As UTSA's road show down with Georgia State approaches, we
continued our question and answer series with Georgia State fan site
PantherTalk.com. Be sure to check their site out to get a pulse on the Panthers. Thanks to
Ben from PantherTalk for putting this together. You can check out my side of the Q&A at
this link.
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| Billy Calzada/SA Express News |
Georgia State has really struggled to score this season, averaging around nine points per game after scoring just six points at home against South Carolina State. What issues have you identified with the Panthers' offense so far?
Georgia State entered the season with a RS Freshman QB (the program’s 3rd opening night starter in 3 years) and four new offensive lineman. Panther fans definitely knew that the potential was there for early struggles. The Panthers offense is loaded at the skill position players with RB Donald Russell, WR Albert Wilson, WR Danny Williams and WR Jordan Giles. The main issue right now is protecting McLane and the first two games certainly amplified that issue.
Redshirt freshman Ben McLane has assumed signal-calling duties for the Panthers. How has Ben performed this season and how do you predict him developing as a quarterback?
Ben has played well at times with poise and toughness but has played like a RS Freshman making two career starts. He has had some issues taking snaps from center and holding onto the ball in both the SC State and Tennessee game, this has to get fixed this week in practice. I believe, long-term, Ben can be a very good quarterback as he has the accuracy and poise to lead the Panther offense. He has plenty of weapons to make his job easier but needs to improve his consistency and confidence in his ability.
Donald Russell has been a monster this season, rushing for 94 yards per carry through 2012. Do you anticipate Russell to keep up this pace? Who is option number two for the Panthers' offense?
The Donald, as Panther fans call him, is tremendous. For his career, he averages 5.6 yards per carry (on more 232 carries at UK and Georgia State) and is approaching 1300 career yards. What most frustrates most Panther fans is the fact that Russell has only two games of more than 20 carries in his Georgia State career. There is no question Russell can be a 100+ yard per game guy for this offense and the play calling has seemed to focus on getting the ball in his hands more.
The second option thus far has gone to Parris Lee who has very good acceleration and cutting ability. Do not discount Travis Evans who had 6 carries vs. UTSA last season. My magic number is 40 carries on the ground on Saturday. If the Panthers reach this number, I believe they have a great shot to win.
Kelton Hill, who was Georgia State's leading passer and second highest rusher last season, has been moved over to defense as a safety. Why the move and how has Hill looked so far?
The decision was actually Kelton’s. The game plan is totally different with him in the game vs. McLane because their skill set is so different. Hill is more of a Wildcat guy and he approached the coaching staff about helping the team in other capacities including returning kicks and playing in the secondary. It was a confusing move for Panther fans but McLane responded very well against Tennessee and should find some solace knowing the QB job is his.
Hill has yet to see game action in the secondary and I do not expect him to play this Saturday while he is still learning his responsibilities and improving his technique. I’ll say this: Kelton Hill may be the best overall athlete on the Georgia State roster so it’s very possible he could impact a game this season.
Georgia State allowed Tennessee quarterback Tyler Bray to throw for 4 touchdowns, amassing 310 passing yards with a 90% completion rate. How do you expect the Panther defense to respond against UTSA? Do you anticipate any schematic or personnel changes?
It was very troubling to see back-to-back 300+ yard games through the air through the first two games as the secondary was looked upon as a strength. Very few Panther fans believed they would slow Tennessee’s aerial attack led by Tyler Bray. His wide receiving corps is elite and no matter how the Panthers defense lined up, they were going to get beat.
I expect to see some tweaks to the positioning of the corners. The safeties have played pretty well through two games and I expect to see more pressure being sent by defensive coordinator Anthony Midget to force the Roadrunners into quicker decisions.
Head coach Bill Curry has publicly announced his retirement following this season. What impact has this had on current players and in the recruiting sphere? Any candidates you would like to see in the Georgia Dome?
The current players responded well early and wanted to use it as a rallying point. I will be very interested to see how they rally as the season goes on. On the recruiting front, it has been received pretty well. Coach Curry has been very honest about his intentions about 2012 being his decision year with both recruits and current players. The current committed players knew the possibility of Coach Curry not being here when they were set to sign was a real possibility. The move to the Sun Belt, great facilities and a tremendous University have been the selling point to 2013 recruits.
I honestly have not put a candidate wish list together but Stewart Mandel of SI.com put the name of former SEC coach Houston Nutt out there publicly which certainly got our site buzzing. Whoever the new coach is, he will inherit a Senior heavy roster (more than 39 Juniors – both RS and true Juniors on current roster) and the ability to sign as many 28 players in February. This is an attractive job and Panther fans are hoping for a hire by the beginning of December.
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