5 months ago
The highly-anticipated season debut of the Fort Valley State Wildcats under new leadership fell kind of flat when the Cats lost their opener in double overtime 30-24 against Clark Atlanta last Saturday.
We stopped by this week to talk with new head coach Don Pittman about the transition, and Pittman says it's way too early to panic.
There were plenty of pluses in the season opening game for Fort Valley State.
The explosion of running back Richard Willis with more than 100 total yards rushing and receiving, while defensively, the Blue Death defense showed they could get to the quarterback in a hurry and often. But all that happened in the first half.
The minuses?
Throw in 11 penalties for 108 yards and two missed field goals, including one that was blocked at the end of regulation, and it's impossible to win on any Saturday in college football.
Coach Don Pittman says, "I think we performed well, but we didn't win the game, so we must improve. Any time you don't win, that's not a good effort."
Pittman says most teams always see the most improvement between the first and second week, and his squad is no exception.
"We're going to limit the penalties and improve the kicking game especially on field goals and extra points," says Pittman.
Game 1 is in the books, and this weekend, the Wildcats travel to Atlanta to face Morehouse in another conference showdown, and Pittman expects to see a different Fort Valley team than he coached last week.
Pittman says, "I still think we are a better team than Clark, but on that night, they were just better and they just wanted it more."
He also offers a prediction for Saturday's game.
"They won't score as many points on the defense, and you're going to see more field control because we want to win the field game."
The Wildcats face Morehouse Saturday, September 5th at 1pm in Atlanta.
