The Sports Inquirer

Elijah Mitchell’s 12-yard touchdown run in overtime gave Louisiana the 34-31 road victory over Georgia State at Center Parc Stadium in Atlanta Sept. 19. The Ragin’ Cajuns’ trailed 21-7 in the third quarter of their victory.
Georgia State (0-1, 0-1 Sun Belt) opened its overtime session with a 15-yard field goal by Noel Ruiz to make the score 31-28 before the Cajuns’ (2-0, 1-0 Sun Belt) game-winning drive.
“To play that football game the way we did and have the opportunity to win I’m very proud of the football team,” Panthers’ head coach Shawn Elliott said. “It was a great effort on everyone’s part. I’m most disappointed that we didn’t win that football game and we had every opportunity. Some drives we didn’t capitalize on offensively we should have. I thought we controlled the line of scrimmage most of the game. Hats off to them, they’re a good football team.”
Levi Lewis threw for a game-high 279 yards and two touchdowns for Louisiana. Mitchell finished the contest with a game-high 164 rushing yards and two touchdowns including the game-winner.
Panthers’ defender Victor Heyward intercepted Lewis on the Cajuns’ first possession of the second half. Georgia State took advantage of the opportunity as Marcus Carroll scored on a two-yard touchdown run to increase its lead to 21-7 at the 10:49 mark of the third quarter.
Louisiana rebounded with a four-yard touchdown catch by Kyren Lacy from Lewis to cut the deficit to 21-14 midway through the third quarter. Mitchell’s 59-yard touchdown run down the right side tied the score 21-21 for Louisiana later in the quarter.
The Cajuns took their first lead of the contest with 11:54 left in regulation on Trey Ragas’ two-yard touchdown run, making the score 28-21.
Georgia State tied the score at 28-all midway through the fourth quarter at the 7:37 mark on Destin Coates’ four-yard touchdown run. He finished the day with 150 rushing yards on a game-high 34 attempts.
“You have to weather the storm,” Elliott said. “We all have to do that in life and on the football field. They hit us with three gut punches right there but you have to keep playing the game.”
Redshirt freshman quarterback Cornelius “Quad” Brown’s 12-yard touchdown run at the 3:30 mark of the first quarter gave Georgia State the 6-0 lead in his first career start for the Panthers. He finished the day with a team-high 196 passing yards, 64 rushing yards and two touchdowns, one rushing and one passing.
“They’re weren’t a lot of mistakes made out there by Quad,” Elliott said. “He managed our team very well, took the opportunities when we had the run game in there, and made positive yardage. He’s a redshirt freshman and we’ll all learn from our mistakes. That only makes us better.”
The Panthers increased their lead to 14-0 on Brown’s 28-yard touchdown pass to tight end Roger Carter on a wheel route early in the second quarter.
Emani Bailey intercepted Brown’s pass with 3:16 left in the first half for Louisiana. The Ragin’ Cajuns got on the board on their subsequent drive on an 18-yard touchdown catch by Chris Smith, making the score 14-7 at the 1:33 mark of the second quarter. The drive included a 19-yard pass from Lewis to Devon Pauley on fourth down to keep possession for Louisiana. Quavian White’s interception of Lewis’ pass stopped Louisiana on its final drive of the first half.
Louisiana outgained Georgia State 519-419 in total yardage.
The contest was the first one for the Panthers’ 2020 season which has been altered due to the coronavirus pandemic. Previous contests including a home tilt against Murray State Sept. 3 and at Alabama Sept. 12 were cancelled making the Louisiana game the season opener.
“It’s been a real roller coaster with this camp,” Elliott said. “There are a lot of distractions that really could have made this team go south. We’ve got some good leaders and are pleased to see because you don’t know what to expect.”