Somewhat lost amid Georgia State’s prodigious passing attack is the development of a running game that has become quietly effective.
During the four-game winning streak that propelled the team into the Cure Bowl, the Panthers averaged 137 rushing yards per game. Coach Trent Miles, offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski and play-caller Luke Huard took advantage of teams that either dropped linebackers into the secondary, or exchanged them for more defensive backs to try to cool off quarterback Nick Arbuckle’s right arm.
“Running game is mostly attitude,” running back Kyler Neal said. “The offensive line is blocking their tails off and we feed off of that. Second half of the season, we changed up our whole season. It’s really attitude, how we prepare.”
The performance in the last four games increased the team’s rushing average to 103.1 yards per game, which illustrates the trouble the team had trying to run the ball earlier in the season even when Arbuckle and the receivers were playing pitch-and-catch, but the team was off to a 1-5 start.
One of the keys, Miles said, was that the Panthers kept going to it, even when a carry resulted in just one yard.
“You don’t give up,” Miles said. “You keep doing it.”
Another key was the efficiency of the passing game. Instead of fulfilling the axiom that running games open up passing games, Miles and Arbuckle said that in spread offenses, like what the Panthers run, the reverse is true: the passing game can open up the running game. The more efficient the passing game became, the more opportunities the Panthers had to run the ball. The better the running game, the longer the Panthers could hold the ball, depriving opponents chances to rally.
In the first quarter of the 34-7 win over Georgia Southern that clinched bowl eligibility, the Panthers didn’t have a carry by a running back longer than six yards. In the second quarter, they didn’t have one longer than three yards. They totaled 11 carries for 19 yards.
But then the Eagles defense began to soften up in response to Arbuckle’s success passing . Glenn Smith’s first run in the third quarter went for 22 yards. The drive ended with a touchdown. Smith busted another 22-yard run on the Panthers’ next drive, which also ended with a touchdown.
Then came the rush that comes from successfully rushing the ball: Neal’s 28-yard touchdown to cap the game’s scoring. Two booths down from the press box, Georgia State’s assistant coaches could be heard letting loose a season’s worth of emotions as Neal reached the end zone.
The Panthers rushed for 143 yards, eight more than the Eagles, which have one of FBS’ rushing attacks, and held the ball for more than 19 minutes in the second half compared to more than 12 minutes in the first half. It was a bit of vindication for a team that has struggled to consistently run the ball since Miles took over the program following the 2012 season. A total of 150 yards in one game would be followed by 15 yards the next.
Miles said nothing changed in the play-calling or the lineup that resulted in the running game suddenly becoming productive after a low of just 11 yards in the loss against Liberty followed by a 59-yard total in the loss to Appalachian State.
“It’s a better understanding of it,” Jagodzinski said. “It hasn’t been coached any different for three years.”
The running game should be a strength of next year’s team with the departures of Arbuckle, wide receiver Donovan Harden and offensive lineman Taylor Evans affecting the passing game. Returning should be all of the running backs: Neal, Taz Bateman, Glenn Smith and Demarcus Kirk, with the bonus of Kendrick Dorn returning from an injury that prevented him from playing this season. Four starters on the offensive line should also return.
“Keep doing what we are doing,” Kirk said.
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