Panthers’ fourth quarter woes continue

           Georgia State's disastrous sea- son continued on Saturday as a 30- 23 loss to West Alabama dropped its record to an embarrassing 2-8.

          Georgia State managed to outgain UWA 447 to 388, but failure to protect the football and execute, re- sulted in key turnovers and unsuccessful red zone visits.

        "We were down inside the 10, four times in the second half and came away with nothing, and if you do that, you're going to get beat," head coach Bill Curry told Athletics. "We fought valiantly, and we did a lot of good things on both sides of the ball, but ball security is the most important factor in football."

        UWA scored with little over two minutes left in the fourth quarter to take a 30-23 lead over Georgia State, but Panthers quarterback Kelton Hill answered with a drive that brought Georgia State into the red zone.

Hill hit Nathaniel Minor for a would-be 8-yard completion to UWA's 17, but Minor lost the handle, insuring another heart breaking loss.

       With not much more to play for than pride, Hill had a record setting day. With starting running back Donald Russell in uniform but injured and Paris Lee and Travis Evans sidelined in the third quarter with injuries of their own, Hill stepped up and set the school rushing record with 152 yards, as well as two touchdowns.

      Despite the stellar stat line, Hill wasn't exempt from the carelessness with the football that plagued the entire team. He threw for 228 yards and a touchdown but also had two interceptions.

On a run where a score seemed all but inevitable, with Georgia State down 23-16, Hill killed all momentum when he fumbled the ball on the 2-yard line.

        Earlier in the game Georgia State was down 10-0, and a blowout seemed to be looming. But Hill threw a 33-yard touchdown pass to Albert Wilson to get on the board.

Not too long after, Hill once again managed to keep his team in the game with an electric 53-yard touchdown run to bring Georgia State in striking distance with a 17- 14 deficit.

        With a combination of thrilling plays and costly mental errors, Hill was eerily reminiscent of a certain pro quarterback that use to take snaps under center in the Atlanta area.

Defensively, Georgia State was fairly successful of containing freshman quarterback Kyle Caldwell's arm, limiting him to 166 yards and a touchdown, with two key interceptions.

      However, they continued to al- low big yards on the ground. UWA running back Matthew Willis piled up 171 yards and two touchdowns, and the team total was 222 yards.

       Next Saturday will be the last game of Georgia State's sophomore slump, when they take on Campbell at home.

Campbell will enter the Georgia Dome with a 6-4 record, so another loss could be on the horizon for Georgia State, which would be a fitting way to end a season that has been beyond disappointing for fans and athletes alike.