2022 Outlook

[Davemeister]

FWIW, Sapakoff at the P&C has the Paladins going 8-3. I’ll take that right now.

If the Prince of Darkness visited me late this evening with parchment in one hand and quill in the other, offering me 8-3 in exchange for the soul of one of my fellow UFFP posters, I'm afraid I would sign.

[apaladin]

FWIW, Sapakoff at the P&C has the Paladins going 8-3. I’ll take that right now.

If the Prince of Darkness visited me late this evening with parchment in one hand and quill in the other, offering me 8-3 in exchange for the soul of one of my fellow UFFP posters, I'm afraid I would sign.

Thus is the state of FU football when 8-3 is the highest expectation/hope.

[The Jackal]

FWIW, Sapakoff at the P&C has the Paladins going 8-3. I’ll take that right now.

If the Prince of Darkness visited me late this evening with parchment in one hand and quill in the other, offering me 8-3 in exchange for the soul of one of my fellow UFFP posters, I'm afraid I would sign.

Thus is the state of FU football when 8-3 is the highest expectation/hope.

8-3 was offered by a sportswriter in Charleston. The same writer also had the wrong dates for Clemson's opener.

8-3 would likely put Furman as a top 15 team, playoff host, and with an outside shot at a seed. I'd say that would be a decent result for the regular season.

[apaladin]

FWIW, Sapakoff at the P&C has the Paladins going 8-3. I’ll take that right now.

If the Prince of Darkness visited me late this evening with parchment in one hand and quill in the other, offering me 8-3 in exchange for the soul of one of my fellow UFFP posters, I'm afraid I would sign.

Thus is the state of FU football when 8-3 is the highest expectation/hope.

8-3 was offered by a sportswriter in Charleston. The same writer also had the wrong dates for Clemson's opener.

8-3 would likely put Furman as a top 15 team, playoff host, and with an outside shot at a seed. I'd say that would be a decent result for the regular season.

Since we are starting nowhere close to the top 25 it’s very doubtful that an 8-3 record would propel us all he way to top 15. If we started in the top 25 then maybe. Starting as low as we are 8-3 might get us barely in the top 25 or more likely just outside.

[gofurman]

I’d love 8-3. Love it. It isn’t perfect but it’s probably a loss to clemson and losing to two of the three - Mercer. ETSU. Chatt. But beating one of them and not losing to anyone else - not to vmi or western or … it would be a good trajectory with a young or new qb and oc etc

Might get playoffs. And would d start next year in top 20!!

[The Jackal]

FWIW, Sapakoff at the P&C has the Paladins going 8-3. I’ll take that right now.

If the Prince of Darkness visited me late this evening with parchment in one hand and quill in the other, offering me 8-3 in exchange for the soul of one of my fellow UFFP posters, I'm afraid I would sign.

Thus is the state of FU football when 8-3 is the highest expectation/hope.

8-3 was offered by a sportswriter in Charleston. The same writer also had the wrong dates for Clemson's opener.

8-3 would likely put Furman as a top 15 team, playoff host, and with an outside shot at a seed. I'd say that would be a decent result for the regular season.

Since we are starting nowhere close to the top 25 it’s very doubtful that an 8-3 record would propel us all he way to top 15. If we started in the top 25 then maybe. Starting as low as we are 8-3 might get us barely in the top 25 or more likely just outside.

We could be 2-1 with a win over ETSU and well inside the top 20. ETSU might well be a top 10 team when they play Furman

[Thorny]

I expect the paladins to finish the regular season 8-3. No soul selling involved.

[gofurman]

No Dejuan Bell mentioned and don’t see him on roster anymore. He had a great spring and with our new OC looking to utilize our speed thought he would finally have a break out season.

Still, I don't love this. WE NEED SPEED. Think how J Harris and R Miller change our potential. Bell had that - he never seemed to capitalize on it but he had the raw ability.

I was surprised when I looked this up.

In 31 games (4 seasons), Bell had 20 catches for 223 yards and 1 touchdown. That's about 7 yards a game.

agree, he was never consistent ... however Bell did returna kickoff for a TD vs Western (2018) - have we done that since in 3 years???

actually thats a good point .. FGs great ! Kickoffs great. Kick returns "ok" - we could use 2/3 examples of getting to the 40/50 yard line to help the offense. I don't think we do that much the past few years?

[FUBeAR]

Good to hear Sam Wyche’s voice on that replay. He is missed.

[The Jackal]

It sounds like Ryan Miller may be one of our primary kick returners.

We may be the only team in the country with a TE returning kicks.

[AstroDin]

It sounds like Ryan Miller may be one of our primary kick returners.

We may be the only team in the country with a TE returning kicks.

I read it somewhere that pro scouts are looking at Ryan Miller as a slot receiver.
With JR's offensive scheme - I think we should expect Miller to be used in numerous ways.
Also, with Gisssinger, Henderson, and Youngblood at TE - Miller can be put just about anywhere.

[apaladin]

I heard CCH say they have not done much tackling in camp. For former players do you think this could be a problem. I’m sure back in the day they tackled every day.

[Davemeister]

I expect the paladins to finish the regular season 8-3. No soul selling involved.

Gosh Darn! I was fixin' to send His Infernal Majesty my short list of candidates.

[FUBeAR]

I will keep preaching, if you want to read good SoCon sports coverage, the P&C is your source.

So true … for some of that “good SoCon sports coverage,” click here to read all about the bellhops head coach channeling his inner Richard Simmons -> https://www.postandcourier.com/sports/ ... c52e8.html

Separated at birth?

[The Jackal]

I heard CCH say they have not done much tackling in camp. For former players do you think this could be a problem. I’m sure back in the day they tackled every day.

So, there's risk of "back in the day" thinking.

Sports are smarter than they used to be. There's a much better understanding of what works, what does not, and why.

Limiting contact in practice probably has the inverse effect of what you might assume. Darmouth renovated their program a few years ago to basically remove all player-to-player contact in practice. They found that their tackling technique was better, their missed tackle percentage went down, and their risk of injury also went down.

Dartmouth instituted this process about 10 years ago. They went from one of the worst teams in the Ivy to arguably the best team in the Ivy (three straight 9 win seasons and back to back conference championships).

Football is modernizing. What used to be unheard of 20 years ago is now commonplace. I doubt Furman's defense isn't working on tackling in practice. My guess is they aren't emphasizing full contact take-the-player to the ground type of practices. Data probably suggests that the latter practices don't actually make you better and increases the risk that your key players will miss time due to injury.