Georgia State spotted themselves a mountain they couldn’t climb on their Thursday trip to West Virginia, failing to overcome an 18-0 first-half deficit as they eventually lost 35-20 to Marshall. The Panthers got the Thundering Herd lead as close as 25-20 in the 4th quarter, but missed chances to take the lead and a 14-play drive running down the clock and ending in 0 points proved to be decisive as Marshall scored the final 10 points of the game to secure the win.
For the second straight week, the Georgia State found new life with backup quarterback Zach Gibson, who entered on the Panthers’ first drive of the 2nd quarter and took command of the offense, finishing the night 19-32 passing for 192 yards with 2 touchdowns. The teams ended on exactly 427 yards from scrimmage apiece. Georgia State had their best rushing game in the season, running for 218 yards on 36 carries. Freddie Brock led the way with 124 yards. Another running back was the star receiver of the night for the Panthers, as Michel Dukes made 7 catches for 58 yards with two scores. For Marshall, running back AJ Turner was unstoppable – he had 177 rushing yards and 4 total touchdowns, including an 88-yard scamper which put the game on ice with 1:39 remaining.
The night couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start in all phases for the Panthers. After Jordan Houston returned the opening kick to the 39-yard line, Marshall took just 2:42 and seven plays to march 61 yards and open the scoring with Turner’s first score of the evening, a 2-yard touchdown run. There was nothing doing on Georgia State’s first two drives on offense, as incumbent starting quarterback Christian Veilleux struggled to find a rhythm, and the Thundering Herd took a two-score lead with a Rece Verhoff 47-yard field goal with 3:10 left in the 1st quarter…