Georgia State sinks to new lows

Here’s how bad things have gotten for Georgia State’s football team:

Just before halftime of Saturday’s 44-0 loss to Appalachian State, the Mountaineers lined up for 30-yard field goal.

Because he had all three timeouts left, Georgia State coach Trent Miles elected to use each of them, one after the other. As the players left the huddle following the final stop in play, Miles told them to watch for the fake.

The players may have heard him. They certainly didn’t execute.

The Mountaineers lined up to kick. Before the snap, the kicker ran off to the side, making it obvious the fake was on. The snap went to the holder who ran through a gigantic hole on the left side of Georgia State’s defense for a 13-yard touchdown.

Appalachian State coach Scott Satterfield told his school’s sports information department that he didn’t call the fake because Miles called all three timeouts. Instead, he said it’s something they had worked on during practice and planned to use.

“We told them and we still couldn’t stop it,” Miles told the team’s sports information department.

Things have gotten that bad.

But there’s more.

In the past two weeks, a 69-31 loss to Georgia Southern and Saturday’s loss in snowy and cold Boone, the Panthers have given up more than 110 points and 1,200 yards.

The group tried to make do without leading tackler Joseph Peterson, a linebacker and leader who missed the game because of an ankle injury. Peterson is usually the player who gets the defense lined up and makes the pre-snap adjustments.

The better performance that Miles guaranteed after giving up a Sun Belt-record 616 rushing yards to the Eagles was followed by 469 more rushing yards allowed to the Mountaineers.

The offense, which relies on passing to the tune of an average of more than 300 yards per game, tried to deal with playing in snow, which may have contributed to five fumbles, two lost. The Panthers rushed for eight yards – a new program low — and passed for 54 — also a program low — in totalling 62 yards in offense, which is the fewest by an FBS team this season.

“We weren’t very good at all today,” Miles said. “They played extremely well, we played extremely poor. And we let the weather affect us.”

Lows this year

Here are the fewest yards totaled by one team in a game involving at least one FBS team this season, according to www.cfbstats.com:

Team vs. team Date Rush Pass Total

South Carolina State* (FCS) at Clemson Sept. 6 7 37 44

Georgia State* at Appalachian State Nov. 1 8 54 62

Delaware* (FCS) at Pittsburgh Aug. 30 33 31 64

Southern Methodist* Aug. 31 (-24) 91 67

Texas-San Antonio* at Texas-El Paso Oct. 25 38 32 70

Louisiana-Monroe* at LSU Sept. 13 16 77 93

Delaware State* (FCS) at Temple Sept.20 26 67 93

Wake Forest* at Louisiana-Monroe Aug. 28 (-3) 97 94