ATLANTA – Georgia State finished its final football practice on a sunny 65-degree Tuesday and heads to Orlando Wednesday to enjoy and make final preparations for Saturday’s AutoNation Cure Bowl at 7 p.m. in the Citrus Bowl.
Head Coach Trent Miles and senior QB Nick Arbuckle shared some comments at Tuesday afternoon’s press conference.
On the game preparations and practices by the team:
“We have prepared well and have been fortunate to be able to stay in our routine,” Coach Miles said. “It was just like a bye week and then a game, so that has been good to help us stay sharp. Instead of classes, the guys had finals and we’re done with that now, too.” Georgia State played on Saturday, Dec. 5, so it will be two weeks to the day for Saturday’s Cure Bowl with San Jose State.
“The two-week schedule helps give us extra preparation time to study film and get some extra practice in,” Nick Arbuckle said. “The momentum from the last game really only carries over to the next practice and we have had some focused and hard work.”
On San Jose State:
“You can start with their running back (Tyler Ervin) who has been invited to the Senior Bowl and is an NFL prospect,” coach Miles began. “They have a quarterback (Kenny Potter) who can beat you with his arm or with his feet. Their tight end (Billy Freeman) can get vertical downfield in a hurry. They have a polished offensive line. Their cornerbacks look big and good. One of their linebackers, No. 4 (Christian Tago) really looks good on film. They are a very well-coached football team.”
For some statistical perspective to Coach Miles’ comments, San Jose State’s Ervin is 10th in the NCAA in rushing (1,469, 122.4 per game) with a 300-yard game and a 250-yard game this year. He averages 200 all-purpose yards a game, including 24 yards on kickoff returns with a long of 71. He has 44 catches. QB Potter passes for 190 yards a game (14 TD) and has run 99 times for 566 yards (346 net) with six more TD’s. Their TE Freeman has 47 catches for 581 yards and six touchdowns.
“Ervin probably is a little like Appalachian State’s Marcus Cox,” Miles continued. “Ervin is really good. He shows vision, speed, has patience to wait for his blocks. He sees his blockers and reads the advantages they create. He can catch the ball. Obviously, there’s a reason he is invited to the Senior Bowl.”
QB Arbuckle was impressed after his film study, too. “They are well-coached and have few weaknesses it looks like,” he said. “They play with good technique and discipline, so we have to be disciplined, too. They don’t have guys who are out of position very often.”
To show Arbuckle’s awareness, the stats show San Jose’s pass defense is No. 2 in the nation (153.6 yards per game) with two interceptions returned for touchdowns. They have 36 QB sacks with eight games with three or more. They are the third-fewest penalized team in the NCAA (34 yards per game).
On Miles going to injure his Achilles like Basketball Coach Ron Hunter did for “good luck”
Miles got up from his chair and left the microphone on that question. Then he stepped forward and showed everyone his scar. “That is from 1998 from trying to play basketball and I ripped mine up pretty good,” the 52-year old former football player said. “They drove me around on a golf cart for a little while, but I didn’t get a cute little scooter and all the publicity like Ron did. But, maybe that luck you speak of will carry over.”
On Arbuckle being from California and what he remembered of San Jose State from high school.
“I do remember when some San Jose State coaches would come to recruit guys from my high school to come to play at San Jose State,” the former St. Bonaventure High and Pierce College player said. “But I was not one of the guys San Jose wanted to recruit.”
On the growth of GSU’s program in his three years.
“Like when I was at Indiana State, you start 18 or 19 freshmen and have to wait,” Miles started. “You wait on those players to develop and grow, you add some junior college transfers, you find some other college transfers and you just keep working. The guys never lost confidence in themselves, they never got into any finger pointing and now they are enjoying the dividends of work. We’re still a young team with right now 17 of our 22 starters coming back next year.”
On what he learned playing QB for Coach Miles.
“I learned perseverance,” the senior QB said. “Coach has a saying that goes Adapt, Adjust, Overcome. You have to execute and perform, regardless of any situation on or off the field. We seniors under Miles have two goals now: to win the Cure Bowl and to finish with a winning record.”
On his relationship with former GSU Coach Bill Curry
“Right after the win over Georgia Southern and we learned about the Cure Bowl, I called Coach Curry and asked him and his wife to travel with us. It will be an honor to have him come with us because he did a whole lot for this program,” Miles said of the 73-year young founding coach. “If he wants to talk to the team in Orlando, I would welcome that.”
