FOOTBALL: First Scrimmage Reveals There Is Still Work To Do

BIG RAPIDS - No one really expected to see a finished product when Ferris State University stepped out on Top Taggart Field for its first preseason scrimmage on Saturday afternoon (Aug. 15).

More than anything, the Bulldogs tended to look at this first scrimmage as a sort of early quiz to gauge where the team is as it creeps closer to its season opener on Aug. 27 at home against Tiffin (in a special non-conference game).

"For a first scrimmage, I think we saw some things that were fairly normal," head coach Jeff Pierce said after he gathered his team together and briefly spoke to the players on the turf at Top Taggart Field. "We're certainly not a well-oiled machine just yet. We still are working to figure out the things that some of our people can do and it was nice to see us have a lot of guys out there who are competing for opportunities to play on this football team."

Offensively, Pierce had an opportunity to see his offense utilize all three of its top quarterbacks in Tom Schneider, Kyle Parrish and Robert Banazak. Schneider and Parrish, of course, garnered a lot of playing time last fall. All three got in a lot of work during the Saturday morning scrimmage.

Working to utilize as many players on his roster as possible, during the course of the scrimmage, Pierce was careful in his early evaluation to exercise caution.

"Some of the time in these scrimmages you can end up with some odd match ups where you may have a more experienced player being matched up with a younger player who is getting his first taste of college football," Pierce said. "But, we did get a chance to see a lot of good match ups that will tell us some things as we move forward."

Some additional observations from the first scrimmage:

• The offense had moments of brilliance that some times were contrasted by moments of frustration as the team struggled to finish off drives or sustain drives.
• The speed factor showed from time to time as some Bulldog ball handlers like Alan Freeman, Tyler Thomas, Troy McClary and others.
• The defense had its moments where it worked hard and competed with the more experienced offensive unit in spite of some key injuries and the units relative youth.
• A good-sized crowd braved the hot conditions to check out the first scrimmage for the Bulldogs in Big Rapids.
• Linebackers like Nick Butler and Kyle Fitzpatrick are among the players working hard to step into key leadership roles for this year's defense.