Wake-up call

Published 12:45 am Sunday, September 3, 2017

ALBANY — Valdosta State’s offense got going late to help the Blazers extend a streak that began more than 25 years ago.

Unfortunately for the Blazers, it was much too late to prevent a 29-12 loss in their season opener against the Golden Rams Saturday at Albany State University Coliseum.

VSU has played 306 straight games since it was last shut out in its 1991 season opener against Central Florida, but the Division II active record appeared to be in jeopardy against Albany State.

The Golden Rams held the Blazers to just 92 yards of offense in the first half and 138 yards through three quarters as it built a 20-0 lead, but Valdosta State head coach Kerwin Bell believes the biggest mistakes were made on his team’s first few possessions.

“When you play a team every year like this, and these guys have some talent, now they’ve got a coach that’s got them in shape and they’ve got a good scheme, but I still think a game like this you play every year comes down to the first two or three series in the game for us,” Bell said after the game. “When you play a team like that, you’ve got to show them who is in control again. You’ve got to take advantage of what we had.”

Junior Adam Robles got the start at quarterback for VSU, and he connected with receiver Tshumbi Johnson for a 16-yard gain on the first drive of the game.

A few plays later, Robles just overshot an open receiver running behind the Albany State defense, a costly miss as defensive back Nick Scott jumped in front of Robles’ next pass and returned it 75 yards the other way to give the Golden Rams an early 7-0 lead.

On the Blazes’ ensuing possession, a holding call wiped away another big gain by Johnson, leading to a quick three-and-out.

Bell felt like some of those early mishaps helped build the confidence of an Albany State team looking for the program’s first win in the series since 2004, and just its second win against Valdosta State all-time in 19 meetings.

On Saturday, the Golden Rams relied on their ball control offense to limit the Blazers’ possessions and an opportunistic defense that came up with takeaways when they were on the field.

Albany State forced three VSU turnovers and held a 13-minute advantage in time of possession thanks to an offense that rushed for 212 yards at 4.1 yards per carry.

“We’re not a fine-tuned machine,” Bell said. “We don’t have guys just set in space in a lot of spots. I think we found out about some players tonight at receiver and things like that, but we’re still a work in progress.”

Valdosta State did find some offensive rhythm in the fourth quarter, trailing 23-0.

Redshirt freshman Rogan Wells entered the fourth quarter just 4-of-9 for 26 yards and an interception passing and 13 yards rushing while splitting time with Robles.

In the fourth quarter, Wells completed 9-of-15 passes for 115 yards and two touchdown passes to receiver Brian Saunds. Wells also added 49 yards rushing in the quarter.

For Wells, who saw his first collegiate snaps Saturday, things started coming easier in the final quarter.

“It definitely slowed down in that fourth quarter,” Wells said. “And we started doing some simpler plays, look at my first read and it became open too, so that helped.

“The pocket collapsed, so I can escape, but it was still pretty hard.”

Wells said that he could take away the necessity to start fast, take care of the ball and play disciplined football from his first regular-season action.

For the Blazers, the season-opening loss at the hands of the Golden Rams was a disappointment, but its far from an indictment on the entire season.

The last time Valdosta State lost an opener was 2012, when the Blazers followed up a loss against Saginaw Valley State with a national championship campaign.

“The ‘12 team said, ‘Hey, this is just one game. It’s a wake up call. We’ve got to play better,’” Bell said. “That’s what I challenged our team to do, and that team went on to win a national championship.

“So, it’s just one game, but you’ve got to give them all the credit in the world and their coaching staff. They did a really good job.”

Derrick Davis is the sports editor at the Valdosta Daily Times.