Georgia State had an energetic practice Wednesday, complete with a scrimmage among the second- and third-string guys and finishing with a dance line in which Travis Evans rocked the house. (I wasn’t invited; I’m not sure doing the robot or inchworm would work in that setting).

Coach Trent Miles said that he usually scrimmages a lot during bye weeks and at the end of practice he lets the guys who don’t get to play a lot go at it for about 50 plays, with the seniors serving as officials.

The Panthers are gearing up for next week’s game at top-ranked Alabama, which will take on Ole Miss this weekend.

Of the back-ups, Miles said he has seen some good things from quarterback Clay Chastain, wide receiver Donovan Harden, cornerback Bruce Dukes, tight end Joel Ruiz, defensive linemen Tevin Jones, Will Cunnigham and Carnell Hopson and defensive back Tyshaun Clemmons.

Because it’s a bye week, Wednesday was my first day out at practice. Per my usual routine, I caught up with defensive coordinator Jesse Minter and offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski to talk about the last game, a 32-26 overtime loss to Jacksonville State, and the one upcoming against the Tide.

Jesse Minter

Q: How do you prepare for this game?

A: Show up, play hard, try to play fundamentally sound, try to make them earn things rather than give up cheap plays.

Q: How does quarterback A.J. McCarron compare to other quarterbacks you have gone against?

A: He's very fundamentally sound. You can tell he’s really well-coached. On top of that he’s talented with the arm strength to make all the throws.

He’s got some really good receivers and tight ends. I think he really fits that pro-style offense. He does a lot of things well from under center: boots out well, throws on the run well. He’s pretty much the total package.

Q: What did you learn about the team from the last game?

A: I like the way we competed, particularly coming back in the second half after not playing great in the first half. I also learned that we just have to practice more consistently if we want to play more consistently. A lot of the same mistakes that we made in the game we made in practice. (Note: this has been a consistent theme with Minter)

I think they saw that. In some critical situations, mistakes we made in practice were the mistakes we made in the game.

It’s on us to make sure we don’t make those mistakes and continue to make sure that we get more consistent.

A guy like Brent McClendon, they picked on him a little bit, and he came back and made a big play (an interception in the fourth quarter) that gave us a chance to win. Our guys are pretty resilient, it’s just consistently doing it every play and not having it be where we have to battle back.

Q: Do you expect to see a lot of Amari Cooper matched up on McClendon? (Note: Cooper is 6-1; McClendon is 5-9)

A: I’m sure. We will have to be smart and try to give him some help. At the same time, they’ve got great running backs, throw the ball well, and a great offensive line that you can tell has improved since the first ball game. We will have to pick our moments to get him some help.

The Jacksonville State game, as a coach, even when a team throws for 300 yards and makes some big plays, when you make them one-dimensional you still are going to give yourself a chance to win.

Rather than a team running the ball down your throat, if you do a solid job on the run, which was 2.7 a carry I think, then you are going to have a chance.

There were some 50-50 balls that I’d like to think will one day go our way. I think, even a team like Alabama, if you somehow keep them from just running the ball down your throat, you’ll limit certain amounts of big plays. That’s what we hope to do.

Jeff Jagodzinski

Q: Alabama have any weaknesses?

A: They are No. 1 in the country for a reason.

Q: When you go against a team that has no weaknesses, what do you game plan for?

A: You try to minimize execution mistakes.

We have to do that against anybody right now.

Caoch Saban has done a fantastic job everywhere he has been. He has the same formula. You go back to when he was at Toledo, he won.

He’s just a very solid football coach. A Hall-of-Fame guy.

Q: How do you grade film after a game like this?

A: You don’t. You go and do the best you can. That’s all you can do. There’s really no secret formula.

I’d be disappointed if they didn’t compete. I’d be disappointed if they didn’t compete against anybody they played against.

Q: What did you learn about the team in the last game?

A: I tell our guys, you have to be willing to win the game on the last play of the game. When they are willing to do that, we’ll have something.

They had a chance to do that. We didn’t do it, but they took it that far. That’s a good sign.

Q: How was the line’s play. It didn’t look they had a very good game?

A: Here’s the thing you get into with us: we’d like to throw the ball down the field more, but you have to have protection to get the ball down the field.

If you keep guys in for protection, then you are short on getting guys out. There’s always a balance that you are trying to strike.

Q: Can you go into that first play (a 75-yard touchdown pass from Ronnie Bell to Albert Wilson)? Albert said you put that in the morning of the game.

A: It’s been in our arsenal. It’s usually a coming-out play on the goal line. We were talking as a staff and I said, ‘let’s try to create some excitement for the kids.’ We told them Saturday morning, ‘Here we go, here’s our first play.’

I told them, ‘It’s going to be a touchdown. One of the bands is going to be playing. I don’t know if it will be ours or theirs.’

But you have to make it fun and try to create some excitement.

Kids are kids. They want to play and they want to succeed. Sometimes as a coach you have to help make it for them.