By THOMAS GRANT JR., T&D Senior Sports WriterWINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The "new kid on the block" has wasted little time making an impression of the veteran teams on the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
Still in the early stages of a five-year transitional period from the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association, the Rams are off to a 2-1 start following last Saturday’s 19-17 road win over Morgan State. True freshman Matt Mitchell’s 24-yard field goal with one second left was the difference as Winston-Salem State overcame the loss of running backs Brandon McRae (broken right wrist) and leading rusher Jed Bines (sprained ankle) and a 221-yard rushing effort from the Bears’ Chad Simpson to pull off the victory.
"That was a victory that we needed," Rams’ head coach Kermit Blount said Tuesday. "We played a very good football team in Morgan State. I have a lot of respect for Donald Hill and his program and what he’s doing. A very class act guy. The program is class act now, unlike the last time I was there in 1990 or 1991 when I was at South Carolina State (as an offensive coordinator for Willie Jeffries). It’s a totally different atmosphere up there and his teams played tremendously well and hard.
"We just happen to get the edge in the end with the pass up under the coverage and were able to get the ball in around the 6-yard line and kick the field goal."
Bines should be fine, according to Blount, and active for Saturday’s return to Oliver C. Dawson Stadium to face his former employer. It’s a matchup Blount sees as one which could provide a measuring stick as to where WSSU stands in the MEAC and how it should pursue its long-term plans.
"The one thing I think we understand and our administration understands is that we’re going to build a program by taking steps," Blount said. "Right now, it’s not about all wins and losses. It’s about building a program to compete at that level and anytime you start building a program, you can do it one or two ways. You can do a quick fix where you can win now or pay later or you can do the young fix way - you do it with high school kids and building a program where it’s going to pay off later.
"We don’t want to pay later. We want it to pay off later, so we’re building it in steps and we’re doing it with young kids, trying to keep them in the program and keep that graduation rate up and just trying to do it the right way. We just want to be competitive."
A pair of fumbles lost and four sacks allowed were not the only problems WSSU ran into in losing 35-6 to SCSU last season at home. The Bulldogs racked up 467 total yards of offense, 197 coming from running back Will Ford who rushed for two scores.
This season, the Rams are operating a revamped offense led by senior quarterback Monte Purvis (5-11, 190), whose overall numbers through three games (22 of 44 passing, 248 yards, two touchdowns, one interception; 223 rushing yards, four touchdowns) are eerily similar to SCSU counterpart Cleveland McCoy. While hoping to open things up in the air, Blount said the Rams will not try to force things.
"The passing game actually comes off the rushing game," he said. "We all as coaches like talking about we want to be balanced, we want to run 50 percent and throw 50 percent. But we all know that the flow of the ballgame will dictate what we do. But we do what we normally do with our passing game. We work it every day and all we can do is continue to work to make it better.
"This is a new offense for our kids. They only had the spring to go through it. They’re starting to really now focus in and catch on to all the integral parts of the process. So it’s a building process in that aspect of it also. But we’re going to try to throw the football as we normally do and we’re going to try to take what South Carolina State gives us because that’s what Buddy Pough is going to do. He’s going to take what we give them."
The Rams also shook up their offensive line prior to last week’s game against Morgan State. Facing a physical team like SCSU (1-2, 1-0), which leads the MEAC in sacks, Blount said depth up front is a concern on the road.
This will mark the third time Blount is facing SCSU as a visiting coach. He led the Rams to a 39-28 victory in 2000 over his mentor Jeffries, their only win in five outings against SCSU, only to get routed 52-12 five years later in Orangeburg.
"The team we’re going to play on Saturday is probably be one of the best that we play all year," Blount said. "So we’re going to have to be ready to play football and we can’t make mistakes this weekend."
THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY
Entering his 11th season at WSSU, Blount sees Saturday’s game as another part of a methodical building process towards developing a program which can compete in the MEAC as it did successfully in the CIAA.
A player Blount had hoped to snag as part of his building process was SCSU quarterback Malcolm Long. Right up until a week before signing day, WSSU battled SCSU as the two finalists for the services of South Carolina’s "Mr. Football".
"I had a chance to home visit him and sit with his family and I think they have his best interest at heart," Blount said. "They want to see the kid get a good education, play football second and have a good career. But I tell you what, he’s a difference-maker and I would have loved to have had him. That’s why we made the visit to Gaffney to see if we could steal him."
Long eventually signed with the Bulldogs and could potentially see action against the Rams this Saturday.
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