Box Score STATESBORO, Ga.- Savannah State fell to 0-2 on the young football season after suffering a 83-9 lost to local rival Georgia Southern.
 
Despite the score, the crowd of 23, 121 at Paulson Stadium saw the Tigers control the time of possession. SSU had the ball for 34 minutes and five seconds while the Eagles had the football for 25:55.
 
Georgia Southern racked up 695 yards to SSU's 295.
 
Trailing 55-0 in the third quarter, SSU started a drive at their own 25 and drove to the Eagles three before stumbling. John Barron attempted a 25-yard field goal but it went wide left.
During the drive, freshman quarterback Tino Smith completed passes of 10 and eight yards to Kris Drummond and Jeremiah Harris. Smith also had runs of 10, 7 and 12 yards.
 
Savannah State was down 76-0 early in the fourth quarter before putting together two long scoring drives.
 
In their first possession of the fourth quarter, SSU strung together a 12-play, 53-yard drive that ended with Barron kicking a 39-yard field goal, with 9:07 remaining in the contest.
 
The Tigers drove to the GSU eight but back to back sacks forced Savannah State to kick a field goal. During the drive, junior quarterback Ker-Sean Wilson completed passes to Joshua Berry (14 yards), Cantrell Frazier (15 yards) and Anthony Criswell (22 yards).
 
After another GSU touchdown, Savannah State took their next possession and marched 79 yards in 13 plays as Frazier caught a 31-yard touchdown pass from Smith with 29 seconds left. Barron's extra point attempt was blocked. During the drive, the Tigers converted three third down situations.
 
Savannah State did a onside kick and recovered it at the their 46 but could not go any further than the Eagles 37 before time ran out.
 
As a team, the Tigers had 18 first downs. SSU ran for 87 yards and passed for 207.
 
In his first collegiate game, Smith completed 12 of 20 passes for 110 yards and a touchdown while rushing for a team-high 27 yards. Detorrius McDonald caught four passes while Frazier hauled in three receptions for 50 yards and a touchdown.
 
Trevion Ashford led the SSU defense with  a career-high 10 tackles.
 
For the Eagles, Brandon Thomas (117 yards) and Ean Days (112 yards) each ran for over 100 yards while Ryan George paced the defense with six tackles.
 
GSU scored on their first seven possessions and scored touchdowns on five possessions in the second half.
 
The Eagles (1-1) led 21-0 after the first quarter and 48-0 at the half.
 
Georgia Southern added three more touchdowns in the third quarter and one more early in the fourth quarter. The final GSU touchdown came with 5:19 left in the game.