STATESBORO, Ga. (AP) — Backup quarterback Dexter Williams II came on in the fourth quarter and led three touchdown drives to help Georgia Southern rally from a 20-point deficit and beat Marshall 24-23 Saturday night.

Rece Verhoff kicked first-half field goals of 36, 51 and 42 yards, Braylon Braxton threw touchdown passes of 3 yards in the second quarter and 11 yards with 7:05 left in the third to Toby Payne to give Marshall (3-3, 1-1 Sun Belt) a 23-3 lead.

Cam Williams pressured quarterback Stone Earle in the end zone, forcing him to throw it away for a intentional grounding penalty that resulted in a safety. Four plays from scrimmage later, JC French ran for a 12-yard gain on fourth-and-10 before he took a hard hit and was replaced by Williams, who immediately hit LV Bunkley-Shelton for a 34-yard gain and then ran a 1-yard TD that trimmed Georgia Southern’s deficit to 23-11 with 6:31 to play.

Marques Watson-Trent forced a fumble that was recovered by Deontre Morris near midfield to eventually set up David Mbadinga’s 3-yard TD run with 2:15 remaining. Watson-Trent again forced a fumble, this time recovered by Latrell Bullard at the Eagles 34 with 1:55 to go. Williams hit Bunkley-Shelton for a 19-yard gain on a fourth-and-17 and then, two plays later, connected with Derwin Burgess Jr. for a 34-yard touchdown that gave Georgia Southern (4-2, 2-0) a 24-23 lead when the 2-point conversion pass fell incomplete with a minute to play.

Braxton was 9-of-12 passing for 97 yards for Marshall. A.J. Turner added 14 carries for 97 yards rushing.

Marshall	6	10	7	0	—	23
Georgia Southern	3	0	0	21	—	24

First Quarter

MRSH-FG Verhoff 36, 11:56.

MRSH-FG Verhoff 51, 5:28.

GASO-FG Stewart 42, 2:13.

Second Quarter

MRSH-FG Verhoff 42, 12:28.

MRSH-T.Payne 3 pass from Braxton (Verhoff kick), 4:49.

Third Quarter

MRSH-T.Payne 11 pass from Braxton (Verhoff kick), 7:05.

Fourth Quarter

GASO-safety, 10:08.

GASO-D.Williams 1 run (run failed), 6:31.

GASO-Mbadinga 3 run (Stewart kick), 2:15.

GASO-D.Burgess 34 pass from D.Williams (pass failed), 1:00.

—————

	MRSH	GASO
First downs	17	21
Total Net Yards	389	428
Rushes-yards	43-200	33-93
Passing	189	335
Punt Returns	1-9	0-0
Kickoff Returns	3-9	3-72
Interceptions Ret.	1-4	1-0
Comp-Att-Int	18-29-1	26-41-1
Sacked-Yards Lost	2-5	5-17
Punts	5-38.4	7-45.571
Fumbles-Lost	2-2	1-1
Penalties-Yards	11-79	6-50
Time of Possession	31:05	28:55

—————

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING-Marshall, Turner 14-97, Earle 12-45, Braxton 8-36, Houston 6-18, E.Payne 3-4. Georgia Southern, French 11-25, Mbadinga 3-22, White 7-18, Arnold 7-16, D.Williams 4-13, (Team) 1-(minus 1).

PASSING-Marshall, Earle 9-17-1-97, Braxton 9-12-0-92. Georgia Southern, French 16-26-1-200, D.Williams 10-14-0-135, (Team) 0-1-0-0.

RECEIVING-Marshall, Fitzpatrick 5-49, C.Montgomery 4-45, Chester 2-46, Houston 2-25, T.Payne 2-14, Brown 1-4, Chapman 1-4, Turner 1-2. Georgia Southern, D.Burgess 7-84, Cobb 6-93, Bunkley-Shelton 6-72, Fromm 4-71, Arnold 2-5, J.Dallas 1-10.

MISSED FIELD GOALS-None.