Georgia State must figure out how to bounce back from Saturday’s 52-10 loss to Arkansas State, but coach Trent Miles said on Saturday a change in practice format won’t happen.
“There’s no reason to change what we do,” he said. “There’s only so many ways to practice. We’re very professional in the way we practice.”
The margin of defeat was the largest since Houston defeated the Panthers 56-0 in 2011 when Bill Curry was coach. It was the worst loss since Miles took over the program for the 2013 season.
No changes in the practice schedule won’t mean a lack of changes.
If starting left tackle Michael Ivory, who missed Saturday’s game because of an ankle injury suffered in the loss against Louisiana-Lafayette, returns this week it should settle the line.
A.J. Kaplan, who has battled a series of injuries this year, switched from right tackle and left tackle. Steve Wolgamott, who has also battled injuries, started at right tackle against an Arkansas State defense that loves to blitz.
The Red Wolves teed off on the patchwork line, sacking Nick Arbuckle four times before Miles finally took mercy and brought in third-stringer Ben McLane to get through the final quarter.
Arbuckle, who was completing more than 60 percent of his passes, was 18 of 36 (50 percent) against Arkansas State.
“I’m not going to take a chance and have Nick get beat up or injured for the rest of the season when the game was pretty much out of hand,” Miles said. “I mean, I didn’t have a 42-point play, you know what I mean?”
The running game also suffered behind the line and because of injuries. Dontavis Crocker came from deep down the depth chart to start and rush for 27 yards. A week after setting a school record for carries, Marcus Caffey rushed three times for six yards. He too was pulled because of risk of injury.
The injuries and ineffectiveness resulted in the Panthers posting a season-low in yards (269).
The offense became an afterthought because the ease with which Arkansas State scored on Georgia State’s porous defense, which was also dealing with injuries. Starting outside linebacker Mackendy Cheridor missed his second consecutive game because of a knee injury. He is supposed to return next week.
The Red Wolves jumped out to a 24-0 lead by the end of the first quarter. They finished with 618 yards, the most given up by Georgia State this year and the second-most since Miles took over. The Red Wolves’ 384 rushing yards was the second-most allowed by Georgia State since the program started in 2010.
“We didn’t have a great week of preparation,” linebacker Joseph Peterson said. “I put that on me. I’m the team leader so I’m expected to push the defense. We expect the offense to put up a bunch of points. I told our guys we could get them the ball back. We didn’t do our job on getting the ball back on turnovers either.”
About the Author
