FVSU searching for ‘badly needed’ victory
Fort Valley State head coach Donald Pittman is not psychic, but when he called his team “overmatched” approaching its season-opening opponent, he hit the nail on the head. In the Wildcats’ opener on the road at Delta State, the defense allowed 25 points in the first quarter and was a catalyst for a 48-7 loss at the hands of the Statesmen.
FVSU will attempt to recover by returning home to face Lane at 6 p.m. on Saturday. But despite the loss to the 14th-ranked team by the AFCA Division II coaches’ poll, Pittman said he saw positives (along with the negatives) in the opener.
“I was proud of the guys who played all four quarters and did not give up,” Pittman said. “I think the future is bright for our season this year.”
After a poor start, Pittman said he thought his team played much better after halftime, even though he said Delta State played its top players throughout the game.
“They were playing the game to make a point,” Pittman said of Delta State’s intentions. The game plan worked. After Delta State’s dismantling victory, it jumped four spots in the AFCA poll and now rests at No. 10.
“That’s how they do it, by beating teams they’re supposed to beat by large margins,” Pittman said.
Things should get easier this week with Lane winning only one game last year. The Dragons, however, already matched their 2014 win total after a 17-14 victory over Concordia College last week.
“Lane College won its first game, so they’re better than we are,” Pittman said. “Anybody can get beat any given Saturday. We’re not taking Lane for granted; we’re not saying we’re better than Lane. We have to prove that on Saturday.”
Major areas of interest for the Wildcats against Lane will be the punt team, the defense’s matchup with the Dragons’ offense and the situation at quarterback.
After allowing big plays on the punt team, special teams have been of importance to Pittman.
“We’ll definitely be working on our punting team and keeping people in and making them accountable,” he said. “That’s the major thing.”
The defense, which allowed Delta State to register 8.2 yards per play -- compared to FVSU’s 4.2 -- also has been an area of interest for Pittman. Despite controlling possession of the ball -- FVSU held it for 39 minutes, 54 seconds while Delta had it for only 20:06 -- the Wildcats lost control on the scoreboard.
“We’ve been working on alignment and assignment stuff,” Pittman said of the defense’s work in practice. “That’s what we’ve been doing all week.”
The defense has a chance to get back on track against a Lane offense that accounted for only 197 yards and averaged 3.5 yards per play in week one. As long as the Wildcats limit the big plays, Pittman expects Saturday to be a different story for the defense.
“I think our defense is going to get better every week, and as long as we don’t give up the big play, I think we’ll really control Lane,” he said.
But to earn its first victory, FVSU’s offense will have to move the ball against a Dragons defense that allowed only 126 yards on offense against Concordia. At the forefront of the offense lies the quarterback position, which witnessed some irregularity against Delta State.
Malcolm Eady started the outing but was pulled late in the first after the Wildcats fell behind 25-0. He was replaced by Otis Brown, who handled the duty the remainder of the game and finished 17-of-27 for 218 yards and one interception.
“During the game, Malcolm made some crucial errors and he wasn’t following the game plan, so we decided to go another route,” Pittman said of the switch. “Otis got in and was successful in moving the team.”
Eady finished 4-of-12 for 41 yards and one interception, and Pittman struggled with the pressure the Statesmen sent his way and “didn’t respond to that in a positive manner.”
Pittman has not decided who will start against Lane, but whoever earns the nod will be tasked with trying to help the Wildcats win its first game of 2015.
“This is going to be our first home game, and I hope everybody’s excited about the game,” Pittman said. “We need a victory badly.”
This story was originally published September 11, 2015 at 5:58 PM with the headline "FVSU searching for ‘badly needed’ victory ."