STATESBORO – Shermari Jones ran for 96 yards and a touchdown and No. 21 Coastal Carolina took advantage of four Georgia Southern turnovers and a blocked punt to notch a 28-8 Sun Belt Conference football win over the Eagles in a relentless driving rainstorm Saturday evening in Allen E. Paulson Stadium.
Eagles of the Game:
Khaleb Hood caught five passes for 66 yards for Georgia Southern (2-7, 1-5), and
Justin Tomlin ran for 39 yards and threw for 83.
Cam Ransom completed five passes for 63 yards and a touchdown, and
Anthony Wilson led the defense with 10 tackles, including two for loss.
Justin Ellis had three stops and forced a fumble.
Key Moments:
After a scoreless first quarter, Coastal Carolina (8-1, 5-1) took advantage of two Eagle fumbles in Georgia Southern territory in the second frame to build a 14-0 lead. The first fumble came at the Eagle 36-yard line, and the Chants scored three plays later on a 12-yard pass from Bryce Carpenter to Kameron Brown. The second fumble was recovered at the GS 40, and Carpenter punched it in three plays later with a 23-yard run as he faked the handoff and went down the left sideline.
The backbreaker came when the Chanticleers blocked an Eagle punt and returned it 33 yards for a touchdown as the horn to end the first half sounded. With the clock running down, Alex Spillum broke free to block the punt, and Mason Shelton scooped it up at the 33-yard line and went the distance untouched as Coastal Carolina took a 21-0 lead into halftime.
Coastal Carolina delivered the knockout blow with a methodical 12-play, 92-yard scoring drive that erased 6:49 off the clock on its first possession of the third quarter. The Chants converted three third downs, and Jones capped it with a 7-yard touchdown run that extended the margin to 28-0.
The Eagles got on the scoreboard with 10:56 left in the game when Ransom found
Beau Johnson for a 6-yard touchdown pass. The play capped a 45-yard scoring drive that was keyed by two completions for 30 yards to
Derwin Burgess Jr. Ransom hit Burgess Jr. for the 2-point conversion, trimming the margin to 28-8.
Key Stats:
Coastal Carolina scored 14 points off turnovers to go along with the blocked punt that was returned for a touchdown. Georgia Southern had trouble hanging onto the ball in the rain with seven fumbles, losing three of them.
Notes:
- Coastal Carolina is the second team ranked in the Associated Press FBS Top-25 to visit Allen E. Paulson Stadium, and the highest ever. In 2018, 25th-ranked App State fell to the Eagles 34-14 in Statesboro.
- Georgia Southern is now 2-20 against FBS AP Top-25 teams, 2-7 since joining the FBS in 2014 and 1-1 at home.
- The Chants improve to 19-2 in their last 21 games.
Scoring Plays:
CC – 2nd, 08:54 – Kameron Brown 12-yd pass from Bryce Carpenter (PAT good), 0-7
CC – 2nd, 03:23 – Carpenter 23-yd run (PAT good), 0-14
CC – 2nd, 00:00 – Mason Shelton 33-yd blkd punt return (PAT good), 0-21
CC – 3rd, 05:17 – Shermari Jones 7-yd run (PAT good), 0-28
GS – 4th, 10:56 –
Beau Johnson 6-yd pass from
Cam Ransom (Ransom pass to
Derwin Burgess Jr.), 8-28
Next Up:
The Eagles travel to Texas State for a 3 p.m. Sun Belt contest on ESPN+.
