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ATLANTA – Despite a career receiving effort from Shaquil Terry, Kennesaw State was unable to hold on to a late three-point lead, falling 24-20 to Georgia State on Thursday night.
 
With 2:25 left in the fourth quarter, the Owls (0-1) were caught in no-man's land between a punt and a long fourth-down attempt at the GSU's 35-yard line. An 8-yard pass completion to Justin Sumpter wouldn't be enough and KSU turned it over on downs, giving the ball back to GSU with 2:01 left on the clock.
 
Two key penalties on the final drive kept hope alive for the Panthers (1-0), before they were able to score the go-ahead touchdown with 41 seconds remaining – not enough time for the Owls to respond.
 
Kennesaw State was led by quarterback Chandler Burks, who recorded his third-career 200-yard passing game, going a career-high 12-for-19 with 201 yards, one touchdown and one interception. His main receiver on the night was Sumpter, who finished 5 yards shy of his fourth-career 100-yard receiving game with seven receptions for 95 total yards and a 23-yard touchdown.
 
On the ground attack, Terry led the charge with seven rushes for 61 yards and a 5-yard touchdown. He also hauled in a career-best 63 yards in receiving yards, thanks mainly to a career-long 60-yard catch in the third quarter.
 
Defensively, the young Owls showed promise. The team held Georgia State to just 128 rushing yards, the least amount since Nov. 18, 2017 (Monmouth). Anthony Gore, Jr. led all defenders with nine tackles (all solo), one sack and 2.0 tackles-for-loss, while Bryson Armstrong also finished with nine tackles (five solo) and 0.5 sacks.
 
Both Le'Vonte Larry and Peyton Moore combined for defensive career-firsts in the first quarter when Larry forced his first fumble in GSU's lone redzone appearance, giving Moore the opportunity to snag his first fumble recovery at their own 15-yard line.
 
The Owls will now ready for its final Thursday night football game of the regular season, heading to take on Tennessee Tech on Sept. 6. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET and will be broadcast live on ESPNU.
 
NOTES
With Moore's fumble recovery in the first quarter, Kennesaw State extended its turnover-forced streak is extended to 15-straight games … KSU held an opponent scoreless for the first quarter for the first time since Nov. 11, 2018 (Charleston Southern) ... the loss snaps a three-game winning streak for Kennesaw State versus opponents from the state of Georgia (3-1 all-time) … Burks has now thrown for 200-yards three times in his career … in his last two season-openers, he's gone 32-41-2 for 426 yards … with 0.5 sacks tonight, Armstrong has recorded at least half a sack in five of the last seven games … Justin Thompson's 32- and 24-yard field goals in the third quarter makes him 10 for his last 11 … Kennesaw State had its streak of 14-consecutive games with an interception snapped … the streak dated back to Aug. 31, 2017.
 
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