Upon further review, Georgia State running back Taz Bateman may not be done for the season.
A day after saying Bateman would miss the next 10 games, Panthers coach Trent Miles said a specialist is going to look at an X-ray of Bateman’s broken forearm. The injury was sustained in Saturday’s win over New Mexico State. Bateman has 15 carries for 99 yards this season.
“Could be the year, could be four weeks, could be six weeks,” Miles said. “We don’t know yet.”
An arthroscopic procedure is scheduled this week on the knee of running back Kendrick Dorn. The doctors will then be able to tell how much time Dorn will miss this season. He has yet to play.
Bateman is a sophomore and Dorn a junior. They each have a redshirt year available if needed.
Should Georgia State need four running backs in this week’s game at Oregon, Miles said Glenn Smith would likely move from wide receiver. The Panthers did used four last week against the Aggies because of Bateman’s injury, a fumble and injury by Marcus Caffey and Kyler Neal suffering a cramp.
In other injury news, cornerback Jerome Smith suffered a broken hand against New Mexico State. He is going to have surgery and is not expected to be out for the rest of the season.
The line: Michael Ivory will compete this week for his starting spot at left tackle, the same as every other week, Miles said.
Ivory was benched in the second half of Saturday’s win at New Mexico State after twice being penalized for not lining up on the line of scrimmage.
After reviewing film, Miles said at least one of the penalties wasn’t Ivory’s fault because he lines up off the guard. Because the guard lined up too far behind the ball, so did Ivory.
Message: Miles said his team isn't going to Oregon just to receive a $900,000 check. They are going to try to win.
To that end, he spoke to the players after Monday’s practice about staying focused.
“Our kids know how to travel,” he said. “(We’ve told them) Don’t get distracted or caught up in the moment: a big, loud crowd and stadium that they see is the loudest and a team that played for a national championship, Phil Knight on the sidelines, don’t get caught up in that. Get caught up in trying to play a football game focusing on what we do.”
Video: Take a video tour of Georgia State's new strength and conditioning center by clicking on this link.
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