Ferrum Rolls Past Greensboro 46-21 Move to 7-1

Ferrum traveled to Greensboro, and came away with a 46-21 victory over the Pride. This win keeps Ferrum 7-1 (5-0) atop the USA South conference. While this was a game that Ferrum was predicted to easily win, there were aspects of it that will cause concern. Greensboro had 337 yards of offense, with 271 of those being through the air. Ferrum was 1 of 9 on third down conversions.

Granted Ferrum amassed 469 rushing yards, and 500 total offensive yards, they seemed to struggle against the pass. This is a weakness that the remaining opponents will attempt to exploit in the final two regular season games. Ferrum's rushing game is solid, but to win the next two games, they must play as flawlessly as possible. In reviewing the keys to Ferrum's victory that I mentioned in a recent post, I find the following:

1. Dominate Time of Possession- FC 34:05 GC 25:55 (Good Job)

2 Pass defense needs to be ready as this is Greensboro's offensive strength: This was a problem area. Greensboro was 17-39-1 for 271 yards. (need to do better)

3. Pressure the Pride Quarterback: 1 sack, 1 interception, and 2 hurries of the QB. Not enough for a team that lives by the pass. (need to do better)

4. Control the "Red Zone" Greensboro was in the Red zone twice, and scored once. This was a success.

Create turnovers and capitalize on them : Greensboro fumbled once, and recovered it. Ferrum did intercept one pass, but could not capitalize on it. Lost that possession on one of their three fumbles. (need to do better)

Convert all extra points and Field Goals:

Excellent Job Clint Slappey!!! 100% on all attempts. Much better than the Methodist game!
I have a feeling this may have been a focus during the bye week :)
Ferrum, with a 26-7 lead went for a 2 point conversion, and failed. I was curious as to why, and this was repeated following the next touchdown. This attempt failed also. (overall success)

Ferrum does return home next week for Senior day with a 7-1 record. They will be facing a strong North Carolina Wesleyan team, who will be looking to wreck the perfect conference record of the Panthers. NCW was eliminated from possibly winning the conference, after a loss to Christopher Newport 27-26.

I will go over this upcoming game in a future post. For now, lets savor this victory!

On a personal note, I wanted to comment on the live video feed from Greensboro College Athletics web site. This was a very enjoyable way to follow the game. While there were technical difficulties early on, this did not really detract from the experience. In the past, when I could not attend a game, I have listened to the Internet broadcast. This live video stream, was an excellent tool, and in addition to that it provided a chat forum for those tuned in to share in the excitement when their team was successful. ( Lots of virtual high five's being shared) I want to commend the Pride athletic department for providing this, and hope that all USA South teams will investigate adding this feature... Ferrum, you need to get on board with this next year.

Mrs. Grzesikowski, I enjoyed chatting with you, and do appreciate your kind words about this blog.

Let's Go Panthers!