Mercer Game Thread

[Furmanoid]

You aren’t supposed to say that here. Cronic did not play for Furman so he can’t possibly be as good as our coaches.

[Paladin91]

I don’t think it matters what they call. Mercer is just way,way better. But I think that’s because they are really really good.

Cronic has been at Mercer 20 months. Mercer is good but they are not great. The fact that we are so bad with the same coach for a few years now speaks volumes to our problems. CH is a good guy but he’s no Nick Saban - no killer instinct on the field. We need a coach who’s going to teach kids how to win and kick ass - leave it all out on the field. Light a match under these boys.

[Jasper]

Furman does not have a bad offense. They have NO offense at all. This game was the most inept display of offensive coaching I have ever seen on a college D 1 level. This staff sends those kids out there without any means of competing and they should be ashamed of themselves for that. They are doing a great disservice to a decent group of student-athletes and it has been very apparent to anyone not wearing purple tinged glasses for several years. Today, even they should have seen it. It is very obvious what the problem is and is very correctible. The football program is in dire need of a complete overhaul. Hire real talent, not old school ties.















.

[Paladin91]

Furman does not have a bad offense. They have NO offense at all. This game was the most inept display of offensive coaching I have ever seen on a college D 1 level. This staff sends those kids out there without any means of competing and they should be ashamed of themselves for that. They are doing a great disservice to a decent group of student-athletes and it has been very apparent to anyone not wearing purple tinged glasses for several years. Today, even they should have seen it. It is very obvious what the problem is and is very correctible. The football program is in dire need of a complete overhaul. Hire real talent, not old school ties.















.

I most certainly agree. And it’s a shame that those with purple tinted glasses continue to act like there is not a problem with the program. The likes of Jackal stating that we have a great program is beyond ridiculous. It’s propaganda. - fake news! And it shows on the field.

[apaladin]

In December of 2019 when Mercer hired Cronic I said that Furman had seen its last win over Mercer for the foreseeable future. We’re now 0-2 since then and they are already a much better team, with much better coaching, Our next win over MU, if there is one will be after Cronic leaves,

[FU3]

CCH has emphasized the amount of time and effort they placed on special team play in the off season, please …stop. We were better at winging it.Yet one more sign of the current dysfunction in our coaching staff.

[Paladin91]

In December of 2019 when Mercer hired Cronic I said that Furman had seen its last win over Mercer for the foreseeable future. We’re now 0-2 since then and they are already a much better team, with much better coaching, Our next win over MU, if there is one will be after Cronic leaves,

Agree, I told Jackal CH’s early success was all due to Cronic. I remember talking to Cronic and he said he was limited with the stable of backs at the time - no speed to turn the corners. He took that 2017 team pretty far with limited offensive talent.

[purplehorse]

I appreciate Jackal’s expertise. He is 100 times smarter that I am. One little issue is he did not see great Furman defense’s like in 88 when we won the National Championship, 89 when we should have won the National Championship, 2001 when with Will Bouton we were runner-up etc. I am not saying our D is terrible but they are by no means great. At best B plus but no way an A. You have to remember we are no longer playing Marshall, Ga Southern, App State, Coastal Carolina etc. We are playing much weaker teams in a Southern Conference that is incredibly weak compared to many years in the past.

We have little chance of winning any games when our offense is so bad. I am not smart enough to know what the problem is but I think we need a dual-threat QB to even have a chance.

Running up the middle over and over in the 4th quarter down by 21 is INSANE.

I always like our Furman coaches and hope they will succeed but if Clay does not make it we badly need to fish in a non-FU pond for our next coach. The Furman family tree has not worked for some time now.

My greatest concern is our dwindling fan base with a continued non-winning team. I never would have imagined we would be where we are in 2020-2021 even 16 years ago. Sort of unimaginable-unless you wear purpose tinted glasses and are an eternal optimist.

[jesse174]

There was plenty of time to find a quarterback but we didn't find one so we tried to make our present QB better and it hasn't worked...he cant run the option and cant run so he is a passer period. If we designed an offense around his strengths then we would be better. Now the new guy can run and run the option...not sure how good a passer he is though...so now what does coach do? who knows....stay tuned as both are opposite in their strengths....which way do we go....

[The Jackal]

I’m not ignoring these conversations. I’m in rural Georgia enjoying time with the family. Limited service.

Today we didn’t look good. I think this game has to be a wake up call for our coaches. We aren’t going to win doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Got a bye week and hope that our staff takes a hard look at what they’re doing and what we need to do going forward.

[Affirm]

I don’t think it matters what they call. Mercer is just way,way better. But I think that’s because they are really really good.

Cronic has been at Mercer 20 months. Mercer is good but they are not great. The fact that we are so bad with the same coach for a few years now speaks volumes to our problems. CH is a good guy but he’s no Nick Saban - no killer instinct on the field. We need a coach who’s going to teach kids how to win and kick ass - leave it all out on the field. Light a match under these boys.

So is Cronic a Nick Saban? Maybe he is.

[El Guapo]

Per my limited perspective, football games are typically won by the team that has the most dynamic plays. Mercer turned us over 3 times, blocked a FG, and scored on long plays. Furman had a pic hat they couldn’t convert into points. It’s a sad day when your team performs so poorly. I hope the bye week helps but it will not be of any difference without personnel changes.

[Affirm]

One of the problems with Furman FB is that the majority of the posters on UFFP are SO delusional in thinking that the glory days of Furman FB are going to return.
Or maybe that is not a problem with Furman FB, because how can something (UFFP) that has not necessarily very much impact upon Furman FB be a problem for Furman FB.
Everyone needs to just enjoy Furman FB.
It’s just football.
And we are not Alabama. Or Clemson. Or Mercer. Or Vanderbilt.
We may possibly still be able to win a total of 4 games this year.
It’s good enough.

[Affirm]

Just some thoughts and facts for comparison and consideration.

Mercer has over 9,000 students.

Furman has 2,700 students.

The state of GA has 4 FBS teams, plus 2 FCS, a total of 6 D-1 programs.

The state of SC has 3 FBS teams (very good ones), plus 6 FCS, a total of 9 D-1 programs.

The population of GA is 10.7 million.

The population of SC is 5.1 million.

Mercer is in the middle of GA.

Furman is far from the middle of SC.

Mercer has about 70 Georgia players on its roster.

Furman has 10 SC players on its roster. (and about 25 Georgia players, by the way)

Mercer has about 5 players who come from a state that is not GA or a state adjacent to GA.

Furman has about 59 players who come from a state that is not SC or a state adjacent to SC.

Furman is quite close to Clemson and quite close to 2 of the other FCS schools.

Mercer is not quite so close to Athens nor to the 1 single other FCS school.

Furman has an outstanding band.

Mercer has a good band that can obviously afford the time and the money required to be able to travel to football games hours away. (It was nice to have them.)

Today was a beautiful day for football at Furman.

Today was not a beautiful day for the Furman football team.

Mercer plays at home next week in an important game.

Furman has no game next week and has to go away (though just 35-40 miles) for their game the following week.

What to make of all the above? I don’t know. I’ll continue to think.

[bj93]

Our offense will score as many touchdowns next week as it has in the last 2 games.