STATESBORO, Ga. – Georgia Southern tacked on a touchdown with 12 seconds to play to beat Idaho 47-24 in a Sun Belt Conference game Saturday night.
In a game that was closer than the final score would indicate, the Vandals continued to show improvement but it clearly wasn't enough to spoil the Eagles' homecoming.
“It was way closer than that,” coach Paul Petrino said, “but that's how it ended up.”
Idaho had 365 yards total offense with Matt Linehan connected on 19 of 31 passes for 230 yards and Elijhaa Penny carrying the ball 21 times for 75 yards. Joshua McCain had 97 yards on six catches, while Richard Montgomery had six catches for 63. Russell Siavii had 11 tackles with Irving Steele and Quinton Bradley accounting for 10 each.
Idaho's first drive, which covered 75 yards over the first five minutes of the game, resulted in a 35-yard field goal by Rehkow.
The Eagles, however, responded with an eight-play, 86-yard drive that was capped by Kevin Ellison's six-yard run with 6:28 to go in the first. Once again, a big play – this one a 52-yard run by Matt Breida, haunted the Vandals.
Again, Idaho drove into Georgia Southern territory but this drive came up short when the Vandals went for it on fourth-down and six at the Eagles'24. Linehan, on the run, threw out of bounds to end the drive.
GSU came back with another TD – this one a pass from Ellison to a wide-open BJ Johnson for a 22-yard score with 2:57 left in the first. The PAT kick, however, missed its mark and the Eagles led 13-3.
Elijhaa Penny started the second quarter off right for the Vandals when he powered over from 10 yards out with 14:25 to play in the first half. His run capped an 11-play, 75-yard drive that consumed 3:32 that included a key third-down conversion run by Linehan and pulled Idaho to within 13-10.
It was Breida again on the next TD by the Eagles. This time, he was on the receiving end of a 17-yard Favian Upshaw pass as GSU went up 20-10 with 10:37 left in the half. Again, big plays fueled the drive when Upshaw hooked up with Kentrellis Showers on a 40-yard play and with Breida for a 19-yard pickup.
The Eagles threatened again but Bradley Njoku knocked away a pass into the endzone and Alex Hanks' 26-yard field goal attempt was off its mark.
GSU struck twice to start the second half and take a 33-10 lead on a 14-yard run by Ellison and a three-yard run by Alfred Ramsey.
Idaho came back with a 10-play, 83-yard drive that was capped by Linehan's 11-yard pass to McCain and enhanced by a two-point conversion pass from Linehan to Deon Watson with 3:10 left in the third. The drive was highlighted by a 41-yard pass from Linehan to McCain and a fourth-down conversion at the Idaho 25 from Linehan to Justin Podrabky.
The Vandals made their own fortune for their next score when Eric Tuipulotu recovered an Eagle fumble at the GSU 19. Penny scored his third TD of the night from one to score as time expired in the third quarter. Idaho's two-point conversion try failed and the Vandals headed into the fourth quarter trailing 33-24.
Idaho's defense came up big on the Eagles' next drive and forced a punt only to have a tipped-ball pick six (26 yards by Matt Dobson) give Georgia Southern the 40-24 lead with 12:48 to play in the game.
