ORLANDO, Fla — Senior receiver Rodshaun Dorsey snagged back-to-back touchdowns against UCF, but the Panthers ultimately fell 44-30 to the Knights on the road on Saturday evening.

“I thought we played hard tonight, and we can’t let this one moment define us,” head coach Dell McGee said. ‘I’m proud of our team for going out there tonight and fighting, not giving up and believing that we had a chance to win.”

Rodshaun Dorsey led the Panthers through the air with back-to-back touchdowns, while Qwantavius Wiggins controlled the run game totaling 125 rushing yards and a touchdown, picking up 11.4 yards per carry along the way. Lanear McCrary Jr. also tacked on 51 yards on the ground, picking up 5.1 yards per carry. DJ Riles hauled in seven catches for 69 yards.

Cameran Brown led Georgia State’s passing attack with 282 yards through the air, tossing two touchdowns and two interceptions.

Defensively, Donovan Faria showed out with three tackles, a tackle for loss and an interception.

Georgia State recorded a stellar showing on the ground, gaining 203 rushing yards while averaging 5.8 yards per carry. The Georgia State offense did a good job prolonging drives, converting on 50 percent of third-down attempts.

Defensively, Georgia State did an excellent job neutralizing the UCF passing attack, holding the Knights to 86 yards through the air.

How It Happened

Georgia State responded to an early 10-0 UCF lead with a first quarter touchdown to narrow the deficit to 10-7. UCF extended its lead to 17-7, but the Panthers responded with a touchdown to narrow the gap to 17-14.

Georgia State followed with a 78-yard touchdown run at the 7:01 mark in the second quarter and took a 21-17 lead in the process. The Panthers kept building their advantage after UCF narrowed the gap to 21-20, scoring again to go ahead 24-20.

After UCF scored to take a 27-24 lead, Georgia State responded with a score of its own to tie it up at 27-27 with 11:24 remaining in the third quarter. The Knights then put 10 on the board to take the lead before the Panthers responded with a field goal to cut into that deficit and make it 37-30. Georgia State didn’t score again and UCF added seven more points to finish off the scoring.

Game Notes

» Georgia State outgained UCF 485-390, including a 282-86 advantage through the air.

» Georgia State had their highest scoring quarter in the second period, when they put up 17 points.

» Georgia State converted 8 of 16 third downs while UCF was successful on 3 of 12.

» Jaydon Hood led the Panthers with 13 tackles.

» Samer Layous knocked through three field goals for the Panthers with a long of 49 yards.

» Georgia State won the time of possession battle 33:20 to 26:40.

The Panthers return to Atlanta to host Northern Illinois for Family Weekend on Saturday, Sept. 26 at 2:00 p.m.

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