This post will not give as much of a "play by play" accounting as many others have, rather it will offer some stats from the game, and perspective of what I think Ferrum will need to address going forward.
First and foremost, I am overall very happy with the direction that the football program is going. This season started out with Ferrum entering the D2 world, and was picked to finish last in the conference. I did consider that Ferrum could go winless on the year (Which has never happened), but I felt that there was too much talent for that result. Ferrum would have some strong talent, but there were going to be scholarship athletes to go up against, and this moving to the D2 level was not going to be a cakewalk.
The Concord game yesterday gave a very good insight as to where Ferrum will need to focus in the off season to be even more competitive. The game yesterday showed that Concord had the horses up front to control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. The Mountain Lions ran for 212 yards on the ground, and had three rushing touchdowns. Ferrum had 79 yards on the ground, and one rushing touchdown. Through the air, Ferrum was 27 of 48 with three interceptions, and 3 touchdowns. Ferrum totaled 350 yards through the air. Concord was 18 of 27 with no interceptions, and scored 4 touchdowns through the air. Concord totaled 259 yards.
Some would say that this game could serve as a microcosm of the entire season. Here are some numbers showing the season averages and totals:
Average Points per game: FC 19.55 Opponents: 36.09
Rushing yards/season FC 1240 Opponents: 2150
Rushing touchdowns FC 12 Opponents 26
Passing ACI FC 298-182-11 Opponents: 279-164-9
Passing TD's FC 14 Opponents 24
To me, these numbers give me pause. I am hopeful that Ferrum can work through recruiting, and weight room training to build their offensive and defensive lines. The line of scrimmage is where it will all begins and Ferrum needs to keep building in that area.
The defensive secondary seemed susceptible this year, and I this tend to think it was a speed issue. There seemed to be a tendency for the covering DB's to play too far off of the receivers, thus opening up the underneath completion routes.
So was this a bad season? NOT AT ALL. It was really a very good showing.
Biggest loss, that I thought would have been a win......Homecoming vs. Barton. Record wise, that I thought we would have taken that one.
A game that could have been a loss but was not was the Chowan game. Great never say die attitude.
Game that really should not be on the record...VMI. Yes, it was a chance to expand the team horizons, and it very well was probably beneficial in some respect, but it was a no win situation as far as the won/loss record goes. Looking forward, Ferrum is developing quite nicely. Keep up the recruiting efforts, and keep working to get Bigger Faster and Stronger. Get ready for season 2 in Division 2. Things are going to keep getting better.
What will graduation take from us?
If I am counting correctly, Ferrum will lose 10 Defensive players, 6 Offensive players, and 2 Special Team players. A total of 18 players. The most lost at one position is Linebacker with four graduating. The good news is there are 15 other linebackers on the roster. While there are quite a few remaining on the roster, they will have a lot of youth.
After that, the OL will take the biggest hit from graduation. They will lose three. I have strong confidence for next year. There are an excellent group of core players returning. I have the utmost confidence in Coach Sherman, and I think you will start to see the comfort competing at the D2 level will increase, and Ferrum will start working their way to playing for the conference title.
Gp Panthers!
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