BLOG 7: Not pretty, but Ferris tops Tiffin

By Sandy Gholston

Bulldog senior linebacker Jordan Moore helped the Bulldogs open their 100th season by beating Tiffin

TIFFIN, Ohio – There’s an old-time college-football saying: A team makes its most improvement between week one and week two.

Ferris State head coach Jeff Pierce, who is in his 14th season, is hopeful that proves to be the case as his Bulldogs survived their opener and escaped with a 14-12 non-conference victory over Tiffin on Saturday. The Ferris coaching staff will have numerous points of emphasis as the Bulldogs prepare to return to Ohio to take on an Ashland team that was nationally-ranked (16th) to begin the season, but that was prior to its upset loss at home to No. 24 Bloomsburg, 49-42.

“I think we got a lot of the first-game stuff out of the way and now we will have an opportunity to take a look at a lot of things on film to get better at the little things we need to get done in terms of the basics … blocking, tackling, passing … all aspects,” Pierce said. “Now, we need to get back to work and get ready for what we’re going to have to do to get a win next week.”

Both the Bulldogs and Dragons were plagued by mistakes throughout the opener on a hot day outdoors on the artificial turf of Frost-Kalnow Stadium in Tiffin, Ohio. Ferris now understands its need to clean up some of the miscues with special teams as well as some of the struggles in its defensive secondary and in regard to offensive execution. The game, in many ways, was what you would expect for a first contest between two teams mostly unfamiliar with each other in the first-ever meeting between the two schools on the gridiron.

Expect Ferris’ special teams to perform even more solidly in week two after reviewing the film and hearing reminders from the coaching staff to pay particular attention to detail. In the defensive secondary, Ferris had some struggles containing Tiffin’s bigger and taller receivers, but did make some crucial stops when necessary to help preserve the lead and the win. Ferris did force two fumbles in the game. It also gained an interception of the outstanding quarterback from Tiffin, Matt Root. Kevin Noe finished with nine tackles and Jordan Moore finished with seven.

Offensively, quarterback Tom Schneider, a redshirt freshman, was solid in his collegiate debut as he completed 6-of-13 passes for 73 yards with a touchdown (to receiver Seth Hubbard from 14 yards away) and an interception. Schneider got the job done with his feet as he carried the ball 29 times for 91 yards and a touchdown.

Ferris State’s offense should get better as the receivers work to get on the same page with Schneider and the offensive line continues to improve to provide protection for downfield passing.

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