Georgia State’s defense has two priorities this season: stop the run and limit big plays.
The Panthers were mostly successful in limiting Abilene Christian’s rushing attack to 95 yards in last week’s season-opening 38-37 win at the Georgia Dome. But the pass defense, must like last season, repeatedly was burned.
It’s a weakness that must be fixed if the Panthers are to defeat New Mexico State on Saturday at Georgia Dome.
“We had a few breakdowns on defense,” coach Trent Miles said.
The issues were several: Linebackers and cornerbacks frequently were caught ball-watching, which allowed receivers to get behind them or into open spaces. Some breakdowns can be attributed to players not using their techniques and fundamentals and some of it boils down to simply not making plays.
They contributed to the Wildcats turning seven passing plays of at least 20 yards.
The obvious example was the 60-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter. Safety LaDarion Young was in position to tip or intercept the pass, but he mistimed his jump. The ball sailed over his outstretched fingers and into the hands of Abilene Christian’s Cedric Gilbert.
Defensive coordinator Jesse Minter said he can live with that play because Young was in the right position.
Some of the other breakdowns, particularly the 50-50 balls and one-on-one situations that Georgia State didn’t win, need to be won.
Cornerbacks Marcus Caffey, Bruce Dukes and Antreal Allen sometimes got caught watching the ball instead of staying on top of their receivers as they released down the field. Caffey twice was flagged for pass interference as a result of running over the receiver in the race to catch up. Had Caffey run with his man, he may have had time to turn his head, find the ball and make a play.
To be fair, it was Caffey’s first game action in four years since playing at Grady High.
“They picked on Caffey some,” Minter said. “I expect him to make a jump as season goes along.”
Caffey said he was anxious because he hadn’t played in so long. He said he as the game progressed he felt things begin to slow and the team start to connect more.
“I expect to have, team-wise, a better performance this week for sure,” he said.
Caffey, Allen and Young weren’t exclusively at fault. Minter said he thought the secondary didn’t play with the same aggressiveness as it had during practice. He said perhaps Abilene Christian’s opening scoring drive affected the unit’s confidence.
“We have to get that back and play better,” Minter said.
The good news is Georgia State’s initial issues can be fixed. The players just need to trust their fundamentals, techniques and coaching ahead of New Mexico State.
New Mexico State had three big plays in its 28-10 opening win against Cal Poly. Two were pass plays and one was a run as part of 355 yards in offense.
Minter things the Aggies may have held back some of the offense in an attempt to control the clock and not play into the hands of Cal Poly’s option offense.
He doesn’t expect that will happen this week.
“(They will) challenge us down the field to try to make some plays,” he said.
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