Saturday's Peach State College Football Scoreboard: Mercer gets the road upset
12 p.m.
Georgia 49, Middle Tennessee State 7
Jake Fromm had three touchdown passes and Elijah Holyfield more than 100 rushing yards.
In the first half.
Third-ranked Georgia led 42-7 after two quarters and added one more touchdown in a snoozer before SEC play starts in earnest.
Georgia showed no sluggishness from the early, noon, start.
Jeremiah Holloman had 90 yards on three catches as five Georgia wideouts caught six TD passes. Mecole Hardman was big with a 70-yard punt return TD and touchdown catch.
MTSU had 288 yards in total offense.
Fromm completed 10 of 12 for 128 yards, but nearly got dumped for a safety.
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Clemson 38, Georgia Southern 7
Storm worries aside, it took Clemson awhile to get going before the No. 2 Tigers got control of the Eagles.
Freshman quarterback Trevor Lawrence passed for 194 yards and Travis Etienne rushed for 162 and two scores.
The Tigers turned it over twice in the first quarter and missed a field goal, carrying a scoreless tie into the second quarter against a 33-point underdog.
Then came a flurry of points, starting with an Etienne run and followed by a 57-yard touchdown pass from Lawrence to Justyn Ross.
Georgia Southern’s option offense was held to 140 yards, while Clemson racked up 595 yards.
Clemson quarterback Kelly Bryant was hurt in the second quarter and didn’t play any more.
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12:30 p.m.
Pittsburgh 24, Georgia Tech 19
The Yellow Jackets took a step backwards after last week’s loss, struggling in all phases to lose on the road in a mostly empty pro stadium.
And Clemson visits Atlanta next Saturday.
It was bad from the start, Pitt going 63 yards on its second drive of the game and taking advantage of poor tackling fundamentals on Qadreee Ollison’s 31-yard scoring run.
The second score came less than 10 minutes into the game.
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3 p.m.
Mercer 30, Samford 24
Robert Riddle got the call at quarterback and turned in a major performance as Mercer upset ninth-ranked and SoCon favorite Samford in Birmingham.
The Bears took a 17-7 halftime lead, and the Bulldogs pulled within three in the third quarter.
Cole Fiehser hit a 39-yard field goal less than two minutes into the fourth quarter for a 20-14 lead, and Stephen Houzah scored on a 73-yard TD pass from Riddle less than four minutes later for a two-score lead.
Samford got seven back almost three minutes later to get within 27-21 with 7:01 left, but the Bears dealt a solid body blow with a 41-yard Fisher field goal at the 4:37 mark.
The Bulldogs got the ball back, but didn’t have much time. Mercer’s defense forced a 45-yard field goal from Peach County grad Mitchell Fineran with three seconds left.
The pass defenses were tuckered out by the end of this one.
Riddle was 23 of 34 for 316 yards, with a touchown and interception. Samford’s Devlin Hodges was 30 of 41 for 291 yards, three touchdowns and an intereption. That’s 53 for 75 – 70.7 percent – for 607 yards between the two starters.
Marquise Irvin caught six for 71 yards for Mercer, Tucker Cannon and Tony Jones II adding four catches each. Mercer outgained Samford 154-133 on the ground on 11 more carries.
The Bears had a 470-424 total yardage advantage on four more plays.
5 p.m.
Kennesaw State 62, Alabama State 13
A week after setting a rushing standard, Kennesaw Stte set a program record for points in rolling Alabama State.
After a weather deal of an hour and 42 minutes, KSU got started with a score on their second offensive play, a 17-yard run from Shaquil Terry.
KSU rushed for 417 yards, with QB Chandler Burks getting three rushing touchdowns, and Darnell Holland getting 136 yards on three first-half carries.
It was 42-6 at halftime.
The Owls held ASU to 314 yards, led by six tackles from Courtney Mills, Le’Vonte Larry, and Bryson Armstrong.
6 p.m.
Fort Valley State 21, Miles 19
Jaylen Lowder, a sophomore from Veterans, caught a 6-yard pass from Slade Jarman with 21 seconds left to give FVSU the road win in SIAC play.
It was big, since it was Lowder’s only catch of the day. Jarman was 21 of 31 for 181 yards and two scores plus a pick.
Then Niykiem Floyd and Jahsearix Patterson sealed it with sacks on consecutive plays.
Miles led 13-7 midway through the third quarter. FVSU got on top on Lorenzo Smothers 6-yard run, but the Bears answered two minutes later for a 19-14 lead on a 47-yard touchdown pass.
The Wildcats started on their 35 with 5:28 left, and faced only one third down en route to the game-winning touchdown.
Jarman was 21 of 31 for 181 yards, two scores and one pick. Smothers caught six passes for 34 yards.
Dodge County alum Cam Young was tied for third with four tackles.