Florida A&M holds off Savannah State with goal-line stand (Sep 23, 2017)

Published Sep. 23, 2017 9:13 p.m. ET

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) Tevin Spells scored the go-ahead touchdown, the defense made a goal-line stand with four seconds to play, and Florida A&M held off Savannah State 20-14 in Saturday's Mid-Eastern Atlantic Conference opener.

Trailing 14-7 at halftime, Savannah State's D'Vonn Gibbons tied it on a 40-yard run that capped a 12-play, 99-yard drive.

Spells's 6-yard TD run capped FAMU's next drive that was kept alive by key third-down completions thrown by Ryan Stanley. But the point-after attempt failed and the Tigers had a chance.

Gibbons drove his team to the Rattlers' 4-yard line, but his pass on fourth-and-goal fell incomplete with four seconds left and the Tigers (0-3, 0-1) turned the ball over on downs.

Stanley twice connected with Chad Hunter on scoring passes and was 17 of 25 for 214 yards passing for the Rattlers (2-2, 1-0). Hunter had six catches for 96 yards and Devin Bowers gained 115 yards on 21 carries.

Gibbons scored on a 5-yard run on Savannah State's opening drive and was 8 of 13 for 62 yards passing and rushed for 123.

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