CONWAY, S.C. — Darren Grainger threw for one touchdown and ran for another and Georgia Southern defeated Coastal Carolina 30-17 in a Sun Belt Conference opener on Thursday night.
Grainger was 15 of 26 for 191 yards and kept the ball 13 times for 47 yards to help the Panthers (4-0) extend their best start in school history. Marcus Carroll carried 29 times for 150 yards and a score.
Georgia Southern leads the series 4-3 with the visiting team winning every time and Grainger, a Conway, South Carolina native, has two of the wins.
The Panthers were up 27-10 when their punter fumbled a snap and Abraham Temoney scooped up the loose ball and stepped two yards into the end zone to cut the deficit to 10 with seven minutes to play. Following an attempted onside kick, Georgia State chewed up half the remaining time before settling for a field goal.
Grayson McCall was 26 of 42 for 295 yards and a touchdown for the Chanticleers (2-2).
The Panthers led 17-3 at halftime, thanks to a pair of 75-yard drives and a field goal on the last play.
The first drive took 11 plays and ended with Grainger’s eight-yard run and the second took seven plays with Grainger finding Robert Lewis for a 13-yard score. Lewis has 12 touchdown catches in his last 13 games.
Coastal Carolina was short on a 51-yard field goal with a minute to go in the half. Carroll made them pay as his 30-yard run up the middle set up the 34-yard field goal by Liam Rickman.