STATESBORO - A 34-yard touchdown pass from Dexter Williams II to Derwin Burgess Jr. with a minute left and a late interception by Marc Stampley II secured the largest second-half comeback in the history of Allen E. Paulson Stadium as the Georgia Southern football team rallied to score 21 unanswered points in the final 6:35 to stun Marshall Saturday night, 24-23, in Sun Belt action.
The first quarter featured three field goals, including a 42-yarder from senior Gavin Stewart. The Thundering Herd tacked on another field goal to take a 9-3 lead and then scored two touchdowns on passes from Braylon Braxton to take a 23-3 lead midway through the third quarter.
After a safety with 6:35 left, Georgia Southern cut into the lead late in the game when Williams II scored on a 1-yard touchdown run 14 seconds later. After Deontre Morris recovered a fumble that Marques Watson-Trentforced, David Mbadinga scored on a 2-yard run with 2:15 left to make it 23-18. On the next drive, Watson-Trent forced another fumble that was recovered by Latrell Bullard with 1:55 left in the game. Williams II, who was in for an injured French, completed passes of 10 yards to Dalen Cobb, 19 yards on 3rd and 17 to LV Bunkley-Shelton, 10 yards to Cobb, and then the dagger to Burgess Jr. to give the Eagles their first lead.
JC French threw for 200 yards and Williams II accounted for 148 yards of total offense in late action. Cobb led the way with six catches for 93 yards while Burgess Jr. hauled in seven passes for 84 yards and a score. Bunkley-Shelton had six grabs for 66 yards and Tyler Fromm added four catches for 71 yards.
Watson-Trent led the way defensively with 10 tackles, including 1.5 for loss, and two forced fumbles while Justin Meyers had nine stops.
- The 20-point comeback in the final 6:35 marks the largest second-half comeback in Paulson Stadium history (prev: 1987, vs. Maine; trailed 28-10 in 3rd, won 41-30.)
- It was the first double-digit fourth-quarter comeback for the Eagles since 2012 at Old Dominion. Southern trailed 35-21 with 14:57 and won 49-35.
- The 20-point comeback marks the largest fourth-quarter comeback for head coach Clay Helton, who trailed by 14 points against Penn State in the 2016 Rose Bowl. USC trailed 49-35 with 8:16 to go and won 52-49.
- The last three Marshall possessions resulted in turnovers with drive times of :13 seconds (fumble), :19 seconds (fumble) and :23 seconds (interception).
- In the last 6:45 of the game, the Eagles outgained Marshall 177-1.
Up Next: The Eagles (4-2, 2-0) will host James Madison (5-1, 1-1) next Saturday at 4 p.m.
