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Georgia Southern 27, Delaware 18 December 9, 2000 Peterson Runs For 198 Yards; UD
Can't Capitalize on GSU Turnovers
NEWARK, DE -- Georgia Southern fullback Adrian Peterson rushed for 198 yards and a touchdown and the University of Delaware failed to capitalize on four enemy turnovers as the Eagles ended the Blue Hens' season with a 27-18 victory in the NCAA I-AA semifinals Saturday at Delaware Stadium. Georgia Southern (12-2), the defending I-AA champion and the tournament's No. 3 seed, now head to the I-AA title game against the winner of Saturday's Montana vs. Appalachian State game. GSU has now won all eight I-AA semifinal games it has played and owns five national titles. Delaware, the tournament No. 2 seed, ended the season with a record of 12-2. The Hens were making their first NCAA I-AA semifinal appearance since falling to McNeese State in 1997 and were looking for their first I-AA title game appearance since 1982. "I'm proud of this team," said Delaware head coach Tubby Raymond. "I thought we were in the game and I thought we had a chance to win it. I didn't think we would be able to stop them defensively in the second half like we did but we came up big and forced some turnovers. Unfortunately we were never able to take advantage." Peterson, the 1999 Walter Payton Award winner and 2000 runner-up as the top player in I-AA football, carried a career-high 34 times for his 198 yards and eclipsed the 100-yard mark for the 42nd straight time. Slotback Andre Weathers rushed four times for 122 yards and set up a late insurance field goal with a 58-yard scamper. Overall, the Eagles piled up 381 yards and scored three touchdowns on the ground against a UD defense that was allowing just 109.8 yards rushing per game. "This was really a team effort," said Georgia Southern head coach Paul Johnson. "Every time we needed a big stop today we got one. This is probably not the most talented Georgia Southern team but we played as a team. It's been fun watching us get better." Georgia Southern lost a season-high four fumbles on the day, but the Hens could not never take advantage despite good field position. Delaware was also hurt by three missed field goals by Scott Collins, including a 32-yarder and a 22-yarder that were both blocked in the second quarter. GSU fumbled a punt at their own 29-yard line with 5:25 left in the third quarter but Delaware quarterback Matt Nagy was intercepted in the end zone to end the drive. GSU came right back to fumble the ball away again at their own 19-yard line, but the Hens couldn't move the ball and Collins' field goal was blocked by Carlton Oglesby. In the second half, UD could not take advantage of a GSU fumble at the Delaware eight-yard line and eventually had to punt. In the fourth quarter, Delaware recovered a GSU fumble at the 23-yard line, but the Hens came up empty again when Collins was wide on a 38-yard attempt. Delaware led twice in the first half, scoring on its opening drive when halfback Butter Pressey scored his first of two touchdowns with 10:05 left to play. GSU tied it up on a 16-yard run by quarterback J. R. Revere, but the Hens came back to go up 10-7 on a 42-yard field goal by Collins. The Eagles took a 21-10 lead into halftime as Weathers scored on a five-yard run late in the first quarter and Peterson ran for a seven-yard score with 7:07 left in the half. In the second half, Delaware halfback Craig Cummings returned a punt 44 yards to set up a one-yard scoring dive by Pressey to cut the GSU lead to 21-18 with 2:34 left in the third quarter. But the Hens could never get closer and Georgia Southern kicker Scott Shelton nailed field goals of 22 and 28 yards in the final quarter to hold off UD. The second field goal with 2:21 left sealed the win and was set up by Weathers' 58-yard run to the Delaware 20 on a third and nine. Nagy, who closed his career owning virtually every school passing record, including throwing for over 3,000 yards this season and for over 8,000 in his career, connected on just 16 of 38 passes for 189 yards and no touchdowns. Big play receiver Jamin Elliott caught six passes for 100 yards but was kept out of the end zone. Defensively for Delaware, linebacker Dan Mulhern posted a game-high 17 tackles while DE Mike Cecere had a sack, forced forced one fumble and recovered two others. Junior linebacker Michael Youngblood had 11 tackles and led a Georgia Southern defense that held Delaware to just 329 yards, including just 140 on the ground. AGATE: Georgia
Southern......14.....7......0.......6......27 SCORING SUMMARY 1st Quarter 2nd Quarter 3rd Quarter 4th Quarter Attendance 15,035 TEAM STATISTICS.......GSU...............UD First
Downs.............................22....................19 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING: Georgia Southern: Peterson 34-198, Weathers 4-122, Myers 4-37, Walden 1-12, Revere 24-11, Coley 1-1. Delaware: Jenkins 10-41, O'Neal 11-38, Cummings 7-35, Pressey 5-17 Patrick 4-14, Veach 1-3, Nagy 2-(-8); PASSING: Georgia Southern: Revere 5-4-0-77. Delaware: Nagy 38-16-1-189; RECEIVING: Georgia Southern: Johnson 2-56, Owns 1-15, Weathers 1-6. Delaware: Elliott 6-100; Veach 4-42, Cummings 3-13, Pressey 1-12, O'Neal 1-11, Jenkins 1-11
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