The first FBS game of the college football year should not have been thrilling. It featured Georgia State, which went 0-12 last year, vs. Abilene Christian, an FCS team that finished a tad above .500 last year. But, because college football is wonderful, this awful, awful game ended up being a thriller. Thank you, based college football gods.
The FBS football season started with Georgia State-Abilene Christian, a great terrible game
The first game of the FBS season had an error-filled ending between two sub-par football teams. It was spectacular. Never leave us, college football.
Let’s set the scene. Abilene Christian, the FCS team playing on the road, was in the driver’s seat for most of the second half, taking a 37-28 lead with 6:36 to go. Georgia State quickly scored a TD, making it a two-point game with four minutes to go. Abilene Christian’s drive eventually stalled with two minutes to go, giving the team a fourth-and-one at its own 47.
This led to Hilarious Late-Game Terrible Move No. 1 Of The College Football Season. The Wildcats decided to punt, even though your chances of stopping the opposition from getting a field-goal on a two-minute drill are lower than your chances of picking up a single yard on fourth-and-one.
However, on the ensuing punt, there was a roughing the kicker penalty! And then that was offset by a minor Abilene Christian penalty! We’ll call these Hilarious Late Game Terrible Move Nos. 2 and 3 Of The College Football Season. Which led to Hilarious Late Game Terrible Move No. 4 Of The College Football Season, which was punting again.
And on Georgia State’s third play, the team scored on a 60-yard touchdown! Except it got called back for holding, much to the chagrin of QB Nick Arbuckle:
Let's call the holding Hilarious Late Game Terrible Move No. 5 Of The College Football Season. A false start penalty moved Georgia State back to fourth-and-19, which was Hilarious Late Game Terrible Move No. 6 Of The College Football Season.
Except they picked up that fourth-and-19:
That terrible defense in an easy situation? You guessed it, Hilarious Late Game Terrible Move No. 7 Of The College Football Season.
A defensive holding penalty and two huge runs by Arbuckle got the ball down to the five, where Wil Lutz iced a short field goal:
And Georgia State is your first 1-0 team of the season -- the team’s first win since Oct. 13, 2012 -- and we’re better people for having watched it.
Thank you, college football. We missed you.
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