Though his offense is still learning the nuances of its no-huddle system, and his defense was without 14 players, Georgia State coach Bill Curry said he was pleased with their play in Saturday’s spring game.
More than 600 people attended the event at the team’s practice facility and saw two touchdowns: one by Parris Lee on a 7-yard run and another by Drew Pearson, who caught a tipped pass for a 28-yard score. They also saw the defense with two sacks by Qwontez Mallory and one fumble recovery.
The offense defeated the defense 15-10 using a scoring format in which the offense earned points for touchdowns and field goals, and the defense earned points for turnovers, tackles for loss, and three-and-out stops.
“The whole idea of the drill is to not see which side of the ball wins, but to see Georgia State win, and today Georgia State won,” Curry said. “I just want to get the guys who are injured back out there and the guys who are suspended back out here and get our guys moving and continuing in the right direction. This was a good step today.”
Breakdown: offense
Ben McLane ran the first-string offense and completed seven of his 11 passes for 82 yards. Two of the incompletions were drops. Offensive coordinator John Bond said he needed to watch film for a complete evaluation, but he thought McLane was more consistent than Kelton Hill (3-of-8, 43 yards, 1 TD) and Bo Schlechter (10-of-17, 105 yards).
“That’s what I’m looking for, a guy that will manage the offense and consistently hit the open throws,” Bond said. “That’s all I’m looking for.”
Bond said he hopes to announce a starting quarterback by the end of spring practice next week.
McLane, who will be a redshirt freshman next season, said he has risen on the depth chart by assuming he’s the third-string quarterback, as he was last season, every day in practice. He said his best play was a zone-read on the goal line that led to Lee’s touchdown on the game’s first drive, and his worst play was an overthrow to Mark Young that cost the team a touchdown.
“I don’t put much stock on labels, 1, 2 or 3 in the spring because that can change so much,” he said. “I’m just working hard and try to put myself in a good spot to try to get playing time in the fall.”
Bond was tepid about the play of the offensive line, which lost four starters from last season’s team. “I had to get on to them at the start of the third quarter,” he said. “We ran the ball something like 10 straight times to emphasize we are going to be a tough outfit.”
Rendell Wilder was the leading rusher with 35 yards. Donald Russell didn’t play because Bond said the coaches know what he can do.
Breakdown: defense
New coordinator Anthony Midget said he was very pleased with his defense, which was missing six players because of injuries or suspensions who were listed as starters on the pre-spring depth chart. They are also learning a new system, the 4-2-5.
“Playing without a lot of the guys, we had guys step up and accept the challenge,” he said. “With the exception of the first drive I thought the guys bounced back and played hard.”
Midget singled out Mallory, who has moved to defensive end from linebacker, and defensive end A.J. Portee for their play. Curry also said linebackers Kyle Vorster and Dillon LiVecche and tackle David Huey played well.
“The whole defensive front, we were very limited, for those guys to respond they way they did was truly encouraging,” Midget said.
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