Eagles Earn Bowl Eligibility With 34-17 Win Over Georgia State

Saturday, November 14

Atlanta, GA

3:30 PM

Georgia Southern University

6-4 , 5-1

Georgia State

5-5 , 2-4

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Ga. Southern	7	17	3	7	34
Georgia State	14	0	3	0	17

11/14/2026 8:01:00 PM | Football

Box Score 2026 Football Season, presented by Vallant Bank

Team wins Georgia Grown Bowl for third straight year

ATLANTA - Georgia Southern won all three phases of the game en route to a convincing 34-17 win over Georgia State Saturday at Center Parc Stadium to gain bowl eligibility for the fifth straight year and win the Georgia Grown Bowl for the third straight time.

Georgia State got two touchdowns early off of two Eagle turnovers deep in their own territory, but Southern wasn't phased, getting touchdowns from Tyrese Woodgett and River Helms to keep pace. Woodgett's 1-yard run was his first collegiate score and Helms' 52-yard catch and run was his longest reception as an Eagle.

Georgia Southern finished the first half strong, getting a 42-yard field goal from Tripp Bryant and a 13-yard touchdown pass from Max Johnson to Josh Dallas to take a 24-14 lead into the locker room.

State cut it to a one-possession game with a field goal off a turnover but Bryant stretched it back to a 10-point lead with a 41-yard field goal. The Panthers missed two field goals in the fourth quarter, one of which was blocked by Chance Gamble, and Weston Bryan put the icing on the cake with a 54-yard house call with 4:11 left.

The Eagles out-gained the Panthers 443-221, allowing just 75 yards passing. The defense recorded four sacks and seven tackles for loss. Bryant went 2-for-2 on field goals with both coming from over 40 yards.

Johnson completed 16 of 22 passes for 203 yards and two touchdowns against one interception and three Eagles posted 60 yards or more on the ground (Taeo Todd - 77; David Mbadinga - 63; Bryan - 62) and Alex Taylor led the receiving corps with six catches for 92 yards.

Defensively, Brandon Tyson led the defense with 14 tackles, including two for loss and a sack.

All 17 of Georgia State's points came off of turnovers and the Eagles won a game with a -3 turnover margin for the first time since beating Delaware in 2000 with that margin.

With the win, Georgia Southern improved to 6-4 and earned bowl eligibility for the fifth year in a row and moved to 5-1 in the Sun Belt East and maintaining a one-game lead of James Madison.

The Eagles will hit the road again next week, traveling to Alabama to take on Troy in a game that will start at 4 p.m. Eastern/3 p.m. local time and will be broadcast on ESPN+.