CU carried a 14-point lead into halftime but relied on several stops inside their own 10 in the final minute to secure the win, including stuffing a first-and-goal run from the 3 with less than 30 seconds to play and no Georgetown timeouts. 
 

It is only the third win in program history over an NAIA Top 10 and the first such upset on the Citizens Bank Field turf at Finley Stadium.

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"It was a great win for our program and our guys. They worked hard coming off that loss (12-6 at Kentucky Christian University). We'd played two previously ranked teams in Lindsey Wilson and Kentucky Christian and we competed, but couldn't close the show," CU head coach Perry Thomas said. "Our focus this week was to be a championship level team, at some point we have to be able to kick that door down, be able to put those teams away and finish. I thought our guys responded against the best opportunity they could get with the third ranked team in the country. This could do a lot for us as the season rolls on."

Campbellsville (4-2) currently sits fifth among ranked Mid-South Conference teams at No. 28 in the last two NAIA polls, while Georgetown (4-1) climbed from No. 6 to No. 3 this past week.

"I've felt for a while we're a Top 25 team. I think we're as good as anyone in the country," Thomas said. "On any given Saturday, I think those teams can beat us, and we can beat them."

Campbellsville knocked on the door early, as senior quarterback Jacob Russell completed 5-of-6 passes to move CU 62 yards on eight plays. Russell capped the opening drive with a 23-yard touchdown pass to senior Neil Wilson in front of the CU baseball team and band in the east end zone. It was the first time all season Georgetown trailed an opponent.

"That drive got our offense back in the rhythm. It gave them confidence scoring against the No. 3 team in the nation on the first drive and because we'd struggled offensively the last two games," Thomas said. More than anything, it teaches them that when we do things right, we're the only ones who can stop ourselves. A good team like Georgetown is going to stop us some, but 28 points against them is a pretty good game."

Both teams forced punts on the following possessions. Erik Krivitsky's first punt for CU was blocked by Ryan Sowder. The recovery was fumbled forward and ruled a turnover, but later reversed to give the visiting Tigers the ball inside CU territory.

Georgetown senior quarterback Neal Pawsatt used five plays to punch the ball into the end zone to even the score, 7-7, on a 24-yard touchdown pass to Alan Williams and PAT by Josh Depp.

Krivitsky was able to pin Georgetown deep on its own 9 on his next punt, but Pawsat, the reigning MSC Offensive Player of the Week, orchestrated a 13-play, 91-yard scoring drive over the next five minutes. Demonte Smith punched in GC's second score to take its first lead, 14-7.

Campbellsville wasted little time to respond though, as Russell hit Trevon Chatman for a 57-yard touchdown pass less than four minutes later to even the score, 14-14, following a Will Ward PAT. Chatman had 127 yards on eight catches in the game.

The home Tigers got a 3-and-out on the next series and struck once more, driving 81 yards on seven plays. Faced with a third-and-23 after two false starts and a sack, Russell hit Demytreus Gipson for a 32-yard first down across midfield. The reception pushed Gipson over the 2,000-yard mark for his career as he finished the day with 85 yards in the game to join current offensive coordinator Rick Gehres and former MSC Player of the Year Stan Warrenhuffman as Campbellsville's only 2,000-yard receivers.

Two plays later, Tajh Milliken responded to a 5-yard option run loss by hitting Jarrod Harrington on a 61-yard touchdown, his first TD pass of the season and his only pass attempt in the game. The pass was the bulk of Harrington's 97 receiving yards on seven catches.

The Fighting Tiger D stood strong once again forcing a 3-and-out punt,  which Harrington returned 20 yards to the Georgetown 27. Russell hit Chatman for a 22-yard pass on first down to the GC 5, and then later found Gipson on a 6-yard scoring strike to make it 28-14 with 48 seconds remaining in the first half. The score held entering halftime after CU held Georgetown on downs. Russell went on to complete 28-of-43 for 312 yards and three scores.

"That cushion was huge. As a head coach with 30 years of experience, you know they're going to make a run. They're the third ranked team in the country and a traditional power house for a reason. We knew they were going to respond and having that cushion gave us some breathing room," Thomas said.

CU freshman Marquis Cain opened the second half by intercepting Pawsat's second pass attempt near midfield. It was the first turnover of the season for Georgetown.

"We didn't have any turnovers today, and they had one. That's the difference in the game," Thomas said. "Offensively in the second half, we did well enough to move the sticks and run the clock, and then defensively, we stepped up and got it done."

Campbellsville was unable to score in the second half, but held Georgetown to only one touchdown with 8:38 remaining in the third quarter on a 27-yard pass from Pawsat to Austin Sheehan. The drive was kept alive early by a 56-yard run by Pawsat.

Though the band did not return to the stands for the second half, the CU baseball team in the end zone and fans filled in the volume, especially on defense.

"I thought the crowd was awesome for us. The baseball team and the fans behind us tonight were non-stop rolling. Win or lose, this was a great atmosphere for college football," Thomas said.

GC was held on downs its next possession by a solo tackle at the line by Blake Young on fourth down. James Gardner forced a fumble on fourth down on the next possession, but Tyler Jones recovered for Georgetown. The play kept a drive alive which later stalled inside the CU red zone, setting up a 27-yard field goal by Depp early in the fourth quarter.

The biggest scoring threat during the remaining 11 minutes came in the final 2:32 when Pawsat built a 63-yard drive to the Campbellsville 6 of the east end zone. A penalty helped make it first and goal from the 3 with 34 seconds left, but Dekwain Tarrance and Sylan-Drake Mayes stuffed Demonte Smith at the 2 and time began to run out on the third-ranked Tigers. With two seconds remaining, Pawsatt managed to get off a snap, but over threw AJ Johnson in the end zone as time expired.

Pawasat finished the day with 334 yards passing oon 25-of-52 and two TDs. His main target was Joe Ganci with 103 yards on five catches.

Percy Minor and Blake Young led CU with nine tackles each, while Jaylan Bailey had 10 for Georgetown.

Campbellsville (4-2, 2-0 MSC West) will have an off week Oct. 18 and will return to action Oct. 25 at No. 12 Cumberland University (Tenn.), which is also tied with CU and Faulkner for the MSC West lead. Georgetown (4-1, 1-0 MSC East) will return home next weekend to host the University of Cumberlands (Ky.) for Homecoming.

- Kaitlin Weeks, a senior from Louisville, Ky., majoring in political science and Christian missions, was crowned the 2014 Homecoming Queen. Weeks was representing Baptist Campus Ministry and is a member of the CU women's bowling team.

- The game was the second annual Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) Awareness Game between Campbellsville and Georgetown in partnership with the Finley Foundation. The Finley Foundation was founded in memory of Finley Ellison, named for former CU head coach Ron Finley, who died from SIDS in May 2013. His father, Dwayne, is  a former CU football player and Georgetown assistant coach, and his mother, Crissy, is a former CU volleyball player.

- Demytreus Gipson joined Rick Gehres and Stan Warrenhuffman as the only Campbellsville University receivers with 2,000 receiving yards in their career. 
- Campbellsville has won three-straight Homecoming games for the first time since 2003, 2004 and 2005.

- CU is now 5-22 against Georgetown College, including 4-9 at home. 
- The last win over Georgetown was 21-14 at home in 2009.
- CU's last Top 10 win was at No. 10 Shorter University in 2009.