Georgia State coach Bill Curry refuses to characterize his team’s issues scoring points in the fourth quarter as anything other than a lack of performance.
“When you fail to take care of business after you build up a lead, and you’re heading into the fourth quarter and that happens over and over and over then something is missing,” Curry said. “That’s not just an accident or an opponent, or execution in that particular game. Something is missing. It’s the head coach’s responsibility to find it and fix it.”
The Panthers (2-7) have been outscored 92-13 in the fourth quarter this season, including 17-3 in Saturday’s loss to St. Francis, and 11-0 in the previous week’s loss to Texas-San Antonio.
Georgia State led both games entering the final quarter, only to lose in overtime. The team will take on West Alabama on Saturday.
Curry said the players are talented enough, and the failures aren’t a sign of poor conditioning. Curry said it seems like the players are becoming tense, a characterization that quarterback Kelton Hill said he isn’t seeing in the huddle.
“I’ve never experienced something like this with a group that has the talent to finish the job,” Curry said.
Curry said he wants to see the team play with aggression throughout the game in an attempt to improve the results. He said he put an emphasis on the fourth quarter during the preseason. Seeing the results, he said it seems like a joke, which adds to the bizarreness of the outcomes.
“They’re not breaks, they are acts of performance,” he said. “Otherwise there wouldn’t be teams that do it all the time. We want to be one of them.”
More involved
Curry said as the team’s struggles have continued he has gotten more involved in all phases of the team.
“One thing I have always thought, is when you see a poorly prepared team it falls directly on the shoulders of a head coach,” he said. “A head coach can change a culture. This year has been a shocking re-education for me. It’s my job to hold the other coaches an players accountable.”
That involvement has included everything from the game plans to pushing the players on the practice field.
“You really do normally play like you practice,” he said. “We practice well and play poorly.”
Better defense
Curry said to beat West Alabama, which features a strong running game, the team must tackle better than it did against St. Francis. The Saints rushed for 258 yards.
“We got blocked by people who shouldn’t be able to block us,” he said. “We had a physical advantage in the game, and we got blocked and didn’t wrap up. We were gradually improving in that area.”
Led by Matthew Willis, West Alabama has averaged 227.2 rushing yards per game. Willis has averaged 123.7 rushing yards per game and has scored 13 touchdowns.
Personnel updates
Running back Donald Russell (ankle), the team’s leading rusher with 514 yards, is questionable for Saturday’s game. If he doesn’t play, Travis Evans and Parris Lee may split the carries.
Backup quarterback Drew Little is eligible to play this week. He was suspended for last week’s game for violating the team’s academic rules. Kicker Christian Benvenuto will be a game-time decision. He suffered an undisclosed injury Saturday during pregame warmups. Linebacker Jake Muasau, who missed Saturday’s game with an undisclosed injury, should return.
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