ATHENS, GA. – Sony Michel scored from 25 yards out to lift the Georgia Bulldogs to a 23-17 come-from-behind victory in overtime over Georgia Southern Saturday night at Sanford Stadium in front of 92,746 fans.

"We're really proud of our guys. I thought they really came out and competed," an emotional GS head coach Willie Fritz said after the game. "I thought we had some opportunities but things didn't go our way. [The team is] very disappointed. The intention was to come here and win.

The Bulldogs took a quick lead, scoring a touchdown within the first four minutes of the game off of a 23-yard sweep by receiver Isaiah McKenzie to bring the Sanford Stadium faithful to their feet. But after a rocky first drive, the Eagle defense buckled down in holding Georgia scoreless for the rest of the half.

Darrius White's forced fumble in the red zone prevented another UGA scoring opportunity and fueled an Eagle offensive drive. After the teams traded missed field goals, Georgia Southern got its offense on the move.

After being held in check for the first quarter, junior Matt Breida finally broke loose with a 23-yard run in which he started to the right, reversed course, picked up some blocks and took it to the 1-yard line where Wesley Fields finished it off with a leaping effort to tie the game at 7-7.

On the second play of the second half, linebacker Antwione Williams nearly decapitated Michel, delivering a thunderous blow that forced a fumble and was picked up by Caleb Williams and returned for a 65-yard touchdown score.

"I thought our defense played lights out," Fritz said. "They did a nice job throughout the course of the game." 

Georgia fired back with points of its own off of a turnover, picking up a fumble of a muffed punt and tied the game 14-all when Greyson Lambert connected with Terry Godwin for a 12-yard touchdown pass.

The Eagles took the lead back in the fourth quarter when Younghoe Koo launched a 48-yard field goal, but Marshall Morgan tied it back up with 6:06 left on a 43-yard field goal of his own. Neither team could mount a scoring effort late and the game went to overtime. It marked the 13th overtime in GS history, but the first as an FBS program.

Michel's heroics came on the Bulldogs' first play of overtime after the UGA defense snuffed out a 4th and 1 from the 16-yard line as Fritz elected to go for it instead of trying the field goal. 

"I'm pretty aggressive on the fourth down, but we just didn't block the play," Fritz said. "Obviously I would change it if I could but we can't. We need to get rid of it (the game). We need to come out a play really well these last two games and the best thing about it is we're going to be playing at home for both of them. Luckily for me I have a great group of coaches, players, trainers and they'll bounce back."

The Eagles were limited on the ground except for a few big runs as Georgia (8-3) held them to 233 yards. Quarterback Favian Upshaw led the way with 67 yards on seven carries while Breida ran for 66 yards on 20 carries.

Georgia Southern (7-3) will jump back into Sun Belt Conference play with a home contest against South Alabama (5-5) next Saturday at 2 p.m.

Georgia Southern Athletics provides up-to-date information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics, twitter.com/GSAthletics, iOS app Georgia Southern Eagles and Android app Eagles GATA. Fans can purchase tickets to Georgia Southern Athletics events by visiting GSEagles.com/Tickets.

 

Georgia Southern Postgame Notes
Nov. 21, 2015 • vs. Georgia

• GAME CAPTAINS: #27 Ironhead Gallon, #63 Darrien Foreman, #96 Jeff Ward, #99Jay Ellison

• Georgia Southern wore blue helmets, with white jerseys and white pants tonight. The Eagles are now 7-5 under head coach Willie Fritz in this combo.

• Darrius White forced his first fumble of the season and recovered it, also his first of the season, late in the first quarter to thwart a potential Georgia scoring drive.

• Georgia Southern, which came into the game leading the nation with an average of 378.9 yards rushing per game, has now averaged 433 rushing in its seven wins. The Eagles have averaged 205.7 yards in their three losses (West Virginia, Appalachian State, Georgia). They had 233 yards tonight.

• Quarterback Favian Upshaw broke off a career-long 48-yard run in the second quarter. His previous long was 43 against Savannah State last season.

• Younghoe Koo missed his first field goal of the season, a 31-yarder in the second quarter. He was previously 4 of 4 on field goals and 10 of 10 on PATs.

• After getting shut out in the opener, Georgia Southern has rushed for 40 touchdowns, coming from seven different players in the past nine games.

• L.A. Ramsby scored his 10th rushing touchdown of the season to get the Eagles on the board in the second quarter.

• Matt Breida rushed for 66 yards in the game. This season, the Eagles are 6-0 when he tops 100 yards rushing and are 1-3 when he does not.

• The Eagles and Bulldogs were tied 7-7 at the break. This is the first time under head coach Willie Fritz that the Eagles have been tied at halftime.

• Antwione Williams forced a fumble that was picked up and returned it 65 yards by Caleb Williams for his first collegiate score. It's the second straight week the Eagles have scored on the defensive side of the ball.

• The game marked Georgia Southern's 13th overtime game in program history, but the first as an FBS program. The Eagles are now 7-6 all-time in overtime.