GAMEDAY College Football

Georgia Southern 59, Morgan State 7

Associated Press

STATESBORO, Ga. - Kyle Vantrease threw four touchdowns passes and Georgia Southern gave new coach Clay Helton a 59-7 victory over Morgan State.

Helton was Southern California's head coach from 2015-2021 before being fired last September after a 1-1 start. Seven weeks later, Georgia State hired Helton for the 2022 season.

Vantrease put the ball up 46 times, completing 29 for 367 yards for a Georgia Southern program that has traditionally emphasized the run. He was intercepted once. Ten receivers made catches with Sam Kennerson grabbing seven passes for 99 yards and Khaleb Hood nabbing six for 88 and a touchdown. OJ Arnold and Jalen White had two scores each.

It was 17-7 at halftime and 31-7 after three quarters before the Eagles added 28 points in the fourth.

Alfonzo Graham rushed for 106 yards on 14 carries and Jordan Toles had a 50-yard pick-6 for the Bears, who have a new head coach in Damon Wilson. The Bears had four turnovers.

Georgia Southern has won all 11 of its matchups against Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference teams.


Scoring Summary
Second Quarter MorgStGaSo
GaSo TD 12:20 OJ Arnold 4 yd pass from Kyle Vantrease (Alex Raynor kick) 0 7
MorgSt TD 9:42 Jordan Toles 50 yd interception return (Beckett Leary kick) 7 7
GaSo FG 5:33 Alex Raynor 20 yd FG 7 10
GaSo TD 1:28 Derwin Burgess Jr. 12 yd pass from Kyle Vantrease (Alex Raynor kick) 7 17
Third Quarter MorgStGaSo
GaSo TD 10:11 Khaleb Hood 46 yd pass from Kyle Vantrease (Alex Raynor kick) 7 24
GaSo TD 4:52 Jalen White 5 yd run (Alex Raynor kick) 7 31
Fourth Quarter MorgStGaSo
GaSo TD 13:41 Jalen White 8 yd run (Alex Raynor kick) 7 38
GaSo TD 12:47 Jeremy Singleton 8 yd pass from Kyle Vantrease (Alex Raynor kick) 7 45
GaSo TD 9:06 Gerald Green 8 yd run (Alex Raynor kick) 7 52
GaSo TD 6:43 OJ Arnold 23 yd run (Alex Raynor kick) 7 59
Team Stats
  Morgan State Georgia Southern
First downs 12 26
  Rushing 7 10
  Passing 4 14
  Penalty 1 2
3rd Down Efficiency 2-13, 15% 11-17, 65%
4th down efficiency 0-1, 0% 0-0, -%
Rushes-Yards 32-172 32-137
Passing Yards 78 367
Return Yards 177 70
Completions-Attempts-Int 10-27-3 29-46-1
Sacks-Yards Lost 1--6 0-0
Punts 8 5
Punts-Average 36.8 40.2
Fumbles Lost 1-1 0-0
Penalties - Yards 7-59 3-34
Time of Possession 30:15 29:45
Morgan State Passing
Player Cmp Att Yds TDs Int
C. Baker 10 21 78 0 1
D. Taylor 0 6 0 0 2
Georgia Southern Passing
Player Cmp Att Yds TDs Int
K. Vantrease 29 46 367 4 1
Morgan State Rushing
Player Carries Yds Avg TDs
A. Graham 14 106 7.6 0
J. Johnson 8 36 4.5 0
D. Harvin 7 31 4.4 0
D. Taylor 1 4 4.0 0
C. Baker 2 -5 -2.5 0
Georgia Southern Rushing
Player Carries Yds Avg TDs
O. Arnold 6 45 7.5 1
G. Green 12 44 3.7 1
J. White 10 35 3.5 2
T. Dixon II 2 6 3.0 0
K. Vantrease 1 4 4.0 0
C. Cigelske 1 3 3.0 0
Morgan State Receiving
Player Rec Yds Avg TDs
A. Graham 3 29 9.7 0
T. Wilkins 2 23 11.5 0
J. Owumi 1 13 13.0 0
M. Wright 1 5 5.0 0
J. Johnson 2 4 2.0 0
A. Jones 1 4 4.0 0
Georgia Southern Receiving
Player Rec Yds Avg TDs
S. Kenerson 7 99 14.1 0
K. Hood 6 88 14.7 1
J. Singleton 5 60 12.0 1
D. Burgess Jr. 4 33 8.3 1
J. Mcafee 2 32 16.0 0
B. Johnson 1 20 20.0 0
A. Jones 1 14 14.0 0
D. Lewis 1 9 9.0 0
M. Sanders Jr. 1 8 8.0 0
O. Arnold 1 4 4.0 1
Morgan State Interceptions
Player Int Yards
J. Toles 1 50
Georgia Southern Interceptions
Player Int Yards
I. Walker 1 16
J. Denton 1 3
T. Bride 1 0
Morgan State Punting
Player Punts Yards Avg
J. Amadi 7 260 37.1
B. Leary 1 34 34.0
Georgia Southern Punting
Player Punts Yards Avg
A. Beck II 4 171 42.8
W. Bradberry 1 30 30.0
Morgan State Punt Returns
Player Ret Yards Average
D. Hamler 2 5 2.5
Georgia Southern Punt Returns
Player Ret Yards Average
K. Hood 2 29 14.5
A. Jones 2 10 5.0
Morgan State Kick Returns
Player Ret Yards Average
D. Hamler 4 61 15.3
A. Graham 2 42 21.0
A. Crawley 1 19 19.0
Georgia Southern Kick Returns
Player Ret Yards Average
D. Lewis 1 12 12.0
Morgan State Missed FG
Player Length
Georgia Southern Missed FG
Player Length




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