Georgia State coach Trent Miles has been stressing the need for his team to finish a game. The inability to close again Saturday resulted in a 23-21 loss to Louisiana Lafayette at the Georgia Dome.
Despite allowing a blocked punt for a touchdown and missing two short field-goal attempts, the Panthers had a chance. Their hopes ended when quarterback Nick Arbuckle was intercepted with 1:58 remaining.
“I’m very disappointed in the result today,” Miles said. “We didn’t start very good, and we didn’t finish the way we wanted to. As a result we came up two points short.”
Georgia State (2-6, 1-3 Sun Belt) has yet to win a game at home against an FBS opponent.
Here are five things we learned Saturday:
GSU's not-so-special teams. Georgia State kicker Wil Lutz and the special-teams unit had a rough day.
“The special teams today were shoddy,” Miles said.
Lutz had a punt blocked by Travis Crawford that was recovered by Montrel Carter for a touchdown.
Toward the end of the first half Lutz tried a 25-yard field-goal attempt that would have tied the score, but it sailed wide left. He missed again from 36 yards in the fourth quarter, a kick that would have given the Panthers a four-point lead.
Lutz also shanked a 28-yard punt in the second quarter and was bailed out after a poor 26-yard punt when Louisiana-Lafayette was assessed two personal-foul penalties and wound up starting at the 10 rather than the 39. He had a 49-yard punt in the fourth quarter, but it was returned for 42 yards.
A bad choice. The worst decision came with 10 minutes left. On fourth-and-5 at their own 24, Lutz opted for a fake punt. The pass was completed to Tevin Jones for a 1-yard loss and led to Stevie Artigue's 23-yard field goal that proved to be the game-winner.
Miles said Georgia State has a play for that situation if the punter sees the defense in a certain alignment, but said the play should never have been an option.
“We’re supposed to punt the ball, and we did not punt the ball,” Miles said. “So that’s my fault for not making sure I communicated well enough that if they gave us the look, we’ve got to punt the ball. I’ll take the blame for that one.”
Rucker productive before injury. Tight end Keith Rucker caught six passes for 51 yards and two touchdown passes before leaving the game with a left hamstring injury.
The second score was memorable. On first-and-goal at the 3, Arbuckle threw over the top, and Arbuckle reached around with his right arm to grab the ball as he was falling to the turf and pulled it in for a score.
Improvement on defense. Georgia State allowed only two field goals in the second half, limited tailback Elijah McGuire to 73 yards rushing and allowed the Ragin' Cajuns to convert only 3 of 14 third-down plays.
“The defense did a good job getting off the field, held them to 3 of 14 third downs, so we accomplished that goal,” Miles said. “When the chips are down we’ve got to find a way to execute the way we do in practice. When you get in the heat of the moment, you’ve got to be able to do it then, too.”
Georgia State was without its two starting inside linebackers — leading tackler Joseph Peterson and Trey Payne.
Baker ties interception mark. GSU's Bobby Baker intercepted his third pass of the season to match the school record. Louisiana-Lafayette's Jalen Nixon overthrew intended receiver Gabe Fuselier and Baker went high to get the pick at the 24-yard line.
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