NORFOLK, Va. — Discouragement seemed to hover around the fifth-seeded Georgia Southern Eagles on Saturday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.
The Eagles failed to get a point out of three red-zone opportunities during a 13-minute span, and at times looked defenseless against the subdivision’s top passing offense.
But the resilient Eagles posted a memorable playoff comeback, rallying twice from a two-touchdown deficit to defeat fourth-seeded Old Dominion 49-35 before 20,068 fans in Ballard Stadium and a national television audience on ESPN.
Georgia Southern (10-3) will travel to Fargo, N.D., for a semifinal rematch with North Dakota State on either Friday or Saturday.
The Bison defeated Wofford 14-7 on Saturday to advance.
“Certainly, we could have fallen flat, but our guys didn’t,” GSU coach Jeff Monken said. “We never stopped believing.”
Faith was certainly tested by ODU’s record-setting sophomore quarterback Taylor Heinicke, who threw for 421 yards and three touchdowns and also ran for a score.
Heinicke finished his season with 5,076 passing yards, breaking the FCS’s single-season passing yardage of mark 4,863 set by Steve McNair of Alcorn State in 1994.
Heinicke also claimed the FCS record for completions in a single season with 398, topping the mark of 385 of Villanova’s Brett Gordon in 2002.
“I’m aware I broke a couple of records today, but none of that matters,” said a dejected Heinicke in the postgame news conference.
The records took a backseat because the Eagles’ triple-option rushing attack was more than a formidable match. Southern ran for 602 yards — 186 and two scores by fullback Dominique Swope, and 171 and four touchdowns by quarterback Jerick McKinnon.
McKinnon, who set a GSU quarterback record by running for 316 yards last week in a 24-16 win over Central Arkansas, had 98 yards and three touchdowns in the fourth quarter against the Monarchs.
The Eagles scored the game’s final four touchdowns — three coming in the last 5:32 — to advance to the FCS semifinals for the third consecutive year.
GSU’s huge offensive surge was aided by a suddenly stingy defense that forced a key fumble on an ODU red-zone possession and stopped the Monarchs on a fourth-and-6 gamble at the ODU 39.
“At that point our best option was to be aggressive,” ODU coach Bobby Wilder said about an incomplete pass that gave the Eagles a scoring chance with 3:38 to go and the game tied at 35.
In the final minutes, GSU safety J.J. Wilcox outwrestled wide receiver Nick Mayers for a pass over the middle, and McKinnon scored his final touchdown with 46 seconds to go to seal the win.
“A lot of guys made mistakes, but we lifted each other up.”
The sequel between these two teams was as good as the original. Last season in the second round of the playoffs, Georgia Southern won 55-48 with the teams combining for 1,167 yards.
This time, the Eagles and Monarchs combined for 1,166 yards.
The teams played an entertaining first half with the momentum shifting like the weather.
The day started smothered with gray clouds with a light mist in the air. But by kickoff, threatening weather passed and a comfortable 57-degree afternoon unfolded.
Finally, in the second half, the sun surfaced.
It didn’t take Heinicke as long to unravel the Eagles’ defense. He threw for 205 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another as the Monarchs edged ahead 21-14 during the first 30 minutes.
Heinicke made a key play with his feet on ODU’s first possession. On a fourth-and-13 from the Eagles’ 42, he eluded several tackles to scramble for a 23-yard gain and a first down.
Three plays later, he scored from the 2.
Heinicke threw a 74-yard touchdown pass to Antonio Vaughan and a 5-yarder to Mayers.
Southern’s triple option had success as well, piling up 242 rushing yards and two scores on the first two possessions. McKinnon and Swope finished 75 and 81-yard marches with scoring runs of 1 and 5 yards.
But two missed field-goal tries of 43 and 30 yards kept the Eagles from inching closer.
ODU began to pull away in the second half. The Monarchs’ defense got a stop, then methodically drove 82 yards on seven plays, capped by Colby Goodwyn’s 6-yard touchdown run, to go ahead 28-14.
It was 35-21 after Mayers’ 8-yard TD catch with 2:53 to go in the third quarter.
Mayers finished with 10 catches for 150 yards and two scores.
“This team is way too good to leave this early,” said Mayers about the Monarchs’ final game in the FCS. Next season, Old Dominion will move up to Conference USA.
The Eagles are also looking toward a move to the FBS, but still have their immediate sight on a seventh FCS title.
It took a great effort on Saturday to keep that goal alive.
Monken wouldn’t say it was his best win as a head coach.
“It was the best one today,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of great wins here.”
Georgia Southern 7 7 7 28 — 49
Old Dominion 7 14 14 0 — 35
First Quarter
ODU—Heinicke 2 run (J.Brown kick), 11:03.
GSU—McKinnon 1 run (Hanks kick), 5:04.
Second Quarter
GSU—Swope 5 run (Hanks kick), 12:49.
ODU—Vaughan 74 pass from Heinicke (J.Brown kick), 8:12.
ODU—Mayers 5 pass from Heinicke (J.Brown kick), 3:32.
Third Quarter
ODU—Goodwyn 6 run (J.Brown kick), 7:46.
GSU—Butler recovered fumble in end zone (Hanks kick), 5:42.
ODU—Mayers 8 pass from Heinicke (J.Brown kick), 2:53.
Fourth Quarter
GSU—McKinnon 4 run (Hanks kick), 14:56.
GSU—McKinnon 2 run (Hanks kick), 5:32.
GSU—Swope 12 run (Hanks kick), 2:36.
GSU—McKinnon 1 run (Hanks kick), :46.
A—20,068.
GSU ODU
First downs 32 25
Rushes-yards 71-602 23-113
Passing 30 421
Comp-Att-Int 2-10-0 31-44-1
Return Yards 1 0
Punts-Avg. 1-53.0 1-44.0
Fumbles-Lost 3-0 2-1
Penalties-Yards 9-85 7-65
Time of Possession 36:17 23:43
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Georgia Southern, Swope 22-186, McKinnon 29-171,
Robinson 4-76, Bryant 6-71, Butler 4-46, Banks 5-36, Scott 1-16.
Old Dominion, Heinicke 8-48, Goodwyn 10-41, Lee 5-24.
PASSING—Georgia Southern, McKinnon 1-7-0-15, Team 0-2-0-0,
Robinson 1-1-0-15. Old Dominion, Heinicke 31-44-1-421.
RECEIVING—Georgia Southern, McKinnon 1-15, Robinson 1-15.
Old Dominion, Mayers 10-150, Pinkard 7-83, Vaughan 6-146, Roberts 3-27, Lee 3-(minus 3), Goodwyn 1-17, Spellman 1-1.