A late interception by TJ Smith and a big offensive night from Davis Brin and OJ Arnold helped propel the Georgia Southern football team to a 49-35 victory over UAB Saturday at Allen E. Paulson Stadium in non-conference action.
On the opening play of the game, Khadry Jackson forced a Blazer fumble before Justin Rhodes recovered the ball on the UAB 19-yard line. The Eagle offense capitalized on the turnover to take an early lead on a 5-yard touchdown reception from Jalen White.
On the next drive, the Eagles extended the lead on a 5-yard touchdown run from Brin.
UAB trimmed the Eagle lead at the start of the second quarter on a 19-yard carry by Jermaine Brown Jr. to make it 14-7. Georgia Southern answered as Arnold completed his second career touchdown pass for 26 yards to Derwin Burgess Jr.
The Blazers continued to cut into the lead in the second quarter, scoring on back-to-back drives to take the lead, 22-21. Georgia Southern would retake the lead before the half on an explosive 39-yard touchdown run by Arnold, heading into the half up 28-22.
On the first drive of the second half, the GS offense had a 12-play, 85-yard drive downfield capped by a 1-yard touchdown reception from Khaleb Hood, his sixth career touchdown catch, putting the home team up two scores.
The GS defense forced its second turnover at the beginning of the fourth quarter, a pick Smith at the Georgia Southern 38-yard line, his first interception as an Eagle. White punched the ball into the end zone on a 6-yard run and a successful two-point conversion put the Eagles up 43-29.
The blue & white added a field goal from Michael Lantz before a long drive by UAB brought the Blazers within 11 at 46-35. Lantz added a 38-yard field goal to extend the lead to 49-35, which would stand as the final score after a late fumble recovery by Isaac Walker.
With under five minutes left in the fourth quarter, Khaleb Hood broke the Georgia Southern career receiving yards surpassing Monty Sharp with 1,855 career yards.
Brin threw for 287 yards and completed 38 of 47 passes with two touchdowns and the offense ended the night with 462 yards of total offense (118 rushing and 344 passing).
Marques Watson-Trent led the defense with 14 tackles, including 1.5 for loss. Jackson added 8 tackles, including 1.5 for loss, and two forced fumbles. The Eagle defense tallied nine tackles for loss, three forced fumbles, four pass breakups, and a sack.
Georgia Southern (2-0) takes to the road for the first time next Saturday, Sept. 16 against Wisconsin. Kickoff is set for 12 p.m. (ET)/11 a.m. (local) in Madison.
