The Georgia State football staff has never stopped evaluating players all season. Every practice. Every snap. There has been an unending search for putting the right players in the right spot.
That has been especially beneficial for Damaine Wilson, a freshman who has earned the starting role as an inside linebacker. A native of Pompano Beach, Florida, Wilson has teamed with Josiah Robinson and Xavier Robinson to mitigate the absence of all-conference teammate Justin Abraham, who has been limited most of the season with a shoulder injury.
Wilson signed with Georgia State in the fall of 2023 and enrolled in school in January, which put him ahead of the other incoming freshmen. He played in the first four games, but began to play a bigger role Oct. 12 against Old Dominion and has been a key piece of the defense since then.
He even has been wearing the green dot on his helmet, which gives him the enhanced role of receiving calls from the coaches and calling them on the field.
“I’ve really got to focus on doing the little things, like seeing the call, actually knowing the calls, and calling it out, because I’ve got the green dot,” Wilson aid. “I’m like the voice of the defense. So I’ve got to make sure everybody around me is good so I know the whole team is good.”
Wilson doesn’t take the added responsibility lightly.
“Having the green dot, you’re really the quarterback,” Wilson said. “If you don’t talk, nobody’s going to get a call, and you’re going to have a lot of confusion.”
Wilson had four tackles Saturday in GSU’s loss to James Madison. He had a season-high eight tackles against Connecticut and ranks seventh on the team with 33 tackles. He intercepted a pass against Marshall.
The Panthers (2-7, 0-5 Sun Belt) will try to end their six-game losing streak Saturday when they face Arkansas State (5-4, 3-2) for Homecoming. Kickoff is 5 p.m. at Center Parc Stadium. (TV: ESPN-Plus; Radio – WRAS-FM 88.5, WGTJ-FM 97.5) Arkansas State leads the series 6-2, but Georgia State won the last meeting 28-20 in Atlanta in 2021.
“I feel like we’ve got to defend our home. We’ve got to defend Atlanta,” Wilson said. “We’ve got to refocus, recommit, do the little things better, actually tackle better, communicate more.”
Arkansas State is led by sophomore quarterback Jaylen Raynor, who has thrown for 2,034 yards and eight touchdowns, but has thrown eight interceptions and been sacked 19 times. His favorite target is Corey Rucker (53 receptions, 776 yards), an all-conference-caliber wideout.
The Arkansas State defense ranks 13th in the Sun Belt against the run, allowing 220.3 yards per game, and 12th against the pass, allowing 243.6 yards per game. That could mean good things for GSU running back Freddie Brock, who leads the team with 599 yards and still has a chance to reach 1,000.
The Red Wolves haven’t been particularly good at chasing the quarterback, either, with only 12 sacks — one more than Georgia State’s total, which ranks last in the conference. But Arkansas State has 14 takeaways, four of them in the game two weeks ago against Troy.
Georgia State looks to atone for its noncompetitive 38-7 loss to James Madison.
“It’s all about our preparation and how we do things,” Georgia State coach Dell McGee said. “It’s going to take a tremendous effort on Saturday. Got a lot of errors to improve upon from the last game. We didn’t play very well, didn’t coach very well and got our butts kicked in all three phases, on and off the field.”
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