Big plays dominate in Coastal Carolina's 37-34 victory

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Coastal Carolina strikes first with 80-yd TD run

CJ Marable sprints down the field and charges into the end zone for an 80-yard Chanticleers touchdown.

Oct 27, 2018, 10:41 pm

ATLANTA -- In a game full of big-play touchdowns, it was Alex James' 3-yard run and Massimo Biscardi's 23-yard field goal in the fourth quarter that rallied Coastal Carolina to a 37-34 win over Georgia State on Saturday.

James' TD run capped a 12-play, 57-yard drive with 9:46 remaining. Biscardi's tiebreaking field goal came with just under three minutes left and was set up by a 48-yard, Fred Payton-to-CJ Marable completion.

The Chanticleers (5-3, 2-2 Sun Belt) led 20-13 at halftime before the Panthers (2-6, 1-4) scored 21 third-quarter points to go up 34-27. Tra Barnett had two of those scores on 75- and 42-yard runs and Dan Ellington the other with a 42-yarder.

Ellington also threw a 36-yard scoring pass to Penny Hart in the first quarter after the Chanticleers had taken a 17-0 lead with the help of an 80-yard run by Marable and Payton's 25-yard TD pass to Malcolm Williams. Ky'Jon Tyler added a 28-yard rushing score for Coastal Carolina in the third quarter.

The teams combined for 997 yards offense. Marable had 128 yards receiving for the Chanticleers while Barnett rushed 161 yards and Hart had 118 yards receiving for Georgia State.