Ferrum @ Christopher Newport How do they compare?Common Opponents:

There seems to be a strong air of confidence among the fans and followers of Christopher Newport. A confidence that somewhat borders on cockiness. Christopher Newport, in it's very limited football history, has grown accustomed to representing the USA South in the playoffs. This has happened 5 out of the seven years that there has been football at CNU. This week for the first time all season, CNU entered the D3 Top 25 poll, debuting at # 23. This current win streak is the longest in the school's football history, On top of all of that, CNU was the preseason favorite, and their next game, their last regular season game is being played before the Captains home crowd. Oh did I mention they have the No. 1 ranked running back in the country?
Recently in a chat room about division 3 football, a fan of Wesley College posted a message that basically put forth a foregone conclusion that CNU would win the conference, and face Wesley in the first round of the Division three playoffs.

Not so fast CNU...The Panthers are coming to town. The Ferrum Panthers. A school who has played organized football for 53 years. A school that has won 4 national championships over those 53 years, and has been national runner up once. When Saturday rolls around, Ferrum will step up to the line with a silent confident swagger, and give you every reason in the world to hesitate. You will have to stop the number three rated rushing offense in the country, You will be sending that very accomplished running back against the 71st rated rushing defense in the country, but the top rated defense against the rush in the USA South. While this does not guarantee victory for Ferrum, it seems that the teams are a little more even than some may want to believe. Remove the North Carolina Wesleyan game from both schedules, and Ferrum has a cumulative margin of victory in conference of 80 points. The cumulative in conference margin of victory for CNU is also 80 points! Season schedules and results for common opponents are listed below:

Ferrum Schedule:

09/27/2008	+	Shenandoah	14	12	W +2
10/04/2008		Averett	30	9	W +21
10/11/2008	+	Maryville (Tenn.)	24	10	W +14
10/18/2008		Methodist	31	13	W +18
11/01/2008	*	Greensboro	46	21	W +25
11/08/2008	+	N.C. Wesleyan	14	41	L - 27

Christopher Newport Schedule:

10/04/2008	*	Shenandoah	17	7	W +10
10/11/2008	+	Greensboro	40	7	W +33
10/18/2008		Maryville (Tenn.)	38	31	W +7
10/25/2008	+	Methodist	38	14	W +24
11/01/2008		N.C. Wesleyan	27	26	W +1
11/08/2008	+	Averett	19	13	W +6

Will Ferrum be able to beat the Captains?....If you ask most people in the Tidewater section of Virginia, you would think CNU is packing their bags for a trip to the first round of the Division 3 playoffs. If you ask me, Ferrum is a determined group. Ferrum has something to prove, and is going to be a tough opponent for Christopher Newport. They must stop Ogun. He is only one man, and Ferrum must re establish their defense. Stopping Ogun is a tall order, but he is not wearing a cape. he cannot out run a locomotive, and he puts his pants on one leg at a time like every player on the Ferrum team. The game will be won or lost on the line of scrimmage. Ferrum must dominate the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.

Stop Ogun, and you are head and shoulders better than this team.