Arkansas State hosted Georgia State last night in search of its first Sun Belt conference win of the season, and it turned into a night the Red Wolves will not soon forget.

The night started out rough for the Panthers, after a false start backed up its offense and a fumble on the punt led to A-State wide receiver Leroy Deshazor to recover the ball at Georgia State’s five yard line.

The Red Wolves were quick to convert with the incredibly short field, as Logan Bonner connected with tight end Reed Tyler to draw first blood quickly for the hosts. (7-0)

The Panthers seemed to have a drive strung together after the fact, but a close call on an incomplete pass ended the drive after a video review, bringing up fourth and six. Misfortunes would continue after a shanked punt gaven A-State decent field position at its own 35.

A holding call would make the Red Wolves’ first challenge on offense a bit harder, making it a second and 24 situation. A controversial no-call on defensive pass interference cost A-State a big conversion on third down, as Dahu Green and the crowd were visibly upset.

Georgia State were not able to come up with anything again as A-State held true on third and one.

Bonner didn’t have the greatest drive of his career following the stop, overthrowing his intended receiver twice, but got bailed out by a DPI call once, but the A-State drive still stalled at midfield.

Ryan Hanson continued his punting masterclass by pinning the Panthers inside the one, but Gregg Tucker nulled his efforts immediately by breaking off on a 56 yard rush on the first play of Georgia State’s drive. Another big time rush for the Panthers came off a keeper from quarterback Cornelious Brown IV who ran 35 yards down the right side of the field and dove into the endzone to tie things up. (7-7)

Layne Hatcher immediately turned the momentum back in the Red Wolves’ favor by connecting with Dahu Green for a 49 yard touchdown pass on a quick three play, 66 yard drive to retake the lead in a hurry. (14-7)

The first risky call of the night came as the Red Wolves faced fourth and two just past midfield after stopping the Panthers on its last drive. Jamal Jones was able to get four and continue the drive, and after a strike to Jonathoan Adams from Bonner, things looked great for A-State as they were out to the twenty yard line. The script flipped fast however, as a fumble from Bonner was recovered and returned all the way back to the end-zone, as the Panthers shocked the home team with an impressive equalizer. (14-14)

A huge kickoff return from Roshauud Paul was called back due to a holding call, so instead of starting well past mid-field, the Red Wolves had to start at its own 17. Stevens McQueen dropped Hatcher on second down to make it a third and 15, and the pressure once again got to Hatcher as he was forced out of bounds for the three and out.

Jamywest Williams was a thorn in the side of A-State’s defense on the ensuing drive, burning the Red Wolves for a 24 yard rush on the first play of the drive, but was contained to a six yard rush and a zero yard rush afterwards, and an unsuccessful carry from Brown forced a fourth and two. But the Panthers went for it to no avail as Brown fumbled the ball well behind the first down line to turn the ball over on downs. 

The pace slowed as A-State gradually made its way down the field, and a nice hurdle from Jamal Jones looked to be a double-digit gain in yards, but once again a holding call brought it back and made A-State’s job that much harder. Bonner had a big rush of his own though, going for 14 yards off a scramble after juking a defender. An underthrown ball combined with a drop denied the third and short conversion for A-State however, forcing the Red Wolves to go for it on fourth down once again from midfield. Green was able to come up with the short yard reception which was enough for the conversion to keep the drive alive. One play later, a bomb from Bonner landed perfectly in Adams hands even through defensive pass interference to once again give A-State the lead. (21-14)

The Panthers responded with yet another big play with a 57 yard pass from Brown to Jamari Thrash which brought the visitors within the red-zone after just one play. Soon after, Brown ran up the middle of the Red Wolves’ defense to equalize things yet again in what was a back and forth game in the first half. (21-21)

Arkansas State responded once again with a superstar 23 yard catch from Dahu Green that was originally an incomplete catch, but overturned after a long official review. (28-21)

With just 48 seconds remaining in the half, Georgia State did it again. A 19 yard rush from Gregg followed by a 26 yard reception from Tucker brought the Panthers within scoring position, and they didn’t have to settle for a field goal, as Brown connected with Sam Pinckney to tie things up at 28 with 14 seconds remaining in the half. (28-28)

SECOND HALF:

The second half did not start well for the Red Wolves by any means, as Jamal Jones failed to pick up a yard for the fourth and one conversion and turned the ball over on downs to the Panthers in A-State territory.

Keeping up with the pattern they set in the first half, the Panthers quickly converted that mistake into a touchdown with a tip and catch by Sam Pinckney yielded his second TD pass of the night and the first lead for Georgia State of the game. (35-28)

The back and forth antics would continue, with the Red Wolves stringing together an impressive 11 play, 75 yard drive that lasted just over five minutes and ended with a touchdown pass to Brandon Bowling, who ran through multiple defenders en route to tying things up once again. (35-35)

Georgia State’s offense was finally stopped with a three-and-out, giving A-State the chance to recapture the lead. The Red Wolves took over just short of midfield with Hatcher under center, and instant success ensued as Green outran the corner to reel in a 45 yard strike to get A-State within the Panthers’ ten yard line. The next play saw A-State take the lead with Pare catching his first touchdown pass of the night in the right corner of the end-zone. (42-35)

The Panthers quickly got back into the swing of things, with Pinckney impressing once again with a 46 yard reception after bobbling the football and being surrounded by A-State defenders. The catch got Georgia State into the red-zone, and A-State star linebacker Justin Rice was ejected for targeting, leading to a seven yard touchdown rush from Gregg to tie the game. (42-42)

Bonner took a big shot from Dontae Wilson on a roughing the passer penalty, but on the review on whether or not Wilson committed targeting, the Georgia State defender got off free of charge. Hatcher came in for a couple of plays, but Bonner would return. For the first time of the evening, kicker Blake Grupe sank a 39 yard field goal to put the Red Wolves on top. (45-42)

Another score came quickly at the beginning of the fourth quarter, as Pinckney caught his third touchdown pass of the night to put the Panthers back in the lead. (49-45)

No defensive stops were to be found, as Hatcher connected with Adams on fourth and three to keep A-State’s drive alive. Then on the following play, Adams caught a 32 yard pass for the touchdown. (52-49)

A long drive for Georgia State drained the clock to 6:55, but an overthrown pass in the end-zone on third down from Brown made the Panthers settle for a 29 yard field goal. (52-52)

Brandon Bowling pulled off the big play on the next drive for A-State, catching a 42 yarder and bringing A-State right outside the red-zone. Trickery soon followed, as a misdirection led to a WR pass from Roshauud Paul, who connected with Pare from 19 yards out to bring the score to 59-52 in favor of the Red Wolves.

The world seemingly stopped on fourth and five at midfield with Georgia State holding possession. In an odd move, Brown fired deep down the right sideline to his star Pinckney, but Samy Johnson was able to break up the pass and force the turnover on downs with just over two minutes remaining.

The Panthers had two timeouts remaining, and burned them both after two rushes from Jamal Jones which brought up third and three. Bonner connected with Bowling with a clutch four yard gain for the first down and sealed the 59-52 victory.

The duo of Layne Hatcher and Logan Bonner (with a pass from Roshauud Paul as well) combined for a school record of 551 passing yards against the Panthers, and tied the Sun Belt conference single-game record with eight touchdown passes.

Jonathon Adams had a career night as well, matching JD McKissic’s single game reception record with 15 catches, and gained 177 yards with a pair of touchdowns. Fellow wide receiver Dahu Green had a night as well with 9 catches for 172 yards and two touchdowns.

POST-GAME QUOTES:

Coach Blake Anderson: “If you liked offense, you probably enjoyed that one. But as a head coach it was agonizing. That was unbelievable. We did not play well on defense at any point, but we had to get a stop and they got it. So you have to give them credit for that. They kept fighting.”

“We still made too many mistakes, but we had to win. We could not go down 0-2. It’s critical that we stay in the fight. A lot of good things, no turnovers which was huge and I thought we made a few good special teams plays.”

(On the defense) “There’s only two or three dudes over there that have played before. There are times where they look pretty good and there are times where they look like they’ve never played before. I was hoping we would grow up quicker than we have, and they are growing up because they’re competitive. But it’s just inexperience.”

(On Hatcher and Bonner) “I keep telling J.C. (host of Red Wolf Roll Call) that it works and he keeps disagreeing with me. It’s not what I want, but it’s what’s best for our program. They feed off of each other. They absolutely want the other guy to do great.”

WR Jonathon Adams: (On playing in shootouts) “It’s fun. Even though we want stops and stuff, but being on the field more and kind of padding stats and stuff is pretty fun.”

(On another big performance on national TV) “It’s just another game. With it being on ESPN, it just makes it more exciting because everyone is watching. Me and Dahu were on the sidelines and I told him, ‘Dang I forgot it was on ESPN,’ but it’s just a normal game and we just have to go out there and do what we do.”

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