Khadrice Rollins
khadrice.rollins@ajc.com
The Panthers are officially preparing for life without Penny Hart.
The star wide receiver will be redshirted, coach Trent Miles said Monday, after breaking his foot in Georgia State's (0-4, 0-1 Sun Belt) 17-3 loss to Appalachian State (3-2, 1-0) on Saturday.
“He’s got to see a specialist on when they’re going to do the surgery, and he’s done for the year,” Miles said.
The Panthers already have experience taking the field without Hart this season, as he was sidelined for two games with a hamstring injury. So although the loss of last season’s Sun Belt Freshman of the Year will make things harder for the GSU offense, it is something the team is ready for.
“Penny is a great player … but we have a next man up environment here,” wide receiver Robert Davis said. “So Glenn Smith, he’ll step in and he’ll be able to run those routes just like Penny did, and be able to get open and help the team win games.”
Smith will be needed to fully establish himself as a consistent secondary target with Hart on the shelf. The hybrid wide receiver and running back is second on the team with 189 receiving yards and his 15.7 yards per catch is best on the team, but he has just 12 receptions on the year, and 60 of his yards came on one play.
Davis, who became the program’s career leader in receptions Saturday, will also be looked at to make up for the lost production from Hart. He leads the team in catches and receiving yards this year with 24 grabs for 289 yards and said he knows quarterback Conner Manning will continue to target him frequently. But the Panthers will need other players to step up for Manning to keep defenses honest and allow Davis more room to operate.
In addition to Smith, tight end Keith Rucker may also prove to be a reliable outlet for Manning, and a key cog in the offense going forward.
“I’m one of those guys that what ever the offense needs me to do, I’m going to do,” Rucker said. “Whether it’s run blocking, if I have to block more, then I’m going to make sure I block my butt off just to make sure our offense can have a successful day. If that means opening up more in the passing game for me, I’ll definitely take that as well.”
Manning and Rucker continued to improve their chemistry Saturday as the two linked up four times for 27 yards. Against Wisconsin, the pair connected six times for 38 yards.
Manning said he was not targeting Rucker as much earlier in the season, but with Hart now gone for good and the duo vibing as of late, Manning said Rucker will be used more to help the offense get past the loss of the dynamic sophomore.
“First couple of games we weren’t really targeting him as much as we’d like,” Manning said. “He’s a tremendous playmaker for us, a mismatch. So keep getting him the ball, he makes a lot of plays out there.”
