STATESBORO, Ga.?Two early fourth-quarter turnovers proved to be Austin Peay State University's undoing, Saturday night, as the Governors fell to No. 16 Georgia Southern, 34-20, in a non-conference battle.
The Governors, who overcame much first-half adversity to pull to a 13-13 halftime tie, took a 20-13 lead into the fourth quarter and seemed on the verge of a possible upset. But fumbles deep in its own territory on consecutive APSU drives led to 21 unanswered points by Georgia Southern as the Govs were unable to recover.
The loss drops APSU to 0-2 on the season. The Governors, members of the Ohio Valley Conference, will play their home opener, 6 p.m., next Saturday in Governors Stadium against Gardner-Webb. Georgia Southern, members of the Southern Conference, goes to 1-1 on the season.
“You can't come into an adversarial place and turn the ball and lose the kicking game,” APSU coach Rick Christophel said. “That is exactly what we did. We turned the ball over in crucial situations. And as good as the kicking game was a week ago it was that bad this week.”
Austin Peay fell behind 13-0 early in the second quarter as field position became an issue as APSU constantly was backed up in its own half of the field, never starting any of its first five-first half drives past its own 26-yard line.
But after the Eagles took that 13-0 lead, the Governors offense finally came alive. After a GSU personal foul penalty, Orr teamed up with Lanis Frederick twice, one for 14 yards and the other for 23 sandwiched around two Theo Townsend runs totaling 17 yards. That took it down to the Eagles 18-yard line.
On a third-and-four Orr hooked up with Adrian Mines, who shook a couple of tackles to advance the ball down to the two-yard line. A facemask penalty left it on the one, where Townsend scored to cut APSU's deficit to 13-7.
On Georgia Southern's ensuing possession, the Eagles attempted to convert a fourth-down and one situation, with Chris Covington taking a direct snap out of punt formation. However, Covington fumbled the ball out of bounds, giving the ball back to APSU at Eagles 42 with 1:26 left in the half.
On third and seven from the GSU 38, Orr hooked up with former quarterback Scott Thomas on a post pattern that took the ball all the way to 20. On the next play, Orr again hooked up with Frederick on a fade pass for a 20-yard score. However, the Govs couldn't take the lead going into half as defensive lineman Larry Beard blocked the extra point.
But it didn't take the Govs long to take the lead at the start of the second half. Starting at their own 33, the Governors marched downfield, mostly behind Jeff Lyle's running and a Georgia Southern pass interference penalty. That penalty put the ball at the GSU 13 and Lyle moved it to the eight with a five-yard gain.
Then on second down, Orr hooked up with redshirt freshman Jontamion Forrest for an eight-yard score, giving the Govs the lead. With Bell's extra point, the Govs led, 20-13?APSU's first lead of 2008.
APSU's defense dug in on the next three possessions, forcing one three-and-out and two fumbles. But APSU's offense was unable to capitalize on the gifts. Still the Governors took a 20-13 lead going into the final period.
Again the APSU defense held Georgia Southern's offense, forcing another punt from inside APSU territory.
But things began to unravel for the Govs. A penalty on the punt return left the ball at the APSU six-yard line. Then Lyle, who had provided a workman-like effort all night, fumbled the ball, with Georgia Southern recovering at the APSU four.
On the first play, quarterback Antonio Henton, the transfer from Ohio State, bulled his way for the score. The PAT tied the game at 20.
The Govs attempted to regain the momentum after the ensuing kickoff. Freshman Ryan White ran eight yards on first down to the APSU 32 and eight more on second down to the 40. Unfortunately, White was unable to hold onto the football, with Georgia Southern recovering at the APSU 38.
Again it was the big-play of Henton who gave Georgia Southern the lead. The Eagles moved the ball down to the APSU 16-yard line before the 6-1, 235-pounder scored on another run to give the Eagles a 27-20 lead.
The Governors attempted to come back but a disputed fourth-down sideline pass to Lanis Frederick, after much discussion, was ruled incomplete near the GSU 40-yard line. Georgia Southern took over at APSU's 42 and took advantage of depleted Govs defense?starting linebacker Kit Hartsfield and starting free safety Tremayne Townsend both left the game with first half injuries?and used eight plays to take a 34-20 advantage.
Another Governors fumble on the ensuing possession ended any hope for an APSU comeback.
The Governors, who were held to just 91 yards total offense a week ago, managed 292 yards against Georgia Southern, while the hosts were slightly better at 313.
Orr, who struggled in the opener at North Dakota State, finished the day 17 of 29 passing for 169 yards and two TDs. Meanwhile, Frederick, a senior who set APSU pass receiving record two seasons ago (77 catches), caught six passes for 71 yards.
Lyle led APSU runners with a career-best 86 yards on 17 carries.
Defensively, strong safety Jason Vanatta led with seven tackles while Daniel Becker, JayR Harper and Chris Haynes had six. Harper also was credited with forcing a pair of fumbles.
APSU's kicking also suffered. In addition to missing an extra point, the Govs allowed Georgia Southern an average of the 46 yard line to begin each possession. Terrence Holt, who set an OVC record last week with 250 kickoff return yards, had just 88 yards total in both kickoff and punt returns.
-AP-
