Khadrice Rollins
krollins@ajc.com
Defense wins championships. But for most of this season, it hasn’t been enough to win games for Georgia State.
The Panthers (2-6, 1-3 Sun Belt) head into Thursday’s game against Arkansas State (3-4, 3-0) in desperate need of a win after snatching defeat from the jaws of victory last week against South Alabama (4-4, 1-4). GSU led most of the way, but a late field goal put the Jaguars ahead 13-10 and sent the Panthers back to Atlanta empty-handed.
On a day when the defense only allowed 13 points, it is easy to say the unit did its job, but with the offense struggling to finish drives thanks to a few “crucial errors,” coach Trent Miles needed just a little bit more from his defense.
“Giving up the fourth-and-11 on a 92-yard drive, that’s not indicative of our defense,” Miles said. “They played so well the whole game and they had one drive. It’s a shame it came down to one drive. One touchdown.”
Now GSU is right back in the same spot where it was last season, needing to win out in the final four games to become bowl eligible.
First up, the Panthers welcome the Red Wolves to the Georgia Dome. Arkansas State brings with it one of the most efficient pass offences in the Sun Belt, but GSU has one of the toughest pass defenses in the conference.
“They like to move guys around a bit, throw a couple trick plays out there, but nothing we haven’t seen,” safety Bobby Baker said. “It’s just another Sun Belt offense honestly. So, it’s nothing crazy, nothing amazing. But our defense, if we play our best defense, we can dominate. We’re looking for a goose egg.”
Although the Red Wolves have had success throwing the ball, their offense as a whole has been far from spectacular. They are in the middle of the pack in scoring and rushing offense but find themselves toward the bottom of the conference when it comes to third down success and turnover margin.
But after dropping a winnable contest against a South Alabama opponent that had not won a Sun Belt game prior to playing the Panthers, Miles said there is almost no room for error against any conference opponent. Especially one that is undefeated in conference games this year and has won 12 straight games against Sun Belt competition.
“They’re going to play their game,” Miles said. “They load the box, they press you up out on the outside, they play quarters with their safeties, and they play a four-man front and they try to keep you from running the ball and force you to throw it over their head and cover you down.”
Arkansas State features one of the conference’s best defenses having allowed just 17 points in its last two games and surrendering just 20 first downs a game. So expect a defensive battle on Thursday.
And for Panthers squad that has been one of the best in the Sun Belt at forcing takeaways and also returning them for touchdowns, expect to see the defense coming out looking to make plays.
“Our defense plays outstanding every time we hit the field no matter whether it’s practice or a game,” defensive end Shawayne Lawrence said. “We just have it set in our mind what we’re going to do, and it just really shows.”
