Release courtesy of Georgia State Athletics:
ATLANTA — Discipline is the word of the week for the Georgia State football team as the Panthers prepare to host Air Force Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Georgia Dome.
“Our kids have hit the reset button and we’re looking forward to starting over and attacking this week with Air Force with a lot of energy and emotion and hopefully a lot of discipline,” head coach Trent Miles said at his weekly press conference.
“We are very excited to have the privilege to play the Air Force Academy, but we’re going to have to play a lot better as far as holding on to the ball and playing our assignments on defense to have a chance to compete with them.”
Discipline is always a theme when playing an option-based team and particularly a service academy, and for the Panthers, the emphasis applies on both offense and defense. Discipline is required on offense as Georgia State looks to make what has been a productive offense more effective by cutting down on turnovers. The Panthers have averaged 34.5 points and 511.0 yards per game, but Miles is looking for more.
“I am not satisfied because there is more out there if we can execute the things we’re asking them to do and cut out some of the mistakes and take care of the football,” Miles said. “The main thing is taking care of the football. Seven turnovers in two games, that’s seven missed possessions that you have a chance to put points on the board.
“We haven’t even come close to hitting our potential offensively,” he continued “We watch the game film as coaches and there are still so many missed opportunities that we’ve failed upon and seven less possessions by turning the football over. We’ve got a lot of room to grow and get better. We could score a lot more points and put up a lot more yardage if we just took care of the football.”
Miles said that the Air Force defense is “very physical. You can count on them executing their defense. They play a lot of different looks so you can’t get fooled.”
Miles noted that although Air Force does run the option, the Panthers will have to be prepared for much more than that on defense.
“Don’t get caught up in Air Force just running the option because they do a lot of things well,” he said. “They have an excellent quarterback and they’ve got some skill guys. They’re able to spread you out and throw the ball and they’re able to run the option. They’re not just a one-dimensional football team. So don’t get caught up in they can only run the option.”
The Air Force attack features running back Jacobi Owens, who ranks eighth in the nation with 154.5 rushing yards per game, and quarterback Kale Pearson, who averages 156.5 yards of total offense per game. The Falcons are sixth nationally in rushing (345.0 yards per game).
Preparing to defend the option presents unique challenges.
“A lot of practice is without a ball and just focusing on assignments and what they have to do,” Miles said. “The thing that’s toughest for us is to work on cut blocking because we do not cut block. We’ve got to get our guys ready for cut blocking. It’s hard to simulate their speed from our look team in practice. We’ve got to do a lot of drills and get our guys ready for cut blocks and be able to still play fast.”
NOTING THE PANTHERS …
Miles has never faced Air Force as a head coach, but he has plenty of experience against the Falcons as an assistant coach. He has coached against Air Force six times at five different schools, compiling a 2-4 record:
1988: Air Force 63, New Mexico 14
1995: Air Force 44, Hawaii 14
1996: Air Force 34, Hawaii 7
1997: Fresno State 20, Air Force 17
2002: Notre Dame 21, Air Force 14
2005: Air Force 20, Washington 17
The game between Georgia State and Air Force is the first of a two-game home-and-home series. The Panthers make the return trip to Colorado Springs in 2016.
The Air Force roster features 13 players from the state of Georgia.
After Michigan was shut out by Notre Dame to end the nation’s longest consecutive scoring streak at 364 games, Air Force now owns the third-longest active streak at 260 games. Only Florida (323) and TCU (268) have scored in more consecutive games than the Falcons.
The Sports Inquirer 
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