CONWAY, S.C. – With 2:36 left in the game, the No. 21/22-nationally ranked Coastal Carolina Chanticleers drove 75 yards in just over a minute (1:27) to score on a 17-yard pass from Bryce Carpenter to Isaiah Likely on a third-and-9 to put the home team within two points at 42-40.
 
On the ensuing two-point conversion, the Chants drew a pass interference call to move to the one-yard line. On the second try, CCU's Shermari Jones was stopped before crossing the goal line by the Georgia State defense to allow the Panthers to escape with the 42-40 road conference win over Coastal Carolina at Brooks Stadium.
 
The loss snapped the Chanticleers' home-game winning streak at 12-straight games, one shy of the school record of 13 set from 2012-14. The defeat also drops Coastal to 8-2 overall and 4-2 in conference play, while the Panthers get one win closer to becoming bowl eligible moving to 5-5 overall and 4-2 in league play with the win.
 
The home loss was the first for the Chanticleers since a 48-7 defeat to Louisiana on Nov. 7, 2019.
 
Coastal tallied 442 total yards of offense on the night behind 233 yards passing and 209 yards rushing, while the Panthers finished with 373 total yards on 198 passing and 175 rushing.
 
However, two Coastal turnovers led directly to 14 points for the Panthers who despite only totaling seven yards of total offense in the third quarter, found a way to win.
 
CCU redshirt freshman running back Braydon Bennett eclipsed the 100-yard mark for the first time in his young collegiate career, running for a career-high 128 yards and one touchdown on just 10 carries, while Likely went over the 100-yard mark with 101 yards on a game-high seven catches and one score.
 
Jones rushed for 65 yards but had a career-high three rushing touchdowns for the game.
 
Making his second-straight start, Carpenter was 17-for-29 with 233 yards, one touchdown, and one interception but was sacked four times.
 
Defensively, freshman defensive end Josaiah Stewart recorded a sack in the first half to pull into a tie with Tarron Jackson (2019) atop of the CCU single-season record books with 10.0 sacks. He finished with eight tackles and 1.5 tackles-for-loss, second behind only co-captain Silas Kelly and his game-high 12 tackles, 0.5 tackles-for-loss, and a pass breakup.
 
Georgia State's offense was led by transfer Darren Grainger, as he was 18-for-24 with 198 yards and two touchdowns through the air and rushed 12 times for 29 yards on the ground in the win.
 
Running back Jamyest Williams led the Panthers in yards with 82, while Tucker Gregg finished with 67 yards and three touchdowns.
 
On the defensive side of the ball for Georgia State, Chris Moore and ordan Veneziale both finished with a team-high eight tackles, while Thomas Gore added seven stops and Blake Carroll tallied six.
 
The Panthers had four sacks and 11.0 tackles-for-loss in the win.
 
Coastal got the ball first to start the contest and made good on its opening drive of the game, as the Chants used three big plays on the drive, an 18-yard pass and catch between Carpenter and Likely, a 21-yard power run by Jones, and a 39-yard pass down to the one-yard line from Carpenter to Jaivon Heiligh to set up a one-yard walk-in score from Jones to put the home team up 7-0 out of the gate.
 
The opening drive was six plays and 77 yards in just 2:29 of the contest.
 
On the Panthers' first drive of the game, the Chants' defense copied the offense and came up big to force a turnover on downs.
 
Georgia State went with tempo and picked up two first downs on its way down to the Coastal 49-yard line. After three consecutive running plays put the Panthers with a fourth-and-1 on the CCU 40-yard line, the "Black Swarm" defense swarmed the GSU runner and got the fourth-down stop on a tackle-for-loss by Stewart and Kelly.
 
However, the CCU offense was unable to capitalize on the turnover on downs and went three-and-out before a 33-yard Charles Ouverson punt put the Panthers back on their own 25-yard line.
 
GSU's Grainger picked up where he left off on the previous drive, as he completed a pair of 20-plus yard passes and rushed a total of four times for 15 yards before a pass interference penalty in the end zone and a Tucker one-yard touchdown plunge into the end zone capped the 11-play, 75-yard scoring drive to tie the game up at 7-7 with 3:40 left in the first quarter.
 
The Chants quickly retook the lead on the very first play of their next offensive drive, as Bennett took the option pitch and scampered down the Coastal Carolina sideline for 75-yards to put the home team back on top at 14-7 with 3:25 left in the opening quarter.
 
The scoring continued on the Panthers' next offensive drive, as the visitors in white again drove 75 yards, this time on eight plays highlighted by a pair of back-to-back 20-plus passes from Grainger to Sam Pinckney and Terrance Dixon. A three-yard pass from Grainger to Aubry Payne found pay dirt as the Panthers tied the game back up at 14-14 with 2:06 remaining before the second quarter.
 
The momentum of the contest quickly shifted on the next CCU series, as an interception by Carpenter on a third-and-4 was returned by Quavian White to the one-yard line. Two rushing plays later from Tucker punched the ball in to put the Panthers in front to start the second quarter at 21-14.
 
Following the Chanticleers' second punt of the game, the Panthers started on their own two-yard line because of a 43-yard punt from Ouverson that rolled out of bounds at the three-yard line and a penalty on Georgia State with 12-man on the field.
 
Two plays into the drive, the Chants' defense picked up a huge tackle-for-loss in the end zone by C.J. Brewer and Mateo Sudipo for a safety to trim the Panthers' lead to five at 21-16 with 9:38 to go in the first half.
 
After a Coastal three-and-out on offense, the Panthers pushed its lead out to double digits, notching their fourth touchdown of the opening half, as Williams broke away for a 36-yard touchdown run to put the visitors in front 28-16.
 
The eight-play, 75-yard scoring drive was continued by an 18-yard run by Williams following an ineligible receiver downfield penalty which had the Panthers at first-and-15 from their own 46-yard line.
 
Facing its largest deficit in the first half, the Chanticleers' responded with their longest drive in the opening half, using 10 plays to go 75 yards in 4:17 to score on an eight-yard touchdown run from Jones.
 
The drive was all on the ground except for a 30-yard pass from Carpenter to Kameron Brown to put the Chants on the Georgia State side of the field.
 
The score put the Chants down 28-23 going into the halftime break.
 
Coastal's defense opened the second half with a three-and-out, forcing the Panthers to lose four yards on the drive and give the ball back to the "Teal Team 6" offense on the 50-yard line.
 
Carpenter and the offense went to the ground attack once more, rushing the ball 14 times over the 15-play drive with the lone pass being a three-yard out to Brown.
 
On the 15-play drive, the Chants picked up four first downs, including three on third downs to get down to the Georgia State one-yard line.
 
However, back-to-back rushes for losses and an incomplete pass forced the home team to settle for a 24-yard Massimo Biscardi field goal to cut the Panthers' lead to two at 28-26 with 4:42 to play in the third quarter.
 
The Coastal defense, who did not allow a first down and just seven total yards of offense to the Panthers for the entire third quarter, the "Black Swarm" defense broke up a pass and stopped Grainger on a rush to force another Panthers' punt.
 
Following a 13-yard punt return from Heiligh, the Chants' offense took over on their own 36-yard line with 13:41 to go in the game.
 
The drive started with an 11-yard pass to Likely for a first down, and then two plays later Carpenter found Likely again for a leaping one-handed catch for 28 yards to put the home team down to the Georgia State 21-yard line.
 
Six plays later, Jones capped the drive with an eight-yard run into the end zone for his third touchdown of the game to put the Chants back in front at 32-28 with 9:15 to go in the game.
 
On the resulting two-point conversion, the Chants ran a little trickery, as super senior wide receiver Greg Latushko caught a pitch in the backfield on a reverse call but threw it to an open Carpenter in the flat to put the Teal and Bronze in front by seven at 34-28.
 
However, after mustering only nine total yards and no first downs over their first three drives of the second half, the Panthers regained their offensive prowess from the first half. Grainger led the visitors on an 11-play, 75-yard scoring drive, highlighted by a 39-yard pass to Roger Carter over top of the CCU defense, to put the visitors back in front at 35-34 on a two-yard touchdown pass to Dixon with 4:53 left on the game clock.
 
Looking to retake the lead, the Chants picked up one first down and moved the ball out to their own 36-yard line. However, a sack and an incomplete pass put the offense into a third-and-13.
 
On the third down play, Carpenter was hit hard from the blindside which forced the football loose. The fumble was recovered by the Panthers on the eight-yard line with 2:47 on the game clock.
 
Georgia State used back-to-back four-yard rushes from Gregg to score their sixth touchdown of the game and extend the lead to 42-34 with 2:36 left to play.
 
Carpenter drove the Chants down the field in just under a minute and a half to cut the lead to two at 42-40, before the home team came up short on the two-point attempt.
 
CCU's Biscardi tried an onside kick with 1:09 on the game clock, however, the Panthers recovered the loose ball and ran out the clock to hold on for the two-point win.
 
The Chanticleers (8-2, 4-2 SBC) will remain at home to host Texas State (3-6, 2-3 SBC) next Saturday, Nov. 20, at 1 p.m. ET. The final regular-season home contest will be video streamed live on ESPN+.
 
Notes

• The win snapped Coastal's home winning streak at 12-straight games, one shy of the school record of 13 set back from 2012-14.
• The home loss was the first for the Chanticleers since a 48-7 defeat to Louisiana on Nov. 7, 2019.
• The loss drops Coastal to 12-7 all-time in Homecoming games and is the Chants' first Homecoming loss since 2018.
• CCU is now 0-3 all-time versus the Georgia State Panthers in Conway, S.C.
• The safety by the Chanticleers in the second quarter was the second of the season (UMass and Georgia State).
• Coastal's defense held the Panthers to just seven yards of total offense for the third quarter of play.
• Josiah Stewart's sack in the first half gives him 10.0 on the season which is tied with Tarron Jackson (2019) for the CCU single-season sack record.
• Braydon Bennett ran for a career-high 128 rushing yards on the night.
• Braydon Bennett's 75-yard scoring run in the first quarter was the longest run of his CCU career.
• Bennett's 75-yard score was the Chants' ninth 50-plus yard scoring play in the last five games.
• Senior running back Shermari Jones ran for a career-high three touchdowns.
• Senior Isaiah Likely's 101 receiving yards mark the second 100-yard receiving game this season and the fourth of his career.
• Silas Kelly's game-high 12 tackles tied his career, which he has now set three times.
   

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