STATESBORO, Ga. (AP)—Lamar Lewis ran for 172 yards and scored on a 40-yard run and Chris Covington added 131 yards and another score as Georgia Southern used a strong ground game to down Coastal Carolina 38-21 on Saturday night.
Jayson Foster scored twice for the Eagles (1-1), first on a 3-yard run on a high snap on a field goal attempt and later on a 13-yard run.
The game featured more than 900 yards of total offense. Georgia Southern rolled up 474 yards, 347 on the ground and the Chanticleers (1-2) had 429 yards,
Coastal Carolina has been shut out of the playoffs the last two years despite a 19-3 record, and was hoping to use a win over the Eagles to gain a spot in the national limelight.
Georgia Southern never trailed in the game, scoring first on Foster’s short run with the high snap before Coastal tied it 7-7 on Aundres Perkins’ 1-yard run.
Georgia Southern’s victory overshadowed a record-setting game by Coastal Carolina wide receiver Jerome Simpson. The junior receiver caught eight passes for 208 yards to set a school single game mark for receiving yards.
Coastal Carolina quarterback Tyler Thigpen, who entered the game tops in Division I-AA in total offense at 345 yards per game, completed 16 of 25 passes for 316 yards and two touchdowns. He was intercepted twice. Thigpen also added 16 yards rushing.
Head to Head - Week 3
| Team | Total Yds | Pass Yds | Rush Yds | First Downs | 3rdD% | Pen./Yds | Turnovers | Time of Poss. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coastal Carolina | 429 | 330 | 99 | 16 | 30.0% | 6/46 | 2 | 23:38 |
| Georgia Southern | 474 | 127 | 347 | 21 | 53.3% | 1/5 | 0 | 36:22 |