KENNESAW, Ga — Georgia State used a big 230-yard performance on the ground, including 101 yards from Lanear McCrary Jr., and three rushing touchdowns to pick up a 31-17 win against Kennesaw State Saturday night on the road at Walens Family Field at Fifth Third Stadium.

“I’m super proud of everybody in our organization that helped make this happen tonight,” Head Coach Dell McGee said. “It’s all about preparation, and as long as our guys continue to believe in the process, good things will continue to happen.”

The triumph improved Georgia State’s record to 2-0 on the season while the Owls fell to 1-1.

Cameran Brown led Georgia State’s passing attack with 253 yards through the air. The signal caller also added 62 yards and one touchdown on the ground.

McCrary Jr. paced the Panthers rushing attack by accumulating 101 yards and one touchdown over the course of the game, averaging 5.3 yards per carry.

Kyle Washington hauled in two catches for 59 yards.

Deuce Lee showed out for the Georgia State defense, totaling five tackles and one interception. Xavier Esqillion added three tackles, 1.0 TFL, and one sack.

Georgia State recorded a big showing on the ground, racking up 230 rushing yards while averaging 4.9 yards per carry and out-rushing Kennesaw State by 158 yards. Georgia State converted on 46.2 percent of third-down attempts on the day.

Defensively, Georgia State held up fairly well against the Kennesaw State offensive attack, holding the Owls to 332 total yards.

“Our guys handled the the tempo well, and I thought our defense played outstanding tonight,” McGee said on the defensive performance. “The key was stopping them on first down, and I think our guys did a great job on that.”

How It Happened

Georgia State scored on the game’s first drive to take a 3-0 lead. Kennesaw State then tied things up at 3-3 before the Panthers responded with a 27-yard field goal from to jump back in front 6-3.

Georgia State then added a touchdown with 12:02 left in the second quarter to make it a 14-3 lead. The Panthers kept building their lead, scoring again to go up 21-3.

Georgia State continued to extend its lead, scoring again with 4:42 remaining in the third quarter to go ahead 28-3. The Owls then rallied, tallying eight points before the Panthers responded with a field goal to extend their lead to 31-11.

Georgia State didn’t score again and Kennesaw State added six more points to finish off the scoring.

Game Notes

» Georgia State outgained Kennesaw State 483-332, including a 230-72 advantage on the ground.

» The Panthers scored first with 9:18 left in the first quarter and never trailed the rest of the game on their way to victory.

» Georgia State had their highest scoring quarter in the second period, when they put up 15 points.

» Georgia State converted 6 of 13 third downs while Kennesaw State was successful on 2 of 9.

» Samer Layous knocked through three field goals for the Panthers with a long of 43 yards.

» Christian Teeter punted one times for the Panthers with an average of 59 yards per punt while pinning the Owls inside their own 20 one time.

» Georgia State went 1-for-2 on fourth down, converting on 50 percent of attempts.

» The Panthers didn’t allow a sack in the contest.

» Georgia State won the time of possession battle 37:47 to 22:13.

» Brown completed 69.6% of his passes on the day, going 16-for-23 while averaging 11 yards per attempt.

The Panthers look to keep momentum rolling at UCF on Saturday, Sept. 19 at 7:00 p.m. ET in Orlando, Fla.

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