Ferrum @ Guilford

Other than playing Guilford in a scrimmage the last couple of seasons, I really did not know much about them. Until recently, Guilford was not what I would have considered an upper echelon team of the ODAC. Their records over the last few years are as follows:


2008 - 4-6
2009 - 3-7
2010 - 0-10
2011 - 2-8
2012 - 5-5
2013 - 6-4
2014 - 8-2
2015 - 9-1
2016 - 4-6
2017 - 5-5


2015 was the best year in their recent football history, going 9-1. Its easy to see that their program has really improved, but this year, their offensive production has been unbelievable. Through 4 games, the Quakers are averaging 46 points per game. In two games they scored 61 points, and in their other two games they scored 28 and 34. They are currently 1-3. A fifth game was played vs. Huntingdon but was stopped due to weather. The weather did not clear, and eventually, the game was ruled a no contest. No statistics counted, but at the time the game was stopped, the Quakers had put up 48 points. While this is very impressive, it's important to know that all of this scoring is tarnished by a defense that is giving up 54.8 ppg. This includes a 91-61 loss to FCS opponent Davidson.

Defensively, Guilford is surrendering 240 passing yards per game, and 336 rushing yards per game.
There is no question that the Davidson game skews the numbers to a point, but I think there are still valid conclusions that can be drawn from the Quakers early season games. Overall, it looks to me that their defense is not all that impressive, but they can put up points. They are averaging 553 offensive yards per game. 293 ypg on the ground, and 260 ypg through the air.

The Guilford passing offense is is currently ranked 58th nationally. Ferrum is ranked 143rd. Stats for rushing offense show the Quakers ranked 10th in the nation with Ferrum ranked 11th.
The national rankings for passing defense show Guilford tied for 181st, while Ferrum's pass defense is ranked 87th. Finally Guilford's rushing defense is ranked......well it's hard to say where they are ranked. Currently, Guilford's rushing defense stats are not listed on the NCAA website. Going by the Guilford athletics page however, the Quakers, as I listed earlier, are giving up 336 rushing yards per game. That places them 248th at best in the nation in rushing defense. (Out of 250 teams)

So now that your head is spinning with numbers, what does all that mean? To me, it means, Ferrum will run the ball a lot Thursday. This will help them control time of possession, thus keeping the Guilford offense off of the field. In the end, this game could go either way, but I am thinking the advantage goes to Ferrum as their rushing offense will be superior, and the defense will slow significantly a high powered offense.

Look for Brian Mann to have an excellent game with more records falling.


Ferrum  44

Guilford 27


Other ODAC action for Saturday-

Randolph Macon @ Shenandoah

Emory and Henry @ Washington and Lee

Hampden-Sydney @ Bridgewater



Go Panthers!