Abilene Christian Wildcats vs Georgia State Panthers Match Player Stats On Aug 27, 2014

SportsDirect Inc. staff
Aug 27, 2014

Georgia State 38, Abilene Christian 37: Nick Arbuckle passed for 413 yards and four touchdowns while Wil Lutz kicked a 26-yard field goal with four seconds remaining in the fourth quarter as the host Panthers rallied to snap its 16-game losing streak in the season opener.

Georgia State (1-0) lost an 11-point, second-quarter lead and trailed by nine twice in the final 16 minutes, but Arbuckle marched the Panthers 72 yards with no timeouts on their final possession. Arbuckle finished 31-of-47 and Lynquez Blair caught eight passes for 118 yards and a score as the Panthers overcame three turnovers and 13 penalties for 99 yards.

Parker McKenzie completed 30-of-40 passes for 403 yards and four touchdowns for the Wildcats (0-1) while Demarcus Thompson caught nine passes for 156 yards. Abilene Christian, which led by nine points after three quarters and 37-28 with less than seven minutes left, finished with 500 yards of total offense.

Abilene Christian trailed 21-16 at halftime, but McKenzie’s 23-yard touchdown pass to Jamie Walker and a 24-yard scoring strike to Jace Hudson put the Wildcats ahead 30-21 with 1:41 left in the third quarter. Joseph Peterson intercepted McKenzie early in the fourth quarter to set up Arbuckle’s 27-yard TD toss to Blair, bringing the Panthers within two with 10:42 to play.

McKenzie went 5-for-5 on the ensuing 10-play drive, hitting Cade Stone for a 7-yard touchdown with 6:36 left to re-establish Abilene Christian’s nine-point advantage, but Georgia State pulled within 37-35 on Joel Ruiz’s second touchdown reception of the game - a 9-yarder with 4:31 to go. The Panthers got the ball back at its 19-yard line with 2:41 remaining, and Arbuckle kept the drive alive with two completions on fourth down and two carries for 30 yards, setting up Lutz’s game-winning kick.