Michael Davis has waited for this moment since he was a student at Chamblee High School and heard Bill Curry speak.
He was going to walk on at Georgia Tech, but instead decided to join Curry at Georgia State.
However, he injured his ACL in August 2010 and was forced to miss the season. Now healthy, he will make the first start of his career Saturday when Georgia State takes on Jacksonville State. He will be at center in place of the injured Ben Jacoby (sprained MCL).
“This is what I’ve been waiting for,” Davis said.
Not only is it his first start, it will be his first extended action at center, a position he began playing in August. He played other spots on the line at Chamblee, where he blocked for Tech’s Roddy Jones, and started as a guard at Georgia State.
However, he was fine with the move to center because he said it gives him a better chance to play professionally.
An outstanding student, Davis said he knows all the protection calls, and should he make an error, he said it won’t happen again.
Guard Joe Gilbert said the line will miss Jacoby’s leadership, but that Davis has improved a great deal during the week. Davis played in most of the second half in Saturday’s loss to Old Dominion. After a rough start, he got used to the speed of the game.
“I’ve adapted well at center,” he said. “Ben played this for two years. I’ve been playing it for a couple of months. I think I’ve done well in practice this week.”
Schlechter’s play
Quarterback Bo Schlechter has spent time this week trying to relax in the pocket.
He and offensive coordinator John Bond agreed that he was going a mile a minute in the loss to Old Dominion.
“He was ripping and roaring,” Bond said.
Schlechter was 9-of-27 for 147 yards with an interception. He was also sacked four times. Against Clark Atlanta, a game in which he was much more steady, he was 13-of-18.
“My control in the pocket, my poise, slipped up a little bit,” he said. “I’m making sure that won’t happen again this week.”
Bond took some of the blame. He expected the Monarchs to blitz frequently early in the game. That’s what they prepared for and was a big part of their game plan. GSU wanted to take advantage of first-down pressure by going for big plays.
Instead, Old Dominion played a base defense with base coverage. Thinking he was going to get blitzed, Schlechter would drop back, lock on and fire without going through his reads. Bond said young quarterbacks (Schlechter was making his second start) sometimes have a difficult time making adjustments after they’ve spent a week watching film and preparing for one thing and another happens.
“We are hoping to get him slowed back down and back into the groove we had in camp and the first ballgame,” Bond said.
Special teams
In an attempt to improve the special-teams play that submarined the game Saturday, Curry said his team will use more experienced players on the coverage and return teams this weekend. Schlechter also should be able to punt, which he couldn’t do Saturday because of an undisclosed foot problem.
The units allowed one blocked punt and one partially blocked punt, committed at least three penalties on returns, and allowed 10.8 yards per punt return and 20.2 yards per kickoff return. The Gamecocks average 21.9 yards on kick returns and 5.8 yards on punt returns.
“We had some young players who weren’t prepared,” Curry said. “We thought they were. When you aren’t prepared and you aren’t a young player, you don’t play full speed. We’re getting some more veteran people on the field in those key spots. There were some guys who flat lost their cool and hit people in the back that aren’t going to play.”
