STATESBORO - Renaldo Gray threw for 232 yards and accounted for two touchdowns as Furman beat Georgia Southern 24-22 on Saturday when the Eagles missed a 33-yard field goal on the game's final play.
The Eagles (7-3, 4-3 Southern Conference) took a 14-3 lead with 14:08 left in the second quarter when Jayson Foster threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Raja Andrews. The two connected again about five minutes later on a 48-yard TD.
But Georgia Southern struggled to get Foster going in the run game. The senior quarterback, who averaged 174.1 yards rushing coming into the game, was held to a season-low 82 yards on 26 carries.
While the Paladins (5-5, 3-3) defense played strong, they scored 21 unanswered points over two quarters. It started off when Brantley Kendall caught a 5-yard pass from Gray in the second quarter.
Jerome Felton, who finished with 52 yards rushing, scored on a 7-yard run in the third. Then Gray, who had 49 yards on 13 carries, scored on a 9-yard run to give Furman a 24-15 lead.
Georgia Southern scored with 5:22 remaining in the fourth when fullback Dusty Reddick caught a 20-yard touchdown pass from Foster, who also threw for 190 yards.
On their next possession, the Eagles were able to drive down to the Furman 16-yard line with four seconds left in the game to setup for a game-winning field goal. But Jesse Hartley missed the 33-yard attempt on the final play of the game.
Lamar Lewis ran for 86 yards on 17 carries, while Andrews had 71 yards recieving for Georgia Southern.
Larry Hedden had eight catches for 78 yards for the Paladins.