The Georgia Southern Eagles charged out to a quick 14-0 lead and a 21-10 halftime edge to defeat the Maine Black Bears, 35-23, and now Georgia Southern advances to the FCS semifinals where they will play either Lehigh or North Dakota State.
Georgia Southern forced three Maine turnovers and turned those into 14 points. The Maine offense struggled in the first half and trailed 21-10 going into the break, but they made a valiant comeback effort and closed the gap to 21-17 by scoring on their first possession in the third quarter.
After that Maine touchdown Georgia Southern scored 14 straight points. The first touchdown came on a seven-play, 56-yard drive that was capped by quarterback Jaybo Shaw rushing one yard for the score.
The next touchdown was set up by Georgia Southern's Darius Eubanks who intercepted Maine's Warren Smith, that turnover led to Georgia Southern scoring a touchdown two plays later on a 25-yard pass from Jaybo Shaw to Kentrellis Showers to go up 35-23. That third quarter touchdown would be the last points scored in the game as neither team was able to score in the fourth quarter.
Georgia Southern used their patented offensive game plan, which is to control the clock and run the ball. On the day Georgia Southern held the ball for 45 minutes and rushed for 360 yards as a team, and four of their touchdowns came on the ground.