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2013 Georgia State Football
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2012 GAME SUMMARIES
SEASON REV I EW
VILLANOVA 49, GEORGIA STATE 24
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No. 24 Villanova ran the ball 53 times for 343
yards in a 49-24 win over host Georgia State on
Homecoming at the Georgia Dome.
The Wildcats, ranked No. 24 by the Sports
Network, improved to 6-2 overall and 4-1 in
Colonial Athletic Association move into a tie for
first place in the conference standings. In addition
to the rushing statistics, Villanova used a 66-yard
punt return touchdown and a 32-yard interception
return to open a 35-10 halftime lead.
Georgia State, coming off its first win of
the year, fell to 1-7. The Panthers ran 70 plays to
Villanova’s 68 plays on the day and gained 309 total
yards, sparked by junior Albert Wilson’s six catches
for 104 yards and five kickoff returns for 176 yards.
His 61-yard kick return and 55-yard touchdown
catch were GSU’s two longest plays of the day.
Donald Russell, the reigning Colonial Athletic
Association offensive player of the week who was
coming off a school-record 201 rushing yards in
the win over Rhode Island, was held to four yards
on five carries before leaving the game in the first
quarter with a knee injury. He did not return.
Playing in place of Russell was redshirt junior
Travis Evans, who carried five times for 10 yards
in the opening half. His last carry was a 9-yard
touchdown scamper with 1:38 left in the second
quarter to cut Villanova’s lead to 35-10 at halftime.
Rosevelt Watson added 45 yards on eight
carries.
“Donald had a knee strain and couldn’t return.
It will take time to see where he is,” Curry said.
“The other backs ran extremely well. They all ran
well today and they all practice hard. One thing
everyone preaches in this sport, if you’ve not a
starter, practice as if you are going to start. All of
them have practiced well and they played well.”
Despite the lopsided score, the Panthers
offense didn’t quit and got a pair of fourth-quarter
touchdowns. GSU capped a 12-play drive when
Ben McLane found Emmanuel Ogbuehi for a 3-yard
score. With just over three minutes left in the game,
backup quarterback Ronnie Bell found a wide-open
Wilson who tight-roped the sideline for a 55-yard
touchdown that made it a 49-24 game.
Wilson finished with six catches for 104 yards,
along with 186 return yards for a school-record
total of 290 all-purpose yards, breaking the record
of 236 that Russell set a week earlier.
“Albert plays his heart out on every play, he’s
just a great player. It was too little, too late and
that’s too much of a repetitive story,” Curry said.
“We’re just better than this and that’s the part that
is so painful.”
Georgia State got on the scoreboard for the
first time with 9:32 to play in the second quarter.
Following Wilson’s 61-yard kickoff return the
Panthers’ drive stalled at the 16-yard line, but Wil
Lutz booted a 33-yard field goal to get GSU to
within 21-3.
The Wildcats answered immediately with a
pair of touchdowns. First, Villanova took just six
plays to go 66 yards as Kevin Monangai’s 12-yard
touchdown run made it 28-3. On the first play of
the ensuing drive, McLane was intercepted by Eric
Loper who returned it 32 yards for a score.
Villanova marched down the field on its
opening possession, traveling 86 yards in just seven
plays to take the first lead of the day. The big play
came when Kevin Monangai got deep into Georgia
State territory on a 33-yard run. Three plays later,
quarterback John Robertson scored from six yards
to make it 7-0.
Midway through the first, Villanova punt
returner Poppy Livers made a pair of Panthers miss,
then found his way down the sideline for a 66-yard
touchdown that put the visitors up 14-0. Livers’
touchdown was the first Villanova punt return for a
score since David Martin ran one back in 1980.
Villanova made it 21-0 early in the second
when Robertson found Norman White in the back
of the end zone for a 14-yard touchdown.
Roberston, a redshirt freshman who in an
upset of Old Dominion ran for a school-record 189
yards, picked up 87 yards on the ground and 183 of
total offense. Monangai rushed for 130 yards on 18
carries and Villanova picked up 470 yards of total
offense.
“We were out of position on the quarterback
runs,” Curry said. “We have a response, we see it
every week, it’s not as if it’s some kind of magic
show. Probably didn’t practice as well as we have,
but the guys sucked it up and pulled it together. We
thought by Thursday that we were in good shape in
terms of concentration, but we didn’t play that way.”
VILLANOVA................
GEORGIA STATE...........
SCORING SUMMARY
VU–Robertson 6 Run (Hamilton Kick),
VU 7-0
10:43-1st (7-86, 2:59)
VU–Livers 66 Punt Return (Hamilton Kick), 6:37-1st
VU 14-0
VU–Hamilton 14 Pass from Robertson (Hamilton Kick), VU 21-0
14:29-2nd (12-80, 5:48)
GSU–Lutz 34 FG, 9:32-2nd (11-22, 4:46)
VU 21-3
VU–Monongai 12 Run (Hamilton Kick),
VU 28-3
7:06-2nd (6-66, 2:22)
VU–Loper 32 Interception Return (Hamilton Kick),
VU 35-3
6:48-2nd
GSU–Evans 9 Run (Lutz Kick), 1:38-2nd (12-57, 5:04)
VU 35-10
VU–Pettway 2 Pass from Robertson (Hamilton Kick),
VU 42-10
11:00-3rd (10-65, 4:00)
VU–Hurley 15 Pass from Polony (Hamilton Kick),
VU 49-10
13:57-4th (2-17, 0:48)
GSU–Ogbuehi 3 Pass from McLane (Lutz Kick),
VU 49-17
8:20-4th (12-70, 5:32)
GSU–Wilson 55 Pass from Bell (Lutz Kick),
VU 49-24
3:21-4th (4-66, 1:01)
Attendance–12,136
TEAM STATISTICS .......................................VU
GSU
First Downs (R-P-Pen)..........................28 (20-7-1)
18 (6-11-1)
Rushing (Att-Yards-TD)........................... 53-343-2
29-79-1
Passing Yards........................................................127
230
Passes (Cmp-Att-Int)..................................11-15-1
23-41-2
TOTAL OFFENSE (Plays-Yds)...................... 68-470
70-309
Punts (No.-Avg-Net)............................3-42.7-39.3
6-43.8-32.8
Fumbles-Lost ........................................................0-0
1-0
Penalties..............................................................4-25
3-30
Sacks By..................................................................1-0
0-0
3rd Down Conversions ......................................5-9
4-15
4th Down Conversions ......................................0-0
3-4
Time of Possession.........................................30:28
29:32
RUSHING LEADERS
VU–Monangai 18-130, 1 TD; Robertson 11-87, 1 TD; White 9-40
GSU–Watson 8-45; Evans 9-16, 1 TD; McLane 4-6; Sweeting
1-5; Russell 5-4; Lee 2-3
PASSING LEADERS
VU–Robertson 8-11-1, 96, 2 TD; Polony 3-4-0, 23, 1 TD
GSU–McLane 21-37-2, 164, 1 TD; Bell 2-4-0, 66, 1 TD
RECEIVING LEADERS
VU–White 3-32, 1 TD; Wells 2-40; Monangai, 2-1; Wells 1-23;
Hurley 1-15, 1 TD; Price 1-14; Pettway 1-2, 1 TD
GSU–Wilson 6-104, 1 TD; Evans 5-28; Ogbuehi 4-18, 1 TD;
Watson 1-11; Pearson 1-6; ASmith 1-5 Russell 1-3
JAMES MADISON 28, GEORGIA STATE 21
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Georgia State’s late comeback fell just short as
the Panthers fell at ninth-ranked James Madison
28-21 at Bridgeforth Stadium.
After falling behind 28-7, Georgia State scored
a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns to pull within
28-21 and had one final possessionwith 56 seconds
left but JMU (6-2, 4-1) held on for the victory.
Tight end Emmanuel Ogbuehi caught a 5-yard
touchdown pass with 10:47 left and then set up
another touchdown when he ran 54 yards on a fake
punt. Travis Evans, playing for injured running back
Donald Russell, rushed for a career-high 98 yards
for the Panthers.
“That’s a really painful loss against an
outstanding football team because we had
chances in all three phases—offense, defense
and special teams—to win the game,” GSU head
coach Bill Curry said.“We needed to do a better job
executing the little things to finish the job.”
Georgia State trailed 14-7 after a strong first
half in which the Panthers outgained JMU 171-122.
The score remained that way until late in the third
quarter when James Madison scored on a 13-yard
run by Jordan Anderson to move ahead 21-7. That
touchdown capped a five-play 68-yard drive that
was aided by a personal foul penalty for contact
above the neck on Drew Pearson, a tight end
who also took snaps at defensive end for the first
time because the Panthers have suffered so many
injuries on the defensive line.
The Dukes added to their lead soon after as
Brandon Lee blocked a punt and returned it 3 yards
for a touchdown, putting the Dukes ahead, 28-7,
with 14 minutes to play.
The Panthers responded by driving 81 yards
on eight plays to pull within 28-14 with 6:31 left.
Ogbuehi started the drive with a 17-yard run and
then finished it when he caught a 5-yard pass from
running back Rosevelt Watson, who had taken the
snap in a Wildcat formation. That is the second
career touchdown pass for Watson, who also threw
one in 2010.
The GSU defense forced a three-and-out,
and the Panthers took over at their own 33. On
fourth-and-7 from the 36, Ogbuehi took the snap
in punt formation and raced around the left side
for 54 yards down to the 10-yard line. On the next
play, McLane hit Parris Lee in the left flat, and Lee
raced down the sideline for the score, bringing GSU
within 28-21 with 6:31 left.
After the kickoff, JMU managed to grind the
clock with runs, moving to the GSU 24-yard line
when Cameron Starke missed his third field-goal
attempt of the day to give the Panthers one final
chance with 56 seconds left. After an 18-yard
reception by Lynquez Blar and a roughing the
