Stripling had an up and down game. He missed both of his extra point attempts and inadvertently took a knee on a punt attempt, setting up Birmingham's tying touchdown. Stripling hit 4-of-5 field goals from 23, 31, 21 and 24 yards.

Birmingham needed only one play to score after Stripling's mistake. Walter Arrington went up the middle from 23 yards out to tie the game at 27-27 with 2:03 left in the game. Defensive end Alex Sapp blocked Raymond Josof's extra point try to keep the game tied.

On the ensuing kickoff, Mario Wallace took the short kick and burst through the middle and down the sidelines for an apparent touchdown. A blocking in the back penalty called at the 5-yard line pushed the Panthers back to the 15.

Wallace ran the ball three times into the middle of the field down to the 7-yard line. LaGrange head coach Todd Mooney called timeout with six tenths of a second left on the clock. Stripling came on and ended the game with his 24-yard kick.

The game started with two touchdowns in a 12-second span. Birmingham's David Langston raced 62 yards on the first play from scrimmage. The Panthers answered as Wallace and quarterback Drew Carter hooked up on a 52-yard catch and run to make it 7-6.

Wallace added a 14-yard touchdown run three minutes later to put LaGrange up 12-7. Stripling's first field goal of the day gave the Panthers a 15-7 first quarter lead. It remained that score at halftime.

Devin Billings scored from four yards out three minutes into the second half to up the Panthers' lead to 21-7. Billings' touchdown capped the Panthers' longest drive of the day, 60 yards in just six plays.

Trailing 24-7, Birmingham used another big play to get back in the game. Quarterback Joe Thigpen threw a 66-yard bomb to Eric Nordgren to make it 24-14 going to the fourth quarter.

Stripling's third field goal put the Panthers up 27-14 with 6:24 left. Birmingham came back on another Thigpen touchdown pass to Chris Mauck and then the tying touchdown from Arrington.

Wallace finished the game with 239 all-purpose yards. Freshman Dustin Cannon rushed for a game-high 100 yards on 15 carries in his collegiate debut for the Panthers. Cannon rushed for 98 yards in the second half alone. Quarterback Drew Carter was 19-for-27 for 193 yards, the one touchdown pass and was not intercepted.