It's a good thing that Kermit Blount can draw on his 17 years of experience as a head coach at Winston-Salem State. He's needed to draw on it a lot this season.
The Rams continued to slide with a 24-21 loss to Delaware State on Saturday. The Rams are 1-8 and are in danger of having one of their worst records in the 79-year history of the program. The two worst records in WSSU football history came in 1945 (0-7-1) and in 1975 (1-9).
A sign of how bad things are going is the lack of fan support, with less than 5,000 there for last Saturday's game at Bowman Gray Stadium.
Blount and the Rams will close out their home schedule on Saturday at 1 p.m. against N.C. Central. Maybe playing one of their biggest rivals will get the Rams going in the right direction.
"This is a rivalry matchup and anything goes," Blount said about facing the Eagles, who are 2-7 as they continue to transition to Division I and the MEAC. "You can throw the records out the window and just line up and play football."
Last week's loss was the result of five first-half turnovers. By the time that the first half ended, the Rams trailed 24-7, and while they did shut out the Hornets in the second half, they couldn't pull even.
"We just couldn't get over the hump," Blount said. "We missed a field goal, and we had a dropped touchdown pass. But those are the things that have been happening to us."
The Rams have two games left. After playing the Eagles on Saturday, the Rams will close the season out on Nov. 21 at Norfolk State.
To break a six-game home losing streak, the Rams must regroup yet again this week in practice. The Rams have lost another starter to injury. Tight end Austin Higgins suffered a knee injury on Saturday, and Blount said that Higgins will likely miss the final two games of the season.
Also, running back Ced Hickman, who wound up playing in just two series on Saturday and was ineffective, is continuing to battle a groin injury.
With all that's going on this season, Blount said that his biggest concern each week is to keep things positive.
"I think the kids have kept themselves together," Blount said. "Nobody expected us to have the season we are having but for the most part these guys have stayed together and we'll continue to keep them up and focused."
jdell@wsjournal.com.
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