Georgia State’s game against South Carolina State on Saturday will be special for handful of the Palmetto State natives on the Panthers’ roster.
It will be especially meaningful for wide receiver Jordan Giles, who grew up in Columbia, about 45 minutes north of Orangeburg, where South Carolina State is located.
Giles should have 35 friends and family in attendance, including one favorite uncle, Spike Aldridge, who played at South Carolina State and was drafted in the 10th round by the Minnesota Vikings in 1972.
This will be the first time that Aldridge has seen Giles play in college.
“He always motivated me, always gave me advice on and off the field,” Giles said. “It’s pretty exciting.”
Offensive tackle Ramell Davis grew up in St. Matthews, about 20 minutes from Orangeburg. He should have more than 20 friends and family at the game, including a few of his high school coaches.
He said the game will be exciting for him because many of his high school friends didn’t expect he would play college football. He didn’t play organized tackle football until 2005, after moving to South Carolina from Brooklyn, N.Y. Now, he’s on the two-deep depth chart at Georgia State.
“I started off kind of rocky at the beginning in my high school,” he said. “My coach sat me down and said [if you] put the effort and get stronger in the weight room you’ll be able to go and play.”
Special teams
Georgia State’s special teams have made myriad mistakes this season: blocked field goals, poor coverage, mis-hit punts and missed field goals.
South Carolina State’s return teams are effective. The kickoff unit averages 23.8 yards per return and the punt unit 15.2.
Poor coverage by Georgia State’s return teams allowed Murray Start to start its drives on the 38-yard line on average in Saturday’s 48-24 loss. Curry said his team has again been working hard to stay in their lanes when covering kicks and punts during practice this week.
More tackling
Other than discipline, Curry said the one thing the team can improve upon, is tackling.
Missed tackles contributed to several Murray State touchdowns, including a backbreaker on a simple screen pass that turned into a 46-yard score with less than a minute remaining in the first half.
“When the defense is getting stops, you can see it flow through the offense,” Curry said. “We feed off each other. We promote it within the team to not get down on each other and that everybody has a responsibility with what’s going on. We don’t point fingers at each other, we pull for each other, but when a defense gets a three-and-out, the offense gets fired up — it’s a fact of life.”
Personnel updates
- Linebacker Dexter Moody won’t start this weekend. He may play if he earns it during practice. Moody apparently acted up during the loss to Murray State. His absence would be a big loss. Moody statistically is the team’s best tackler, with 34 this season.
- Christian Benvenuto will continue to handle placekicking and field-goal duties. He missed a 31-yarder against the Racers that would have cut Murray State’s lead to eight points in the fourth quarter.
- Joe Gilbert, who was suspended for the Murray State game after violating team rules, will be back on the offensive line, which should have all of its starters together for the first time since the game against Old Dominion in Week 2.
- Wide receiver Albert Wilson, the team’s best playmaker, should return. An injured hamstring has kept him from playing in the past two games. He also will handle return duties.
- Quarterback Kelton Hill should play more than he did Saturday. Curry said the team has put in more packages, and Hill is learning more of the offense.
