ORLANDO, Fla. - Finishing has been a problem for the San Jose State football team this season, but the Spartans found a way to close in their final game.

San Jose State scored twice in fourth quarter to defeat Georgia State 27-16 in the inaugural Auto Nation Cure Bowl.

Spartans quarterback Kenny Potter scrambled out of a collapsing pocket and ran 42 yards for one score, then hit freshman tight end Josh Oliver with a 1-yard scoring toss to seal the game for San Jose State (6-7).

"When you're a kid, you imagine being in situations like that where the game is on the line and we just willed ourselves to win," Potter said.

It was a great ending for a team that had lost three of its last four regular-season games and didn't expect to be playing in the bowl season. The Spartans' defense, which had given up an average of 215 yards rushing per game this season, limited Georgia State to just 23 yards on the ground and 231 yards altogether.

"We just wanted to prove we're not a 5-7 football team," linebacker Christian Tago said. "The defensive game plan we had was spectacular. We just kind of gave them different looks and knocked them off their stride."

Georgia State quarterback Nick Arbuckle threw a 38-yard scoring pass to Donovan Harden in the first half and a 19-yarder to Todd Boyd that gave the Panthers a 16-13 lead in the fourth quarter, but the offense was anemic most of the night.

"They did things defensively tonight they hadn't done all year," Arbuckle said. "We had a game plan for one thing and they gave us something completely different."

Trailing 20-16 with just under eight minutes left in the game, Georgia State (6-7) tried a running play on third-and-one at their own 49-yard line, but got stuffed. The Panthers went for it on fourth-and-one, but Arbuckle overthrew Penny Hart on a bomb and the drive ended.

Georgia State was 1-for-10 on third-down conversions.

"It was the right call, it just didn't work out," Georgia State coach Trent Miles said. "We hadn't show anything like we were going to stuff it down their throat so we went for it. If the pass is six inches shorter, we catch it and score a touchdown and everyone's talking about what a great play call it was."

San Jose State took over and went on a five-minute drive that ended with Potter's touchdown pass to Oliver to seal the game.

"Sometimes you're not sure with the layoffs at bowl games if you have to shake off the cobwebs and rust and we did," San Jose State coach Ron Caragher said. "We had some chances in the first half and didn't finish off drives, but our defense was spectacular and kept us in it the whole way."

Potter completed 10 of 19 passes for 89 yards. It was the first touchdown pass this year for Oliver and Potter's 15th scoring pass this season.

Senior running back Tyler Ervin helped Potter and the Spartans offense control the game, running for 132 yards on 30 carries. He scored on an 85-yard punt return in the first half.

Georgia State led only once in the game at 16-13 after capitalizing on a botched punt attempt by San Jose State.

Spartans snapper Ryan DiSalvo flew his snap over the head of Michael Carrizosa, while the punter was stationed at the back side of the end zone. It was DiSalvo's first bad snap of the season and the resulting safety cut Georgia State's deficit to 13-9.

Georgia State took the ensuing free kick back to San Jose State's 36-yard line and needed just four plays to get the go-ahead touchdown. Arbuckle threw a swing pass to Todd Boyd, who dodged one tackler and outran the rest of the Spartans secondary into the end zone for a 19-yard scoring play to put Georgia State ahead 16-13.

San Jose came right back with Potter and Ervin combining to run the Spartans back into the lead. Ervin got the 66-yard drive off to a good start with a 20-yard dash up the middle. Two plays later, Potter was flushed from the pocket and took off right down the middle of the field for a 42-yard scoring run.

Georgia State failed to convert a fourth-and-one from its own 49 on the next possession and Potter led San Jose State down for the clinching touchdown.

San Jose State won the field-position battle to start the second half, but the Spartans could only get a 19-yard field goal from Lopez for their efforts.

The Spartans started their third drive from Georgia State's 35 and got to the Panthers 2-yard line, but couldn't get into the end zone. Lopez easily kicked a 19-yard field goal to put San Jose up 13-7.

NOTES: San Jose State RB Tyler Ervin broke a pair of school records. His 132 yards gave him 1,601 this season, breaking Deonce Whitaker's record of 1,577 set in 2000. His 85-yard punt return for a touchdown helped him break the school's single-season all-purpose yards record of 2,513 set in 1990 by Sheldon Canley. ... San Jose State qualified for the bowl game with its academic record, not its football record. The Spartans had one of the top five Academic Progress Report scores in the country among teams with five wins that included Nebraska, Missouri and Minnesota. Missouri declined to participate in a bowl and the other accepted. "I think postseason play is a reward for doing things the right way," coach Ron Caragher said. "Why should it just be limited to your record? We had five wins and a couple of games that were really close. Our team has been competitive." ... Players were injured on three consecutive plays in the first half and each appeared to happen after their footing appeared to get stuck in the artificial surface. Georgia State DE Carnell Hopson left with a leg injury, San Jose State OL Chris Gonzalez went down with a knee injury and Spartans TE Billy Freeman fell immediately after catching a 5-yard pass. Freeman left with a foot injury and didn't return. Hopson and Gonzalez both sat out two possessions, then returned to the game.