Erie, Pa. – The Golden Eagles were stunned last night as the Golden Knights handed Charleston their first loss of the season, outscoring the Golden Eagles 13-47. Gannon moves to 1-0 on the year and will look to stay hot as they enter PSAC play in Week Two. 
 
The Basics
Location: McConnell Family Stadium
Score: UC 13, GU 47
Records: UC 0-1, GU 1-0
 
How it Happened
From the opening kickoff to the last play of the game, the Gannon Golden Knights were in the driver's seat. Charleston was not able to hold their water on the opening possession as it only took the Golden Knights seven plays to get down the field in three minutes to get their first touchdown of the night. Kory Curtis threw a rifle from 16 yards out to Sam East into the endzone and Gannon took an early 6-0 lead after a missed extra point. After Charleston punted on their opening drive, the defense found their rhythm and forced a three-and-out to regain possession at their own 20-yard line. 
 
Special teams played a crucial role throughout the night, but it did not favor the Golden Eagles as a dropped snap on the ensuing punt gave Gannon the ball at the 6-yard line which led to Gannon's second score of the night on the next play making the score 13-0. 
 
Charleston found some offense in the beginning of the second quarter and managed to get within field goal range for Tim McCutchen as he knocked home two field goals on back-to-back drives from 43 and 31 yards to shorten the deficit to 13-6. After the second field goal on the ensuing kickoff, McCutchen's kick went within the five-yard line and dropped dead at the two, forcing Gannon's returners to scramble deep in their territory, but not before Nirion Washington made a heads up play and brought the returner down inside the five, which later then forced another three and out. 
 
After Gannon found the endzone again on another Curtis passing touchdown, the Golden Eagles punt unit continued to struggle. Bryce Keith bobbled the snap on another punt and tried to reach the line of gain but was brought down short, leading to yet another score off of a special teams turnover, making the score 20-6. 
 
Light was shown after the halftime break for the Golden Eagles as they took their opening possession down the field within the red zone. Unfortunately, Charleston was stopped short of the endzone after a 4^th and Goal try was unsuccessful after an 18-play drive. 

Gannon did not let their defense down as they marched down the field and scored another touchdown highlighted with a 63-yard reception from Melvin Blanks that made it 33-6. Charleston would answer with a touchdown of their own on their next drive with a 20-yard missile into the endzone from Davis Black to Xzavion Gordon who was dealing with double coverage making it 33-13. 
 
This would be all Charleston could formulate for the rest of the night as Gannon would go on to score twice more and end the night victorious with a 47-13 win. 
 
Up Next
Charleston enters conference play in Week 2 as they will be on the road again. This time going head-to-head with the Fairmont State Falcons on September 8^th at 7 PM.