 17-10 with 1:58 on the clock in the third quarter.
Georgia Southern answered with a thirteen-play drive that was capped by a one-yard run by Jaybo Shaw. The Eagles had a 24-10 lead with 10:11 left in the fourth quarter. Wofford converted a fourth-and-four on a run by Donovan Johnson, however a pass on fourth-and-twelve was incomplete and the Terriers turned it over on downs with 6:52 left in the game.
The Eagles were then able to go 70 yards in eleven plays in a drive that ended with a two-yard touchdown run by Jaybo Shaw. Georgia Southern had a 31-10 lead with 1:19 left in the game. The Eagles recovered the onside kick and ran out the clock with two plays.
Wofford had 278 total yards, with 192 on the ground. Georgia Southern had 401 total yards, 290 of which were rushing. Wofford was 4-of-11 on third downs and 2-of-3 on fourth down. Georgia Southern was 10-of-15 on third down and 2-of-2 on fourth down. Wofford had three penalties, while Georgia Southern was not flagged on the day.
Next weekend the Terriers will close out the regular season at Chattanooga. The game will kick-off at 2:00 p.m.
Wofford vs. GSU Post-Game Notes
Eric Breitenstein did not have a 100 yard rushing game for only the second time this season.
The road team has now won seven straight games in the series.
Wofford did not have the time of possession advantage for the first time this season, as Georgia Southern had a 36:41 to 23:19 lead.
Injuries for the Terriers include LB Mike Niam (knee) and LB Mike McCrimon (shoulder).
Game captains were Ameet Pall and Joseph Inman.
Attendance was 10,280 at Gibbs Stadium.
