By the end of spring practice, Georgia State’s depth chart could feature a new No. 1 at quarterback, at four spots on the offensive line and at wide receiver.
Depending upon how you viewed last season’s offense — which averaged a Sun Belt-worst 18.8 points per game during an 0-12 season — those changes may not be so bad. That also is why coach Trent Miles says this spring’s practices are of critical importance as the team tries to improve before it opens the season Aug. 27 against Abilene Christian at the Georgia Dome.
“This is a big spring for us in terms of player development: getting the guys here to be the best they can be with the skills they have,” he said. “If you can run a 4.7 (in the 40), we’ve got to get you to play 4.7 all the time. I feel fortunate to have a staff that we have that can do that.”
And Miles likes what he has seen through the first two weeks of practices.
“I am excited about what I’ve seen from the offensive line, from a QB standpoint,” Miles said. “Our kids are practicing their tails off, with great effort. They are getting better and better.”
Because his team averaged a Sun Belt-worst 102 yards per game running the ball, Miles said last season’s offense became too reliant on wide receiver Albert Wilson. Offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski was forced to find numerous ways to get the ball into Wilson’s hands, including giving him a few snaps at quarterback. Wilson accounted for 32 percent of Georgia State’s 4,263 total yards.
Wilson graduated, and the offensive line, which was hurt by injuries and generally ineffective, lost three starters who used up their eligibility. A fourth, Tim Wynn, is suspended for spring practice.
But Georgia State signed three junior-college linemen who are feverishly working to get ready. Redshirt freshman Davis Moore and freshman Alex Stoehr also have been competing. Another, Garrett Gorringe, will miss the rest of the spring because of a stress fracture suffered in his foot.
Miles said the staff recently adjusted the practice schedule to give assistant coach Harold Etheridge more time to work with the linemen on fine-tuning their fundamentals. Jagodzinski said the work is paying off.
“Any time you are watching film and something wasn’t executed properly, it’s usually the fundamental that wasn’t executed,” Jagodzinski said. “So we are doing a lot of work on teaching the young guys and the guys who weren’t here last spring how we do things.”
Behind them, Miles signed quarterback Nick Arbuckle, also a junior-college player, to provide more competition.
Three running backs and several wide receivers signed, but they won’t arrive until the summer.
The goal is to improve the talent and create a more-balanced offense that is fundamentally sound.
“It’s not about the schemes,” Miles said. “The total development of the player is huge. In the heat of battle, you rely upon habits. So you spend this time developing the (players) you’ve got.”
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