774, 35, 1, 9, 9.6, 0-4

774 -   That is how many yards of offense the Huntingdon Hawks piled up on the Ferrum defense yesterday in the opening game of the USA South conference slate. Of those, 312 were on the ground, and 462 were through the air.

The Panthers lost 56-35, in a game that they only trailed by 7 at halftime.

35-The number of first downs that Huntingdon picked up in the game

1-  The number of times Huntingdon punted in the game.

9-  The number of times the Hawks kicked off in the game.
 
9.6-The average number of yards that Huntingdon gained per offensive play.

0-4   The Panthers record

Due to having to travel out of town, I only saw the second half of the game. When I was able to get to my computer, I was disappointed to see that Huntingdon had 35 first half points. The good news was that Ferrum had 28...only trailing by 7.

While it appeared that Huntingdon made some halftime adjustments on defense, Ferrum  just could not stop the Hawks. Ferrum's offense led by Tim Reynolds, had a strong performance, and delivered their best game of the season, but the defense seemed helpless to stop the Hawks. While I am seeing improvement in the offense, this week, the defense was completely ineffective. Something has to change, or Ferrum may be looking at setting several defensive records, none of which would be anything to brag about.

The saying is that defense wins championships, and if that is true, Ferrum will need to cast a critical eye on all aspects of the defensive scheme, and be willing to make major changes to insure their future ability to contend.

If there is a bright spot, it is that next week is homecoming, Greensboro has only one win, and the game should be an even match up. At this point, I am planning on attending.