Six weeks ago, Georgia State’s defense was routed by Liberty, giving up 41 points, more than 500 yards and spending more than 40 minutes on the field.
The next week, ditto. Georgia State gave up 37 points, nearly 500 yards and was on the field for more than 36 minutes against Appalachian State.
The following week, something changed.
The Panthers’ defense began to believe in each other. They began to believe in the process. They focused more on preparation and less on results. And they’ve improved.
They need to continue to do so on Friday against Troy in the final home game at the Georgia Dome. The Panthers need to win their last two games to become bowl eligible for the first time and the defense will need to continue to play well to accomplish that goal.
“Biggest thing for us is the trust we now have in each other,” linebacker Joseph Peterson said. “Preparation that we went through, seeing guys make plays in practices, not giving up catches on a Thursday practice.
“We finally trusted the process.”
After giving up averages of 38.8 points and 495.2 yards, the Panthers put the clamps on Ball State six weeks ago: 19 points, 372 yards and they won the time of possession. They also won the game 31-19.
The group continued to improve over the next four games, culminating in last week’s win over South Alabama, when the Panthers allowed lows for points (10) and yards (282) under coach Trent Miles.
Neither Miles nor coordinator Jesse Minter can pinpoint why the Panthers have come on. Minter said before the season the group had strong potential. The unit returned a host of starters and was aided by the influx of several players from UAB.
But the season started with inconsistency, the Panthers playing well for a quarter or a half, but never for an entire game until last week.
“It’s been a buildup of learning, recruiting talent, recruiting depth, getting experience and understanding the system and meshing it with the type of schemes,” Miles said.
But how to explain the timing, how the defense was run up and down the field by Liberty, an FCS team, and then two games later corral a team from the MAC?
Miles tries to use a science analogy to explain.
“We tell the team water boils at 212 degrees,” Miles said. “At 211, it’s just hot. Why? Who knows? When you are building a program and starting a culture, it takes time to manifest or set in.”
He said the players finally reached a point where they realized that they only have to worry about their responsibility. Players assigned to fill the A gap now will just fill the A gap instead of trying to fill the A and B gaps and getting blocked out of a play.
That new-found trust has resulted in less big plays. In the win over South Alabama, the GSU defense allowed only four plays of more than 15 yards, the longest a 24-yard pass. In its past four games, the Panthers have allowed just 19 plays of 15 yards or longer. Before that, the team allowed at least 15 such plays in the losses to Appalachian State and Liberty.
“It takes time to form a habit,” Miles said.
In the five games since that loss to Appalachian State, Georgia State has yielding an average 23.8 points and 386.8 yards. They are also 3-2 during that span after opening 1-4.
“One of the things these guys have done over the course of the last month is really learn how to prepare for the game,” Minter said. “It’s more about the process and worrying less about the result. Earlier in the year, we were too results-oriented. It hurt us in some games. Proud of the way the guys have matured.”
Troy will be a challenge. The Trojans have posted 41 or more points in three of their last four games. They obliterated two of the Sun Belt’s worse teams — New Mexico State (52-7) and Louisiana-Monroe (51-14) — but were beaten by two of the league’s better teams — Appalachian State (44-41 in three overtimes) and Georgia Southern (45-10).
“I think they are much improved,” Minter said. “Probably better than their record indicates. (Troy Coach) Neal Brown is one of the bright offensive guys in the country.”
