Photo credit: Jason Getz Photography
By E. Marcel Pourtout, Editor
Despite a game-high 394 passing yards and four touchdowns from Nick Arbuckle, the Georgia State football dropped its home contest to Liberty 41-33 in a non-conference matchup at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta on Saturday.
Donovan Harden had five receptions and a game-high 179 yards for Georgia State (1-3) in the loss.
Liberty (2-2) amassed 502 yards of total offense and held the ball for more than 43 minutes, dominating the time of possession in the contest. The Flames also converted 13 for 21 on third and fourth-down conversions.
The Flames rushed for 279 yards led by a team-high 90 yards and three touchdowns from Desmond Rice. Liberty quarterback Josh Woodrum threw for 239 yards.
“We were outplayed today,” Georgia State coach Trent Miles said. “Hats off to Liberty for coming in here and being able to run the ball and do what they did offensively. We’ve got to go back to the drawing board and do a much better job.”
Trailing 21-14 entering the third quarter, Georgia State tied the score on its first possession of the second half when Arbuckle connected with Penny Hart for a 58-yard touchdown pass down the middle.
Liberty retook the lead 28-21 on its next possession as Rice took it in on a one-yard TD run on fourth-and-one with 6:03 left in the third quarter.
Wil Lutz’s 49 yard field goal attempt was good for Georgia State with 46 seconds to go in the third quarter, cutting the Panthers’ deficit to 28-24.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Todd Macon’s four-yard touchdown run increased Liberty’s lead to 35-24. He finished with two touchdowns
Lutz’ second field goal of the game, this one from 32 yards, with 13:08 left in the game got Georgia State within one possession, making the score 35-27 in favor of Liberty.
Arbuckle’s eight-yard touchdown run with 2:51 left made the score 38-33. He was sacked on the next play during the two-point conversion.
Lunsford’s 56-yard field goal for Liberty with 2:27 left in the game made the score 41-33.
On Liberty’s first possession, Stephon Masha was running the ball into the endzone but fumbled the ball which was recovered by Georgia State’s Kaleb Ringer in the endzone.
Arbuckle connected with Harden for 76-yard touchdown pass down left side, giving Panthers early 7-0 lead on their first possession. It was Arbuckle’s longest TD pass in his Georgia State career and sixth-longest in program history.
Liberty responded with a touchdown of its own when Rice scored on fourth and goal from the one-yard line on a run up the middle at 6:54 mark of the first quarter.
The Panthers connected with another long touchdown pass in the first quarter, this one a 61-yard connection from Arbuckle to Robert Davis, pushing their lead to 14-7.
The Flames tied the score at 14-14 with a one-yard TD run by Macon with 9:43 left in the second quarter.
With 1:18 left in the first half, Rice punched in his second touchdown run of the game from the one-yard line up the middle, giving Liberty its first lead of the game at 21-14.
Libertyy outgained Georgia State 295-155 in yardage and were 8-for-11 on third and fourth down conversions in the first half.
The Sports Inquirer 
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