Georgia State not running from the running game

It’s not that Georgia State doesn’t have a running game to complement its proficient passing game.

Coach Trent Miles said his team just hasn’t had opportunities the past few weeks to try to get the other half of its offense going.

“I want to run the football,” Miles said. “I’d love to run the ball. The biggest thing to me is running the ball.”

After running for 210 yards – the zenith under Miles at Georgia State – in the win at New Mexico State, the Panthers have rushed for 113, 11 and 59 yards in the past three games. They lost all three.

There are myriad reasons why Georgia State’s run game is slowly evaporating: a depletion in depth because of injuries to Kendrick Dorn and Taz Bateman, injuries to the tight ends that help as blockers and can pin linebackers back and the fact that the offense features quality wide receivers who can change games. But the most important reason the running game has fallen to 121st in FBS may be because the Panthers were trying to rally in each of their past three games.

They faced large deficits at Oregon when they rushed for 113 yards and again last week against Appalachian State when they totaled 59 yards. The 11-yard total at Liberty was an anomaly, according to Miles, because the offense only had the ball for 16-plus minutes and were trying to match a very deliberate Flames’ offense score for score. Plus, it’s hard to argue against using a passing game that scored 33 points in 16 minutes.

Miles wants to run because it not only gives the opposing defenses something else to worry about, it may also give his defense less to worry about. Because the Panthers’ defense is struggling with averages of 38.8 points and 495.2 yards allowed per game, Miles and the coaches say they need to run the ball to control the clock. In the past two games, Georgia State’s defense has been on the field 39 more minutes than has its offense.

The only game this season in which they’ve held a comfortable lead was in the win against New Mexico State. The Panthers enjoyed six more minutes of possession in that contest.

“If we can ever just keep from being down so that you aren’t fighting to get it back to less than one score,” he said.

Rallying, especially when a team is down by 20 in the second quarter as the Panthers were to the Mountaineers, means turning to the best playmakers. Those are at wide receiver in Robert Davis, Donovan Harden, Penny Hart and Todd Boyd.

Running backs Kyler Neal and Demarcus Kirk are doing well with the few touches they are getting, but neither seems likely to break off a big run. Neal is averaging 3.9 yards per carry with a long run of 21 yards; Kirk is averaging 4.8 yards per carry with a long of 20.

Miles said the team will need to run to defeat Ball State on Saturday, as long as they get into the right situations.