Cornelius “Quad” Brown was right at home back in his native state on Saturday.
The redshirt freshman from Calera passed for three touchdowns as Georgia State rolled past Western Kentucky 39-21 at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile. Brown outshined Hilltoppers senior quarterback Tyrell Pigrome of Pinson, who ran for an early touchdown but later threw his first two interceptions of the year.
“After that first interception, I knew we’d get to rolling,” Brown said. “… The guys picked me up. They made sure I didn’t hang my head. They never lost in confidence in me. Our (offensive coordinator) continued to call the game wide-open. I knew guys would make plays. I knew if I did my job distributing the football, somehow, some way, we’d break open. And that’s what we were able to do.”
Georgia State (6-4) scored on four consecutive possessions in the second quarter, two of them set up by interceptions of Pigrome, who came into the game having not been picked off in 264 attempts this season. Antarious Lane and Jontrey Hunter both victimized Pigrome Saturday, each of them on diving grabs in the red zone.
After Pigrome’s 2-yard run put WKU (5-7) up 7-0 at the 4:02 mark of the first quarter, the Georgia State scoring barrage began. Destin Coates’ 11-yard run tied it 7-7 with eight seconds left in the first period.
The Panthers followed that up with three straight Brown touchdown passes in the second quarter, 26 yards to Sam Pinckney, five yards to Jamari Thrash and eight yards to Cornelius McCoy. Noel Ruiz’s extra point was blocked after the final touchdown, making it 27-7 at the half.
Georgia State went three-and-out on its first possession and Brown threw an interception on the second, leading to a tense conversation with Panthers head coach Shawn Elliott.
“I told him ‘you can’t win the game on one play,’” Elliott said. “And he settled down after that. On the third drive we started clicking. Our receivers and our backs and our offensive line — the supporting cast around Quad — had to play well, and they did. They push hard every single day but Quad had an exceptional night. I’m really, really proud of him.”
Western Kentucky pulled with 27-14 on Gaej Walker’s 2-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter, but a pair of Ruiz field goals — 45 and 29 yards — pushed it back to a three-score game at 33-14.
Georgia State’s last touchdown came with 5:13 left, when back-up quarterback Mikele Colasurdo hit Cadarrius Thompson on a 25-yard touchdown pass. The Hilltoppers then added C.J. Jones’ 2-yard run in the final three minutes to reach the final score.
Brown ended the game 15 of 29 for 226 yards and three touchdowns with one interception, and also added 40 yards rushing. Coates rushed for 117 yards and a score on 23 carries, keying a 227-yard rushing day for the Panthers.
Pigrome, a former Clay-Chalkville standout, had the early rushing touchdown but few highlights otherwise. He was 17 of 33 for 180 yards and two interceptions passing, and was also sacked three times.
“Hats off to Georgia State, they just flat out out-played us tonight,” Western Kentucky coach Tyson Helton said. “I thought there were a couple of things early in the game we did a good job of, but penalties cost us at critical times. They did all the right things. They beat us hands-down.”
Georgia State finishes with a winning record in back-to-back seasons for the first time in the program’s 11-year history. Western Kentucky ends with a losing record for the third time in four years.
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