Georgia State football head coach Trent Miles did not hold a weekly press conference this week as majority of the Georgia State media was in Nashville, Tenn. for the men’s basketball game against Vanderbilt.
The Signal talked to Miles following Tuesday night’s football practice as the team comes off a bye week and prepares for the Louisiana-Lafayette Rajin’ Cajuns.
How was the bye week?
“Bye week went really well. This was our second bye. The very first bye we did a lot of development of younger players and was a very physical bye week because it was so early in the year. This one was so late in the year- and we need to get healthy- so we didn’t put the pads on. We just wore our helmets…and we didn’t do any hitting. We did a lot of individual work, we did scheme work towards Louisiana-Lafayette, [and] did a lot of work on timing…Then, we did some fun things at the end.”
The limited hitting was to stay healthy?
“Yeah, we got a couple positions where we only got two guys available. We’re very, very thin right now, so we can’t take a chance on losing a guy. Plus, I always pull off towards the end of the year.
“You’ve got to take care of your team or they won’t make it through. We’ve always been a team that got better as we went, and we’ve gotten better. It doesn’t show in wins, but we’ve gotten better.”
Injury report?
“Still the same. [Center] Ronald Martin is done for the year, [guard] Cade Yates is still banged up and out, [center] Mark Ruskell is still out.
“We don’t got but six or seven offensive linemen.”
What do you see from Louisiana-Lafayette?
“Good running football team. Power football. Quarterback [Terrance Broadway] can run. They run a lot of zone stuff.
“They’re the number one rushing team in the conference. Defensively they’re physical. They’re not a big blitz team but they’re a physical football team. They’re the number one team in the conference for a reason. They only lost two games and that was at Kansas State and Arkansas.”
Their two losses were on the road, could that be a factor this week?
“I don’t think them playing on the road is a big factor for them. I think they’re very talented. They are well coached and they’re the number one team in the conference. So, it doesn’t matter if they play on the road or at home.
“I watched them play against Western Kentucky on TV, and that was at Western Kentucky. They pretty much got after them.”
Any changes in quarterback?
“Nope.”
Running back?
“We’re going to play all three of them…first series will be [Travis] Evans, second series will be [Jonathan] Bart [and] third series will be [Kyler] Neal. So they’ll alternate in there.
“We still have to develop. Those other two [Jean-Bart and Neal] are true freshman. So, were developing guys.
With some receivers being suspended, who else should we expect to see out wide?
“You’ll see more of Paris Lee…Albert Wilson…Robert Davis…Dan Williams…Lynquez Blair.
“Williams has gotten better, but what we did was we moved him. In the last few weeks we’ve moved him to a different [receiver] position because he was backing up Robert Davis. So, we moved him to help set another position.
“I know there’s been some suspensions, but those weren’t because of bad attitudes or bad guys. That was a guy messing up and missing weights.”
Last time we talked was before the generous donations were given to Athletics. What are your thoughts on those?
“It’s wonderful. Frank and Judy Strickland donating for the weight room, it’s a wonderful thing. Shows the support, and we have some wonderful people who believe in what we’re doing and wanting to support us.”
Energy in practice still has been good?
“It’s always good. We got a group of kids…and they’re trying to get better and that’s why we’ve gotten better every game.
“You would never think we’re an 0-9 football team.
“Our strength coach [Ben Pollard] told me today we had the best lift we’ve had all year long, today, in week 12.
“We had more guys bench more and squat more last week and this week than we’ve had all year long. So, that means they’re making gains in the weight room.”
