Georgia State Falls to Unbeaten James Madison 49-22 in Harrisonburg

James Madison scored touchdowns on all six of its red zone trips and piled up 515 yards of total offense to beat Georgia State 49-22 on Saturday at Bridgeforth Stadium. The Dukes improve to 7-0 overall and 4-0 in Sun Belt play, while the Panthers fall to 4-2 and 1-1 in the conference.

James Madison set the tone on the opening possession, marching 75 yards in eight plays. Camden Coleman found Jeremiah Harrison for 42 yards to reach Georgia State territory, and JC Evans finished the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run.

Georgia State answered with a nine-play, 65-yard drive that took five minutes off the clock. Cameran Brown opened it with a 15-yard completion to Rodshaun Dorsey and later scrambled 17 yards to the James Madison 2. Lanear McCrary Jr. took a direct snap in from the 1 to tie the game at 7.

The tie lasted 50 seconds of game clock. Michael Scott returned the ensuing kickoff 76 yards to the Georgia State 24, and three plays later Coleman connected with Scott on a 20-yard touchdown pass. On the Panthers’ next series, DJ Kelly intercepted Brown, and James Madison carried a 14-7 lead into the second quarter.

The Dukes broke the game open in the second quarter. Evans hit Cole Keller for 41 yards to the Georgia State 1 and scored on a quarterback keeper on the next play. James Madison then recovered its own onside kick, and George Pettaway ripped off a 19-yard run before Coleman found KD Mosley for a 19-yard touchdown that made it 28-7.

Georgia State’s defense created a chance midway through the quarter when Deuce Lee forced a fumble by Nick Herman and Malique Harrell recovered at the Georgia State 33. The Panthers put together an 11-play, 52-yard drive, and Samer Layous converted a 33-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 28-10. James Madison responded with a 44-yard completion from Coleman to Corey Scott, and Seth Cromwell scored from 3 yards out with 2:11 left in the half. Georgia State drove to the James Madison 22 before time expired, and the Dukes led 35-10 at the break.

Georgia State opened the second half with its best drive of the day, covering 75 yards in seven plays. On third-and-10, Brown found Dorsey for a 32-yard touchdown. The two-point rush by DJ Riles was stopped, leaving the score at 35-16.

The Panthers were stopped on fourth-and-1 at their own 29 later in the quarter, and Pettaway capitalized four plays later with a 12-yard touchdown run to make it 42-16. Georgia State also came up empty on a fourth-and-2 at the James Madison 39 when Ernest Willor Jr. brought down Brown.

Morgan Suarez missed field goals from 40 and 46 yards early in the fourth quarter, and Georgia State turned to Ayden Pereira at quarterback. Pereira completed a 34-yard pass to Riles and a 15-yarder to Grant Hollier before scoring on a 1-yard keeper with 7:10 remaining. The two-point pass failed, and the score stood at 42-22. James Madison closed the scoring with a 32-yard run by Michael Scott and a 22-yard touchdown pass from Evans to Miles Halbert with one minute left.

Coleman completed 13 of 19 passes for 185 yards and two touchdowns. Evans threw for 80 yards and a touchdown while rushing for two scores. Pettaway led all rushers with 119 yards on 14 carries, and Michael Scott finished with 196 all-purpose yards. The Dukes averaged 7.6 yards per play and outgained the Panthers 515-373.

Brown completed 13 of 25 passes for 134 yards with a touchdown and an interception, and he led Georgia State on the ground with 71 yards on nine carries. Dennis Murray Jr. added 79 all-purpose yards, and Dorsey caught three passes for 57 yards. The Panthers held a slight edge in time of possession at 30:07 and went 3-for-3 in the red zone, but they converted only 4 of 13 third downs and 1 of 3 fourth downs.

Georgia State stays on the road next Saturday, Oct. 24, when it travels to Jonesboro, Ark., to face Arkansas State in Sun Belt play.