Furman @ WCCC Oct. 21st

[purplehorse123]

Furman 31
Western 28

[FU Hoopla]

New week, same vibe

[The Jackal]

I watched those Samford highlights again.

Furman did a good job running and throwing the ball out of their two TE/two RB type looks. Most of the time Furman put two TEs or two RBs on the field, Samford would pack 7 or 8 at the line of scrimmage.

I know Huff won player of the week, but Samford couldn't do anything with Ben Ferguson. Couldn't stop him.

The tale of the game, though, was the defensive line. Samford's offensive line rarely got any sort of push on our defense. Our DTs controlled the interior and the bandit and DEs just collapsed the edges.

[FU Hoopla]

The most total yards in a game anyone has gotten rushing on FU this season was KSU's Gabriel Benyard 65 yards......

Desmond Reid might be in for an Arkansas like performance where he rushed 11 times for 11 total yards

[AstroDin]

One thing that needs to be discussed more is the actual coaching matchups in this game.
All the prep in the world only matters if it doesn't translate on the field.
Still, the current staff is exceptional when you look at Furman's coaching experience and what happens on the field, like adjustments.

When you compare these two coaching staffs, they are strikingly different. I wouldn't call Furman's coaching staff old by any means (Spangler has been coaching for as long as CCH); compared to Western, there is an experience and competition gap. The experience level and the competition level comparisons are interesting.

[The Jackal]

I think a lot of folks point to that Kennesaw State game as a criticism of Furman. The Owls have started off with an unimpressive 1-5 record with their only win over D2 Tusculum. Of note, they played both Furman and UTC close.

KSU is an odd data point. They are a transitioning program and Furman was their biggest game of the season. They have a different mix of players every game as they redshirt a lot of kids.

I was surprised to see that beyond the box scores, the Owls have the #16 defense in the country. Furman is the only team to break 30 points on them. KSU's defense is objectively pretty good. It's the offense, which is moving from a triple option to a more spread system, that's been the problem for them.

Even then, Furman was up 21-7 at the start of the 4th quarter. They ran it back up to 28-14 in the fourth quarter. We just couldn't close them out.

Furman, for whatever reason, gave up a few big plays late in the game to their best player, Gabriel Benyard. He had several long catches and several long runs that gave the Owls life late. He was essentially a one man band.

Sort of like the Western Carolina game last year, I think that was a needed wakeup call for the defense - you played poorly, didn't close out the opponent, and let a good player take over the game. Like we saw after the WCU game last season, we haven't seen near that sort of defensive breakdown we saw that night.

[FUBeAR]

The most total yards in a game anyone has gotten rushing on FU this season was KSU's Gabriel Benyard 65 yards......

Desmond Reid might be in for an Arkansas like performance where he rushed 11 times for 11 total yards

Reid is a VERY INTERESTING part of the story this weekend.

FUBeAR (not that he was the only one) REALLY noticed the talent that Reid possessed last year. He is very much a Darren Sproles type of RB (Reid is listed @ 5-8/170 & Sproles was 5-6/190) with some Barry Sanders change-of-direction capabilities. He's tough, very shifty, much stronger than he appears, and he can also motor. He is very difficult to tackle. There is nothing at all not to like about Desmond Reid...except his choice of purples.

Furman's D must not misplay their run fits and must tackle extremely well to have any chance to keep Reid in check. The good news is that Furman plays great Run D and Tackles as well as any college Football Team in 2023.

If Reid is 100% on Saturday, as everyone within 100 miles of The Cat's Table Diner is loudly and repeatedly claiming that he is, his success against or relative containment by the Furman Defense will go a long way in determining the outcome of this contest.

That said...
FUBeAR watched Reid's injury occur at Chattanooga 10 days ago. It was the classic Sprinter's Hamstring injury reaction...

(Videos are cued to start at beginning of injury reaction)

"In 2017, Usain Bolt tore his left hamstring during the World Athletics Championships relay final. He tweeted that he had a tear of the proximal myotendineous junction of biceps femoris in his left hamstring with partial retraction. He said he needed three months of rehabilitation.

Hamstring injuries can take several days to several weeks to heal. Grade 1-2 hamstring strains can recover within 21 days. Grade 3 hamstring strains or strains that involve the hamstring tendon can take 6-8 weeks or more."

It will be most interesting to see how ready-to-go Reid really is...and FUBeAR hopes that because of the gravity of this game, he doesn't try to push too soon and re-injure and/or worsen his injury. FUBeAR did that with a foot injury and it cost him a season instead of 4-6 weeks.

"Nearly one third of hamstring strains recur within the first year following return to sport with subsequent injuries often being more severe than the original. This high re-injury rate suggests that athletes may be returning to sport prematurely due to inadequate return to sport criteria."

WCU is, most likely, going to make the playoffs for the 1st time in 40 years. That means the Catamounts have up to 9 more games after the Furman game...and with the final 3 games on WCU's schedule, they should be OK letting him heal FULLY for the Playoffs. And, from the state of Mercer's Offense last week, they might be able to get by the Bears relatively easily as well...although they will have to score on a tough D. Anyway - if FUBeAR is Coach Bell, he runs the calculus on this and decides if Reid is not FULLY 100%, he doesn't play against Furman...or Mercer. BUT, they've gone so ALL IN on "Championship or Bust" (meaning the SoCon Championship) this season, they may very well be willing to try to win the 'battle,' even if it means jeopardizing their chances in the 'war'...and possibly Reid's future college/NFL career.

Something to keep an eye on...

[FUBeAR]

One thing that needs to be discussed more is the actual coaching matchups in this game.
All the prep in the world only matters if it doesn't translate on the field.
Still, the current staff is exceptional when you look at Furman's coaching experience and what happens on the field, like adjustments.

When you compare these two coaching staffs, they are strikingly different. I wouldn't call Furman's coaching staff old by any means (Spangler has been coaching for as long as CCH); compared to Western, there is an experience and competition gap. The experience level and the competition level comparisons are interesting.

But...what about the mullet comparisons?

[gman84]

FUBeAR, love the vintage pic from yester-year against WCU!

[FUBeAR]

FUBeAR, love the vintage pic from yester-year against WCU!

You recognize #81?



<F> #54 ‘bout to light him up in '82!

[gman84]

I was going to say Clyde Simmons.

[KingPaladin]

Will anybody be traveling to the game

[FUBeAR]

I was going to say Clyde Simmons.

Nope - for some reason he didn't play for WCU as a Freshman in '82. Didn't appear on their roster until 1983 when he ws a Sophomore. Maybe he was a 1st year JUCO transfer or something...dunno.

[KingPaladin]

Has Western done that much this season to go up the rankings so fast, or is that mainly because of the amount of points they're scoring

[FUBeAR]

Has Western done that much this season to go up the rankings so fast, or is that mainly because of the amount of points they're scoring

WCU has been playing very well. They have also benefited from the following...

1) Head Coach with a 'name' who was an SEC and Pro Football 'feel good' story and has Natl Champ 'chops' @ D2
2) Flashy Scores - vs. ChuckSouth, CIT, and Chatt (just ignore Chatt's half-a-hundred)
3) Flashy Stats - Reid particularly and Gonzales as well
4) Flashy Games - Their contests with EKU and Chatt are 'hot'
5) Schedule - People, for some reason, think unranked 3-3 EKU is a GREAT win...and the win over now-ranked Chatt helps
6) This is a BIG one - The performance of Furman, particularly (this year AND last year), and also Samford (last year) have enabled a SoCon Team that is doing well to ascend in the rankings at a much more rapid rate than Furman, Samford, and ETSU before them were able to ascend.
7) The Catamounts are doing a VERY NICE job hyping themselves. In today's world that matters and this is not a knock, at all. FU is good at it (now), and WCU is doing very, very well in publicizing their recent success