FSU Broncos Stall on 3rd Down in 27-13 Loss to Wingate

WINGATE, North Carolina  --  Fayetteville State (1-1 overall) had a tough time when it came to third-down. The Broncos converted 5-of-17 third downs in its 27-13 loss to Wingate (2-0) in the Irwin Belk Stadium in Wingate, NC.

"In the first half, we had a chance," said Head Coach Richard Hayes. "But we shot ourselves in the foot a couple times with our drives. We let them score right before halftime and then they scored on the opening drive of the third quarter. That was 14 quick points that we just couldn't recover from."

The Broncos did have some success with moving the chains with 19 first downs, compared to the Bulldogs 20. In all, Fayetteville State ran 68 plays for a total of 297 offensive yards.

Stevie Green (Washington, NC) rushed for 116 yards of the Broncos 179 yards on the ground. Collyn Anderson (Durham, NC) was 16-of-32 in pass attempts for 118 yards. Donshel Jetton (Mooresville, NC) scored Fayetteville State's only touchdown with a 14-yard rush with 2:52 left in the game. David Lamb hit both of his field goals and extra-point kick.

Wingate ran two extra plays (70) than FSU and racked up 359 yards of total offense. The Bulldogs had 131 yards rushing and 228 passing.

As with last week, Fayetteville State was the first on the scoreboard when it settled for a 40-yard field goal by David Lamb on the opening drive. The Broncos drove its first possession 63 yards in a little under three minutes for the first points of the game.

BOX SCORE

With seven minutes left in the first quarter, Wingate capped a 79-yard drive with a 24-yard pass from Shaw Crocker to BJ Muckelvene for the 7-3 lead.

McLean Robertson gave the Bulldogs a 10-3 lead before the quarter could end with a 31-yard field goal with 3:39 on the clock.

After a good defensive stance, Fayetteville State turned good field position into a 24-yard field goal by Lamb for a 10-6 game with 14:07 left in the half.

Robertson gave the Bulldogs another lift with a 42-yard field goal of his own in the second quarter.

Prior to intermission, Wingate was in the driver's seat, moving the ball 61 yards for a 9-yard touchdown pass from Crocker to J.T. Stokes.

At the 10:15 mark in the third quarter, Crocker completed an 8-yard pass to McNeill for the 27-6 lead. The drive went 35 yards in eight plays.

Both team traded possession until Jetton's strike before the end of the game. The scoring drive covered 98 yards in ten plays. Jetton ran 28 of the 98 yards and Anderson connected with Jalen Gavin (Greensboro, NC) on a 16-yard pass play.

Fayetteville State will host its first home game against Benedict, who beat Johnson C. Smith 42-14, on Saturday, September 15th at 4:00 p.m.

FAYETTEVILLE STATE UNIVERSITY BRONCOS SPORTS INFORMATION