The recipe could be a disaster for Georgia State.
Jacksonville State’s offense is struggling. However, it has a stable of running backs led by former Georgia standout Washaun Ealey, and nothing cures an offense like running the ball.
And Georgia State’s defense seems to be the cure for what’s ailing running games. The Panthers are giving up 211 yards per game this season in a problem that dates to last season.
Defensive coordinator John Thompson said he has no doubt what Gamecocks coach Jack Crowe is going to do:
“He’s going to run it. He’s going to old-school it, pound us,” he said.
The solution:
“We’ve got to man-up,” he said. “That’s what it comes down to, manning up, controlling your gap, maintaining your little beachhead.”
It has been problem for the Panthers for their 13-game existence. Shorter rushed for 212 yards and three touchdowns in the first game of the 2010 season. Old Dominion rushed for 277 yards last week. The Panthers gave up more than 187.4 rushing yards per game last season.
Without saying they are going to run, run and run some more, Crowe pretty much said that the Gamecocks are going to keep it simple.
“I didn’t invent football,” he said. “I study it a lot. You’ve got to block and tackle and not beat yourself.”
The Gamecocks average 83 rushing yards per game this season, but the numbers are slightly skewed. They rushed for 111 yards in their season-opening win over Tennessee-Martin, but only 55 against Chattanooga because they fell behind quickly in a 38-17 loss.
Coach Bill Curry expects to see a lot of Ealey.
“I saw him run for 183 yards against my alma mater [Georgia Tech] in 2009,” he said. “I do not look forward to seeing him again.”
The issue for Georgia State is two-fold: In addition to good running backs, the Gamecocks also feature a quarterback, Coty Blanchard, who can run. He rushed for 19 yards and a touchdown in a 34-27 victory over GSU last season.
He has rushed for 25 net yards on 16 carries this season, but he also has had 39 yards in losses deducted, 31 from sacks. His overall yards aren’t much, but his ability concerns the Panthers.
Clark Atlanta’s quarterbacks combined for 102 yards in the Panthers’ season-opening win, usually by spreading the field with four or five wide receivers and then breaking containment.
Echoing his coach, inside linebacker Mark Hogan said the fix is as simple as sticking to the fundamentals.
“We’ve got to get back doing things like gap control,” he said. “Jacksonville State’s going to want to run the ball, so we’ve got to be physical. Getting off blocks and tackling. It’s want-to, it’s the basics of football.”
Curry said the team is working hard in practice on drills in which the players “just smash and smash and learn to stay in gaps and practice until they can do it.”
Thompson said he can see progress, but acknowledges it’s a bottom-line business, and the defense’s bottom line isn’t good.
“We’re going to get there,” he said. “We are making progress. We are a long way from walking out and just stoning somebody. Until we do that, people are going to keep running at us.”
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