ATLANTA – Kale Pearson threw two touchdown passes and added two scoring runs to lead Air Force past Georgia State 48-38 on Saturday.
Pearson threw touchdown passes of 37 and 22 yards to Garrett Brown.
Jacobi Owens ran for 122 yards and two touchdowns for Air Force (2-1).
Pearson completed 12-of-15 passes for 224 yards to add balance to the Falcons’ option attack, which began the day ranked sixth in the nation in rushing.
Nick Arbuckle threw for 414 yards, including two touchdown passes to LynQuez Blair, for Georgia State (1-2).
Georgia State freshman running back Krysten Hammon, the team’s leading rusher, was suspended for the game for conduct detrimental to the team.
The Panthers cut the Air Force lead to 10 on Duvall Smith’s 1-yard touchdown run with 4 minutes, 57 seconds remaining.
Georgia State then failed to recover an onside kick. Pearson completed a fourth-down pass to Brown to help the Falcons run out the clock.
Pearson posted his second consecutive game with more than 200 yards passing. He threw for 226 yards in last week’s 17-13 loss at Wyoming, the most yards by an Air Force quarterback since Shaun Carney threw for 237 yards against Navy in 2007.
Air Force won in its first game in a dome in 20 years and ended a streak of nine consecutive road losses against Football Bowl Subdivision opponents. The Falcons’ last road win against a FBS team was against Wyoming in 2012.
Owens’ 2-yard touchdown run capped an impressive opening drive for Air Force, which never trailed.
Air Force linebacker Jordan Pierce delivered two key first-half plays which helped the Falcons retain their momentum. Pierce stopped Georgia State fullback Jonathan Lytle on a fourth-and-1 run to end the Panthers’ opening possession.
With Air Force leading 14-7 early in the second quarter, Pierce’s interception set up the drive which led to Owens’ second touchdown run.
Air Force played its first game in the state of Georgia since losing at Georgia Tech in 1977.
The game was played at the Georgia Dome. The Falcons’ last game in a dome was on Sept. 27, 1994, when it beat Texas-El Paso at the Alamodome.
Arbuckle threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Blair in the third quarter. The duo combined for a 13-yard touchdown pass in the final quarter.
Kyler Neal, filling in for Hammon, had 80 yards rushing, including a 25-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.
The loss of Hammon to the suspension was significant for Georgia State. He ran for 126 yards and two touchdowns in last week’s loss to New Mexico State. Georgia State wide receiver Avery Sweeting and safety Bryan Williams also were suspended for the game.
The 86 combined points were the most in Georgia State history.
