Revere leads top-ranked Eagles to easy victory over Catamounts

The Eagles (5-0, 3-0) spotted WCU (2-3, 1-2) an early touchdown but came roaring back with 50 unanswered points. They compiled 589 yards of total offense while holding Western to 279.

GSU quarterback J.R. Revere carried 15 times for 194 yards. He threw sparingly but effectively by completing five of six passes for 15 yards.

Adrian Peterson set an NCAA record for all divisions by rushing for at least 100 yards in his 36th straight regular season game. He finished with 105 yards in 22 carries before leaving late in the third quarter.

Derrick Owens caught three passes for 108 yards.

Western's Fred Boateng carried 22 times for 97 yards.

Quarterbacks Pat Cilento and Brian Gaither both completed four passes in 10 and 11 attempts, respectively. Cilento's went for 106 yards while Gaither's were for just 33.

Michael Banks caught three passes for 94 yards.

The Cats stunned GSU by taking a 7-0 lead with 11:08 left in the first quarter on a 12-yard pass from Cilento to Walter Gary and Shon Rowser's PAT. The 80-yard drive took seven plays with the highlight being a 43-yard run by Boateng. It also included a 13-yard pass from Cilento to Banks.

GSU answered by moving 65 yards in nine plays. Andre Weathers started the march with a 35-yard slotback pass to Carl Kearney. The payoff was a 7-yard run by Peterson. Scott Shelton kicked the first of his four extra points for a 7-7 tie with 7:25 to go in the first period.

David Young blocked a Stanton Horne punt putting the Eagles in business at the WCU 14. Mark Myers scored on the next play, but Shelton missed the PAT leaving the Eagles on top 13-7 with 6:18 left in the opening stanza.

It took GSU seven plays to go 75 yards following a punt. Revere passed for 35 yards to Owens before T.J. Anderson scored from 19 yards out. Revere passed to Owens for the conversion and a 21-7 advantage as the first quarter ended.

A 14-yard pass from Revere to Owens was followed by Revere's 56-yard scoring run for a 28-7 lead with 10:56 remaining in the half.

Revere's 52-yard run led to Shelton's 21-yard field goal extending the margin to 31-7 with 3:33 on the clock.

The Eagles opened the second half with a 70-yard drive in eight plays. The highlight was a 33-yard pass from Revere to Kevin Davis. Peterson's 4-yard TD run with 11:36 to go in the third quarter made it 38-7.

The GSU offense finally hit a bump just when it appeared ready to add more points as Pat Leach recovered Hakim Ford's fumble at the Cat 14. Two plays later, Cilento and Banks connected on a 77-yard pass to the 6. However, Cilento fumbled with Joe Scott recovering at the 4.

Revere's 59-yard pass to Owens put Shelton in position for a 42-yard field goal and a 41-7 lead with 57 seconds to go in the third stanza.

On fourth-and-1 from the 22, the Cats lined up to punt, but the ball was snapped to the up back with Gary being stopped for a 7-yard loss.

Melvin Scott scored from the 5 for a 48-7 lead with 11:57 left in the game.

Shelton's 59-yard punt pinned the Cats to their 1. Matt Rio tackled Donnie Bryant in the end zone for a safety and a 50-7 margin at the 5:06 mark.

Western concluded the scoring at the 3:33 mark as B.J. Jessup recovered a Jason Wells fumble and ran 85 yards to the end zone. Rowser kicked the extra point for the 50-14 final.

Scott was in on seven tackles for the Eagles. WCU's Justin Fryer had 12 tackles, including 10 solos.

13

39-140

8-21-0

139

7-35.3

2-1

4-10

First Downs

Rushes-Yds.

Passing

Passing Yds.

Punts-Avg.

Fumbles-Lost

Penalties-Yds.

24

59-409

6-8-0

180

2-45.5

4-2

5-35

Back to Sports: 10/11/01.