Written by Darrell Wilkinson
Orlando, FL - Pink is in the air! The AutoNation Cure Bowl kicked off its inaugural game between San Jose State and Georgia State with a great cause and a great game. A slow start to the game but San Jose State leads Georgia State 10 to 7 headed into halftime, much of the excitement on explosive plays.
San Jose State’s star running back Tyler Ervin has stood out with 62 yards on 12 carries grinding out tough yards through a pretty stout Panthers defense. Ervin made his biggest impact though with his team up three as he returned a punt 85 yards to the house for the game's first touchdown. Ervin showed his elusiveness making from what I counted, four different would be tacklers miss and had the speed to turn the play into a score.
The Georgia State Panthers showed signs of life in the second quarter down by 10 as quarterback Nick Arbuckle stepped up on two consecutive passes to put his team on the board. The first pass a 29 yard floated beauty into his receiver's bread basket and the second a 38 yard over the top pass to the end zone, finding Donovan Harden for the score. Harden did a great job navigating the sidelines, avoided stepping out of bounds and gave his team a fighting chance.
It’s been a defensive struggle for both teams as the Spartans have only 135 total yards compared to the Panthers 121, although San Jose State has run almost double the amount of plays( 37 - 20). The Panthers are going to have to pick up more first downs if they want a shot at securing a victory in their first-ever bowl game as they have only picked up four in contrast to the 11 that the Spartans have picked up.
We will see what the second half brings to the table and if either of these evenly matched teams can pull away as the game concludes.
San Jose State’s star running back Tyler Ervin has stood out with 62 yards on 12 carries grinding out tough yards through a pretty stout Panthers defense. Ervin made his biggest impact though with his team up three as he returned a punt 85 yards to the house for the game's first touchdown. Ervin showed his elusiveness making from what I counted, four different would be tacklers miss and had the speed to turn the play into a score.
The Georgia State Panthers showed signs of life in the second quarter down by 10 as quarterback Nick Arbuckle stepped up on two consecutive passes to put his team on the board. The first pass a 29 yard floated beauty into his receiver's bread basket and the second a 38 yard over the top pass to the end zone, finding Donovan Harden for the score. Harden did a great job navigating the sidelines, avoided stepping out of bounds and gave his team a fighting chance.
It’s been a defensive struggle for both teams as the Spartans have only 135 total yards compared to the Panthers 121, although San Jose State has run almost double the amount of plays( 37 - 20). The Panthers are going to have to pick up more first downs if they want a shot at securing a victory in their first-ever bowl game as they have only picked up four in contrast to the 11 that the Spartans have picked up.
We will see what the second half brings to the table and if either of these evenly matched teams can pull away as the game concludes.
- Darrell Wilkinson TheSkyBoat.com
- Twitter @TheSkyBoat
- Twitter @DarrellW_Sports