{"id":225697,"date":"2025-09-14T08:21:14","date_gmt":"2025-09-14T08:21:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/225697\/"},"modified":"2025-09-14T08:21:14","modified_gmt":"2025-09-14T08:21:14","slug":"arnolds-late-td-lifts-georgia-southern-to-41-34-victory-over-jacksonville-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/225697\/","title":{"rendered":"Arnold\u2019s Late TD Lifts Georgia Southern to 41-34 Victory Over Jacksonville State"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\tOJ Arnold rushed for a career-high 128 yards and scored the game-winning touchdown to propel Georgia Southern to a 41-34 win over Jacksonville State on Saturday night at Paulson Stadium.The Eagles (1-2) broke a 34-all tie with a six-play, 65-yard drive, capped by Arnold\u2019s six-yard scamper into the end zone midway through the fourth quarter. The junior running back had 80 of his rushing yards in the second half, including 26 on the final drive, as Georgia Southern snapped a two-game losing skid in front of 24,585 fans \u2014 the fifth-largest crowd in stadium history.It was a back-and-forth contest that featured explosive special teams, timely offense, and a much-needed defensive stand. After forcing a punt on Jacksonville State\u2019s final possession, the Eagles ran out the clock to seal the win.Georgia Southern struck first with a two-yard touchdown run by JC French IV in the opening quarter, followed by a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown from Dalen Cobb \u2014 the program\u2019s first since 2023. Arnold added a 32-yard touchdown in the second quarter, and French connected with Camden Brown for an 18-yard score to help build a 31-17 halftime lead, tying the most points scored under head coach Clay Helton.Jacksonville State (1-2) responded with 17 unanswered points spanning halftime, taking a 34-31 lead early in the fourth. But Tripp Bryant&#8217;s 43-yard field goal tied the game, setting the stage for Arnold\u2019s heroics.French IV finished 16-of-24 passing for 191 yards and one touchdown, adding 33 yards and another score on the ground. Cobb totaled 70 receiving yards and 129 return yards. Defensively, Brandon Tyson recorded 11 tackles for the second straight game.Jacksonville State quarterback Gavin Wimsatt threw for 178 yards and a touchdown, while also rushing for 56 yards and two scores. Cam Cook ran for 120 yards on 21 carries.The Eagles return to action next Saturday when they host Maine at 7 p.m. ET.\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<strong class=\"dateline\">STATESBORO, Ga. \u2014<\/strong> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>OJ Arnold rushed for a career-high 128 yards and scored the game-winning touchdown to propel Georgia Southern to a 41-34 win over Jacksonville State on Saturday night at Paulson Stadium.<\/p>\n<p>The Eagles (1-2) broke a 34-all tie with a six-play, 65-yard drive, capped by Arnold\u2019s six-yard scamper into the end zone midway through the fourth quarter. The junior running back had 80 of his rushing yards in the second half, including 26 on the final drive, as Georgia Southern snapped a two-game losing skid in front of 24,585 fans \u2014 the fifth-largest crowd in stadium history.<\/p>\n<p>It was a back-and-forth contest that featured explosive special teams, timely offense, and a much-needed defensive stand. After forcing a punt on Jacksonville State\u2019s final possession, the Eagles ran out the clock to seal the win.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tThis content is imported from Twitter.<br \/>\n\tYou may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.\n<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Georgia Southern wins their first game of the year, 41-34 over Jacksonville State!<\/p>\n<p>What a night for OJ Arnold. The senior ran for 128 yards and 2 Touchdowns, including the game-winner. This is the level of production Eagle Nation hoped to see from the senior. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/3kfA22a5J7\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/3kfA22a5J7<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Pat Timlin (@pat_timlin) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/pat_timlin\/status\/1967072476099473637?ref_src=twsrc^tfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">September 14, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Georgia Southern struck first with a two-yard touchdown run by JC French IV in the opening quarter, followed by a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown from Dalen Cobb \u2014 the program\u2019s first since 2023. Arnold added a 32-yard touchdown in the second quarter, and French connected with Camden Brown for an 18-yard score to help build a 31-17 halftime lead, tying the most points scored under head coach Clay Helton.<\/p>\n<p>Jacksonville State (1-2) responded with 17 unanswered points spanning halftime, taking a 34-31 lead early in the fourth. But Tripp Bryant&#8217;s 43-yard field goal tied the game, setting the stage for Arnold\u2019s heroics.<\/p>\n<p>French IV finished 16-of-24 passing for 191 yards and one touchdown, adding 33 yards and another score on the ground. Cobb totaled 70 receiving yards and 129 return yards. Defensively, Brandon Tyson recorded 11 tackles for the second straight game.<\/p>\n<p>Jacksonville State quarterback Gavin Wimsatt threw for 178 yards and a touchdown, while also rushing for 56 yards and two scores. Cam Cook ran for 120 yards on 21 carries.<\/p>\n<p>The Eagles return to action next Saturday when they host Maine at 7 p.m. ET.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OJ Arnold rushed for a career-high 128 yards and scored the game-winning touchdown to propel Georgia Southern to&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":225698,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5136],"tags":[122099,5229,11472,122094,113900,122101,9150,122104,3188,723,33353,122095,113981,122103,7310,103795,122096,122100,122102,1315,122097,122098,9714,50647,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,3355,2030,80883],"class_list":{"0":"post-225697","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-18-yard-score","9":"tag-america","10":"tag-arnold","11":"tag-camden-brown","12":"tag-clay-helton","13":"tag-dalen-cobb","14":"tag-eagles","15":"tag-fifth-larg-crowd","16":"tag-fl","17":"tag-florida","18":"tag-fourth-quarter","19":"tag-gata","20":"tag-georgia-southern","21":"tag-halftime-lead","22":"tag-jacksonville","23":"tag-jacksonville-state","24":"tag-jc-french","25":"tag-jc-french-iv","26":"tag-late-td","27":"tag-ncaa-football","28":"tag-oj-arnold","29":"tag-paulson-stadium","30":"tag-sun-belt","31":"tag-touchdown","32":"tag-united-states","33":"tag-united-states-of-america","34":"tag-unitedstates","35":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","36":"tag-us","37":"tag-usa","38":"tag-victory","39":"tag-win","40":"tag-yard"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115201683201281703","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=225697"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225697\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/225698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=225697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=225697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=225697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}