Georgia State coach Trent Miles planned to enjoy his team’s 38-37 win over Abilene Christian for about an hour Wednesday.
He would then start preparing to face Week 2 opponent New Mexico State.
It’s true the Panthers are 1-0 and, as one funny tweet noted, now in the driver’s seat for a spot in the new college football playoff. But Miles said there remains quite a lot to work on. So, he wasn’t going to spend too much time celebrating his first win as Georgia State’s coach, as well as the breaking of a 16-game losing streak.
Georgia State must reduce some of its 12 penalties, including several personal fouls, three turnovers, an inconsistent running game and mental mistakes that almost undermined the victory.
“The ones that kill you are the illegal procedures, the self-inflicted penalties,” Miles said. “There was a lot of really young guys playing today. Sometimes things happen. You don’t ever want to have that many, but I’ll take the win.”
There is also this: The Wildcats are in only their second season as an FCS program and feature a quarterback who made his first start and several underclassmen on the offensive line. If Georgia State could barely defeat this group, what are the chances of the Panthers extending their winning streak to two now that there are only FBS programs remaining on this year’s schedule?
The good news is Abilene Christian’s defense returned mostly veterans. Georgia State’s offense had no trouble moving the ball against that group. Behind quarterback Nick Arbuckle, tight end Joel Ruiz, running backs Krysten Hammon and Kyler Neal and a deep group of wide receivers, the offense rolled up a program-best 566 yards. Arbuckle fell a yard short of tying the school record for passing yards (414). Hammon and Neal combined to run for 120 of the team’s 153 rushing yards.
But when Hammon and Neal both left in the first half because of injuries, the offense began to bog down. As soon as both returned in the fourth quarter, the points started flowing again as Georgia State scored 17 points to complete the rally.
The group was helped by the poise of Arbuckle, who converted on two fourth downs with passes and twice scrambled on the final drive to put the team into field-goal range. He tied a school record with four touchdown passes, including two to Ruiz.
“I thought he kept his composure, that’s why we brought him in here,” Miles said. “He showed great leadership on the sideline. The players know whose our leaders, and Nick’s really stepped into that role.”
The success of Georgia State’s defense was more sporadic while giving up 498 yards.
The Panthers’ Jarrell Robinson had two sacks, but the team couldn’t generate consistent pressure because of Abilene Christian’s frequent three-step drops and quick passes. The Wildcats would also roll out quarterback Parker McKenzie to keep the rushers at bay.
Still, Georgia State’s cornerbacks and linebackers frequently allowed the Wildcats receivers to get behind them in coverage, which contributed to 403 yards in passing yards allowed.
But the defense accomplished its first goal of stopping the run (95 yards allowed), and linebacker Joe Peterson made the momentum-changing play when he intercepted McKenzie with 12:10 left.
So, there are things to build on and things to re-work.
But Arbuckle notes as a team Georgia State did what it needed to win.
“Individually, we’re not perfect, but as a team we’re 1-0 and we are perfect right now,” he said.
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