Blinded by the night

Panthers stumble through goof-prone loss to San Antonio Roadrunners.

Perhaps Georgia State took “sunglasses at night” too literally and wore them during Saturday’s game against Texas-San Antonio.

How else to explain four turnovers, a porous defense, the resurrection of special-teams miscues and an uninspired performance in front of an uninspiring crowd of 11,496 that watched the Panthers lose 38-14.

The game, the first Saturday night affair at the Georgia Dome in school history, had the makings of a fun matchup between two programs making the transition to FBS. Georgia State used the song “Sunglasses at Night,” made famous by Corey Hart in 1984, as a theme for the week. Promotions included a giveaway of said items and a video of coach Bill Curry rocking a pair of the blue sun-barriers and lip-syncing the song.

It may be a good thing you couldn’t read Curry’s lips Saturday.

The teams played a close game last year, with the Roadrunners prevailing 17-14 in overtime. But while that program seems to have taken a step forward in its second season, the Panthers (0-3) seem to be going backward in their third.

The offense, which had scored one touchdown in the previous two games, could do nothing after the longest pass play in school history — an 84-yard scoring bomb from Ben McLane to Albert Wilson — gave them a 7-3 lead. McLane was eventually benched after two fumbles — his seventh and eighth in the past six quarters — for Ronnie Bell, the fifth quarterback the team has used in its past 14 games as it searches for a spark.

The defense, playing without starting defensive tackle David Huey, who is out for the season with an injured hand, was hammered for more than 400 yards. They had a hard time making plays against quarterback Eric Soza, who passed for 206 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 51 yards.

The special teams, which had shown improvement, had a fieldgoal attempt blocked, allowed an 84-yard kickoff return and inadvertently downed a punt before it stopped rolling. In short, many of the same errors that plagued the team throughout last season, contributing to their 3-8 record.

Trailing 3-0, Georgia State took a brief lead with the strike to Wilson, who was yards ahead of his defender, on the Panthers’ opening possession.

The lead didn’t last long.

Evans Okotcha scored from 5 yards out a few plays after Kenny Harrison’s long return to give UTSA a 10-7 lead with 8: 01 remaining. The drive was helped by an offside penalty on Joe Lockley that turned a third-andnine play into a manageable third-and-four. Soza picked it up by scrambling for seven yards.

The Roadrunners increased their lead to 177 on a 5-yard pass from Soza to Aaron Grubb, who out-jumped a Panthers defender in the corner. The drive had started when a member of the Panthers’ punt-coverage team didn’t pay attention to the ball, letting it hit him on the 49-yard line.

The Panthers’ special- teams miscues continued when Christian Benvenuto’s 43-yard field-goal attempt was blocked later in the second quarter.

The Roadrunners took advantage by driving 84 yards to take a 24-7 lead on a 1-yard run by Okotcha.

McLane was sacked for a 9-yard loss on the next possession and appeared to favor his left wrist. Bell, who transferred from Ohio during the offseason, came on for his first action of the season, but he couldn’t get the offense moving on his two plays before McLane came back on the next possession. McLane sat out the second half because of injury.