 |
| Wide receiver Gerald Ford stiff-arms a UNA defender. Ed Hooper | The VDT |
Valdosta State was led by Cedric O’Neal’s 123 yards rushing, Gerald Ford’s 134 yards receiving and quarterback Cayden Cochran’s 236 yards passing. The Blazers finished the day with 423 yards of total offense, while North Alabama finished the day with 354 yards, including 232 through the air.
It was over when: Valdosta State’s Cedric O’Neal rushed for the Blazers’ third first down inside three minutes. O’Neal’s final first down run came with less than 45 seconds remaining on the clock.
Quick start to the half: Two plays. That is all it took Valdosta State to score in both the first and second half. Quarterback Cayden Cochran connected on an 81-yard touchdown pass with Gerald Ford on the second offensive play from scrimmage for VSU in the first quarter. He then connected on a 71-yard TD pass with Seantavious Jones on just the second play of the third quarter, which gave the Blazers a 24-0 lead.
Story of two halves: The Blazers forced the Lions to five straight punts and two missed field goals across their first seven drives to begin the game After that, North Alabama scored three touchdowns and punted just twice to close out the game. Meanwhile, Valdosta State scored on four of its first seven possession to begin the game and then turned the ball over on downs and punted four straight times before running the clock out at the end of the game.
Passing Lions: North Alabama entered Saturday night’s game as the worst passing team in the Gulf South Conference. You wouldn’t be able to tell that by looking at the Lions’ passing numbers at the end of the game. UNA finished the day with 232 yards passing, over a quarter of what they had in their first six games of the season.
O’Neal or Scott, it doesn’t matter: Whether is Cedric O’Neal or Austin Scott, the Blazers can run the football this season. The duo combined for 220 yards on the night (O’Neal finished with 123 and Scott with 97). Scott left the game early in the second half with an ankle injury he suffered in the first half, opening the door to O’Neal’s big second half performance. Both freshman, O’Neal and Scott have already combined for over 1,100 yards rushing this season.
Limiting the penalties: The Blazers were flagged just four times Saturday night, the lowest of any conference game this season. Three of VSU’s four penalties were in the first half. Valdosta State was flagged 13 times in a loss to West Alabama earlier this season.
Up next: The Blazers host Delta State at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. The game will serve as VSU’s 2012 homecoming game. Valdosta State head coach David Dean has never beaten the Statesmen since taking over the program in 2007, the year Dean guided the Blazers to a national championship.
— Follow me on Twitter at @Ed_Hooper.
