Bowser’s changes spark Golden Rams

ALBANY — David Bowser figured if he wanted something different, he had better do something different.

So he did.

Albany State was 0-2, but those two losses had come against quality opponents in Florida A&M and Johnson C. Smith. Bowser wasn’t ready to scrap what the Golden Rams were doing.

He was ready to change how they were doing it.

That meant changing practice. Changing the pace. Changing the way things were taught. Even changing the way Albany State approached things offensively.

Then came Saturday.

The Golden Rams rolled into Savannah and rolled over Savannah State, winning 49-17 in a game they controlled from beginning to end. They didn’t punt. Their defense allowed 19 rushing yards. And Bowser walked away with his first victory as Albany State’s head coach.

Coincidence?

Bowser doesn’t think so.

“Every team is different, and though you might have been doing it one way for 30 years or whatever, sometimes you just have to make some changes,” Bowser said Monday. “And that’s what we did last week.”

One of the biggest changes actually involved slowing things down.

Bowser added a 15-minute prepractice period that gave coaches and players time to talk through what they were seeing. Albany State spent more time in walkthroughs against the scout team. Coaches slowed the teaching process and gave players more opportunities to see situations before confronting them at full speed.

Slow down during the week, Bowser figured, and maybe the Golden Rams could play faster on Saturday.

They did.

Bowser also went against some of his own instincts.

A defensive-minded coach, he readily admits his preferred formula isn’t complicated: Run the football and play good defense.

Against Savannah State, the Golden Rams came out throwing.

That helped loosen the Tigers’ defense and eventually opened the running game. By the time it was over, Albany State had controlled the football so thoroughly that its punter never stepped onto the field to do his primary job.

Meanwhile, the “Dirty Blue” defense looked the part.

The return of sophomore linebacker Jimmy Dawson was a big reason why.

Dawson, a Thomasville native, was injured against FAMU and missed the Johnson C. Smith game. He wasn’t completely healthy Saturday — Bowser estimated him at about 80 percent — but his presence mattered.

Bowser calls Dawson the “heart and soul” of the defense.

Some teammates, he said, simply play differently when Dawson is beside them. That includes roommate and Dougherty graduate Chaunice Brown, one of several Golden Rams who feed off the linebacker’s energy.

Albany State also moved Cam Watts around more, and Bowser believes Watts is beginning to hit his stride. He praised defensive ends Drayton and Weeks as playing “lights out” and said Evan Wynn continues to perform at a high level.

Then there were those 14 fourth-quarter points Savannah State scored.

Bowser isn’t losing much sleep over them.

By then, the outcome had been decided and many of Albany State’s young defenders were on the field. Bowser wanted them there.

The Golden Rams need more depth, particularly in the secondary, and there is only one way for young players to get real game experience.

Play them in a real game.

Some received roughly 20 snaps Saturday. Bowser knows there may come a Saturday later this season when Albany State needs those players with something much more important than a comfortable lead on the line.

So, yes, Savannah State scored twice late.

Bowser got something he wanted in return.

Experience.

And after two weeks of doing things one way and coming away without a victory, Bowser learned something about this Albany State team, too.

Sometimes a coach has to slow his team down before it can speed up.

And sometimes, even after 30 years, the first adjustment a coach has to make is his own.