BLOG 28: Hogue matures into feature player for Bulldogs

By Sandy Gholston

BIG RAPIDS – Tim Hogue has had plenty to smile about during Ferris State University’s first three football games of the 2008 season.

Ferris State University running back/receiver Tim Hogue takes the football from quarterback Eric Grozenski as he prepares to make his cut up the field (Photo/Sandy Gholston)

Sure, the Bulldogs are 3-0 overall, 2-0 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and ranked 24th in the nation according to the current American Football Coaches Association Division II National Poll released on Tuesday. But, beyond that, even the young Ferris players can appreciate how the team has been able to achieve this level of success through the early portion of the season. Defensively, the Bulldogs have been stingy against the run and, offensively, have enjoyed an improving running game.

“It felt pretty good to have our team out there running the ball the way we did (in the Bulldogs 14-0 home win over Findlay),” said Hogue, a Dearborn native, who carried the football 18 times for 117 yards while starting quarterback Tom Schneider had 119 yards and two touchdowns in 26 attempts. “We know the success of our running game starts up front and our line did a great job opening up holes for us to run through. We feel like we have the running game going and now we just have to get our passing game going to go with it.”

As a team, the Bulldogs rushed for 292 yards against the Oilers’ defense. Hogue, who as a sophomore has stepped into a key role occupied the last two seasons by Robert Miller, has been a big-time addition to Ferris’ offensive schemes. Watching how Hogue has matured into a go-to-type player has been a pleasure to watch for Ferris head coach Jeff Pierce, who has been one of the coaches who has been most pleased with Hogue’s development since his arrival on campus.

If you have any questions, ideas or comments feel free to contact Sandy Gholston at sgholston2@netzero.com