Recapping Georgia State’s 32-26 loss to Jacksonville State on Saturday at the Georgia Dome:

Three thoughts

1. If it weren’t for bad luck….It’s hard to want to give Georgia State the benefit of the doubt based upon the past results, but they did seem to be the recipients of some bad breaks against the Gamecocks:

I know the play was reviewed, but Travis Evans didn’t fumble the ball. It was an incomplete catch. As he was catching the ball, he turned and it came out. He hadn’t completed a “football move,” which is one of the criteria for deciding catch/no catch. A few of us in the press box didn’t think it was a catch. That turnover turned into a Jacksonville State touchdown one play later.

Bell’s interception just  before the end of the first half was a good play by the Jacksonville State defender, but he really had no choice. The ball went through the hands of a Georgia State receiver and slammed right into the Jacksonville State defender’s chest. That also led to a touchdown just before the end of the first half.

Of course, there's also missed the point-after attempt -- the first for Georgia State since 2010 -- on the ledger.

Now, Georgia State also received some good luck so it wasn’t totally one-sided, but what a difference those plays made. Two pieces of bad luck, two touchdowns.

2. If the running backs don’t improve their pass-blocking, and Cade Yates doesn’t snap the ball faster, Ronnie Bell is going to get seriously injured. I easily spotted at least two poor attempts to block blitzers by Georgia State’s backs, including one complete whiff. Those couldn’t have been the only ones. In addition, there were a few instances of the snap, instead of being fired back to Bell when in the shotgun, being lobbed back, which gave the defenders that split-second more to apply pressure and left Bell a prone target. He was sacked three times but hit countless others. Speaking of the running backs, they had a difficult time getting yards yesterday. Bell led the team in rushing with 57 yards on 11 carries. The rest of the backs, which included receivers Albert Wilson and Kelton Hill, had 31 carries for 97 yards.

3. Will Georgia State win a game this year? I’m sure the fans want to say yes, but the schedule now gets really tough and the team has yet to put four good quarters together. The performance against Jacksonville State was really one good quarter (the fourth) and one good play to start the game.

Quote of the game

“When you look at the young men and they are looking at you, and 80 percent of them are crying, and they are looking at you as a personal figure. But they are looking at you for answers and all you can tell them is to keep working and trust us. You are going to get there. And you see I would say 100 percent of them nodding their head and crying.

“And then you have to come out and look at your wife in tears and your kids in tears, it’s tough. It’s hard, but being a competitor, and please don’t take this as me being an arrogant person, but I know what’s going to happen here at Georgia State. I have no doubts. I can walk  out of here with my head up, my chin up, my chest out because we have a bunch of kids who believe in what we are doing. I can see the improvement. I haven’t seen the end result of a win, but I can see it. And I’m a very proud of them.”

--  Trent Miles

Stat of the game

6 of 7. Jacksonville State scored on six of its seven opportunities inside the 20-yard line.