STATE FOOTBALL ROUNDUP: Georgia State falls in OT to Jacksonville State; Savannah State blown out by Bethune-Cookman

ATLANTA — Jacksonville State quarterback Marques Ivory scored on a 2-yard run in overtime to lead the Gamecocks to a 34-27 win over Georgia State on Saturday.

Georgia State appeared to have tied the game on its possession in overtime. But officials waved off an apparent touchdown catch by Arthur Williams, saying the tight end was out of bounds in the back of the end zone when he caught the fourth-down pass from Kelton Hill.

Jacksonville State improved to 3-0 for the first time since 2004.

Ivory, who grew up less than 100 miles away in Warner Robins, Ga., completed 24 of 32 passes for 283 yards and one touchdown for Jacksonville State. He rushed for 21 yards on five carries and scored once.

Drew Little, who completed 25 of 38 passes for 227 yards for Georgia State (1-2).

Jacksonville State led 17-10 at halftime, but could never pull away from Georgia State, a new program playing only its third game.

After exchanging field goals, Georgia State tied the game at 20-20 on a 46-yard touchdown run by Travis Evans, the longest run in the program’s brief history. Evans rushed for a team-best 58 yards on seven carries.

Darius Barksdale, who was limited to 37 yards on 14 carries, then scored on a 1-yard run to complete a 69-yard drive that put Jacksonville State ahead 27-20 with 9:38 left.

Georgia State matched it with a 75-yard drive that culminated in Little’s 1-yard touchdown run with 3:57 remaining. Jacksonville State got as far as the Georgia State 27 before running out of time in regulation.

“I’m proud of the effort, but we are not here to get close to good teams,” said Georgia State coach Bill Curry. “This was a game we could have won, so we all feel bad.”

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ASU’S NEXT OPPONENT, SAVANNAH STATE, BLOWN OUT SATURDAY:

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Matt Johnson ran for two touchdowns and threw for two more to lead Bethune-Cookman past Savannah State 42-7 on Saturday.

The win improves the Wildcats to 2-0 for the first time since 2005, and gives them their 11th straight victory over the Tigers, who will meet Albany State in Waycross next weekend for the renewal of their one-time rivalry.

Johnson, who played the first three quarters, rushed for 110 yards on 11 carries and threw for 167 yards on 14-for-21 passing.

Johnson’s 1-yard run to cap a 12-play, 73-yard drive gave the Wildcats the lead on their first possession.

The Tigers (0-3) countered with a 75-yard drive in 17 plays. Justin Babb, who finished with 125 yards on 16 carries, scored from the 1-yard line late in the first quarter.

Johnson threw a 43-yard touchdown to Patrick Harris, then ran in a career-high 67-yard score to give the Wildcats a 21-7 lead at halftime.

Johnson added his final score on a 13-yard touchdown pass to Pat Brown in the third quarter, before Bethune-Cookman added two more TDs on the ground.

Jackie Wilson ran the first one from 1 yard out and Andronicus Lovette capped the scoring for the Wildcats on a 2-yard TD run.

Bethune-Cookman finished with 446 yards of offense.