Georgia State finally snapped their 16 game losing streak on Wednesday night behind a wonderful performance by quarterback Nick Arbuckle. The Panthers needed a late field goal from Wil Lutz to give them the 38-37 victory. Arbuckle finished the game by throwing for 414 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions on 31 completions out of 47 pass attempts.

Not to be forgotten in the loss was the performance by Abilene Christian's Parker McKenzie. McKenzie went 30 of 40 for 403 yards, 4 touchdowns, and an interception. He found receiver Demarcus Thompson for 9 catches and 156 yards. It was McKenzie's first start for Abilene Christian.

Abilene Christian opened with a wonderful opening drive, but had to settle for field goal to take a 3-0 lead. They went 69 yards in 5 minutes and 55 seconds on 13 plays. Quarterback Parker McKenzie went 6 of 7 for 57 yards on the opening drive.

Georgia State’s offense started strong with the Nick Arbuckle to Robert Davis connection hooking up three times on the drive. Unfortunately, the Panthers went to the well one too many times as Abilene Christian’s Angel Lopez waited on the route and intercepted a pass in the red zone to kill the drive.

After forcing a three and out, the Panthers got a wonderful 32-yard punt return from Donovan Harden to give them wonderful field position. A heavy dose of Krysten Hammon led to an easy 34-yard touchdown pass from Arbuckle to wide receiver Joel Ruiz, which gave the Panthers a 7-3 lead with 2:41 left in the first quarter.

Krysten Hammon reached 57 yards on 10 rushes, but suffered an injury on the third play of the 2nd quarter. The offense continued clicking after his injury and finished the drive off with a 2-yard touchdown run by fullback Jonathan Lytle. With exactly 12 minutes left, Georgia State led 14-3.

Abilene had a strong response after the Panthers’ second touchdown. However, their drive stalled at the Georgia State 25 yard-line. Nik Grau hit his second field of the night, this one a 42-yarder to make it an 8-point deficit at 14-6.

After a defensive stop, Abilene hit a big play when Parker McKenzie threw a strike to Cedric Gilbert for a 60-yard touchdown. Georgia State’s LaDarion Young took a chance on knocking the ball down, but he missed and Gilbert strolled into the end zone to make it 14-13 with under 4 minutes remaining in the first half.

Georgia State was starting to make headway towards Abilene territory, but running back Kyler Neal fumbled the ball when he was hit on his left shoulder. Abilene’s Justin Stewart recovered and got the ball back on its own 48-yard line.

On the next play, Abilene went up top with McKenzie finding Demarcus Thompson for a 42-yard play down to the 10 yard line. The Georgia State defense stood tall again by not allowing a touchdown. Another field goal by Grau, this time from 33 yards out, gave Abilene the lead at 16-14.

Georgia State mounted one last attack in the final two minutes and it paid off in an unexpected way. On 2nd and 13, Arbuckle threw a pass deep into the end zone, which was caught by Avery Sweeting with a defender draped all over him. The score was 21-16 heading into halftime.

It took both teams a while to get back into gear on offense during the second half, but Abilene struck first in the third quarter. On their second drive, Abilene drove 80 yards in 6 plays, which was topped off by 23-yard touchdown pass from McKenzie to tight end Jamie Walker. Abilene recaptured the lead at 23-21 with 6:27 remaining in the third quarter.

Georgia State’s Tarris Batiste was ejected late in the 3rd quarter after being penalized for targeting after forcing a fourth down. Abilene Christian took advantage on the following play as McKenzie found Jace Hudson for a 24-yard touchdown. Abilene converted the extra point to go up by a score of 30-21 with under two minutes remaining.

Down 9 points, Nick Arbuckle tried to force a deep throw, but Justin Stewart had his second turnover of the night for Abilene Christian, as he intercepted the pass at his own 35-yard line. It was a fitting end to the third quarter that was dominated throughout by Abilene Christian.

Georgia State got a break when a pass by McKenzie forced a pass into double coverage, the ball was tipped, and Joseph Peterson took the interception 28 yards to the Abilene 44-yard line.

It took only four plays for Georgia State to score. Arbuckle threw a short pass to Lynquez Blair that Blair took to the house after a few nifty moves. The extra point made it a 30-28 game with less than 11 minutes to go.

Abilene Christian kept the offense going with a 10-play, 75-yard drive capped off by a 7-yard touchdown pass by McKenzie to Cade Stone. Once again, Abilene had their lead restored to 9 points, this time at 37-28 with 6:36 left in the game.

Georgia State was not done, however. Another quick drive, this one in 2 minutes and 5 seconds, was finished off with an Arbuckle to Ruiz connection for the second time in the game. The deficit was cut back to 2 points at 37-35 with four and a half minutes remaining.

The Panthers forced a punt and actually had a go-ahead touchdown pass by Arbuckle, but a holding penalty negated the touchdown. The Panthers eventually converted a 4th and 19 when Arbuckle found Blair for a 24-yard pass. On that play, Abilene safety Angel Lopez made a hit and appeared to have been knocked unconscious when he and Blair collided. Lopez eventually got to his feet and was helped off with a bit of assistance from the training staff.

Arbuckle and Georgia State continued to drive and eventually got down to Abilene's 9-yard line for the game winning field goal, which was knocked through by Wil Lutz.

Georgia State suffered injuries to linebacker Jarrell Robinson and running backs Krysten Hammon and Kyler Neal. All three players eventually returned later in the game, which is always a good sign.

For Georgia State, Lynquez Blair finished with 8 catches for 118 yards and 1 touchdown. Joel Ruiz had 7 catches for 111 yards and 2 touchdowns while Robert Davis had 8 catches for 90 yards. Hammon finished the game with 74 yards rushing, which is solid given he missed roughly half the game with an injury.

Abilene's Nik Grau went 3 for 3 on field goals and 4 of 4 on his extra points. 

Georgia State committed 5 special teams penalties in the first half, which hurt their ability to attempt two point conversions.

Abilene Christian continues their season on September 6 with a home game versus Northern Arizona. Georgia State will have another home game next Saturday, as they open their 2014 Sun Belt conference schedule against New Mexico State.

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About the author
Matthew Dixon
I follow College Football at all levels; FBS, FCS, Division II, and Division III. In addition, I am a horse racing enthusiast.