After the bye week, the ODAC goes back to action to begin the conference schedule. Ferrum (0-3) will travel Winchester to take on the Shenandoah Hornets. Shenandoah enters conference play with a 3-0 record, with wins over Methodist, N.C. Wesleyan, and Maryville (TN).
In looking over their stats, I would say that while the Hornets have a host of running back that can carry the ball, they split their attack almost equally through the air. Through three games, the quarterback (Hugney) is averaging 242 yards through the air and has thrown for 10 TD's. It will be up to Ferrum's defense to pressure their quarterback and get him out of sync.
Ferrum heads north giving up 38.6 points per game and is only averaging 16.6 points per game. Shenandoah may be on a roll, but I think Ferrum is getting to be a more solid team. With this past week off, I expect Ferrum to have worked hard on the defensive side of the ball, as well as run blocking. To date the running game has been pretty anemic, as the Panthers have netted just 328 on the ground. While that is an average of 109 yards per game, opponents are averaging just under 200 yards per game. I look for Zac Smiley to provide a big thrust for the ground game, and see those numbers start to climb.
Expect the pressure to be on the Panthers secondary. To date Ferrum has given up 6 touchdowns thru the air. Another question is who will be under center for Ferrum? I will not predict who the starter will be, but I would not be surprised to see Jesper Korkalainen under center.
This will be another tough opponent, and it looks like weather will not be much of a factor. With the last of Hurricane Ian moving away, I am thinking the rain should be gone, or there will be very little by game time. As Shentel Stadium has a field turf surface, mud will not be an issue.
This would be a big win should Ferrum pick it up. Look for continued improvement from Ferrum, and possibly some surprises. It should be a really good game.
No Prediction Today.
Go Panthers!
No comments:
Post a Comment