Scrimmage yesterday 10/24

[paladinduece]

Anybody get a chance to go by and watch yesterday? Any reports on how it went?

[AstroDin]

A little birdie from this board shared a video with me - his nephew is a student. I'll leave it up to him if he wants to share. I'll just say one great play with Sisson at QB another great play with Grainger at QB.

Also saw some photos on Twitter of the scrimmage posted by people attending - excited by some of the formations I saw on the field.

[apaladin]

Anybody get a chance to go by and watch yesterday? Any reports on how it went?

Would have loved to have gone but was not allowed.

[The Jackal]

Video posted - I presume some clips from the scrimmage.

Hard to make out much. I did find one little clip interesting, though. at the :33 mark, Furman's offense is running a pitch option out of the shotgun. I noticed it first because of the really nice lead block downfield.

The lead blocker appears to be Ryan Miller, a TE. He looks to set up in the formation as an H-Back with both Anderson and Wynn in the backfield. Miller pulls across the formation is the lead blocker for the pitch man.

I don't recall many (any?) times that Furman used Miller as more of a lead blocking running back last year. With Wynn and Anderson both on the field with Miller, Furman can run the ball any direction and can also throw it - as all three of those guys are talented receivers. Lot for a defense to worry about there.

You can bet your biscuit safeties are going to get sucked in on the run and then have to find Miller cutting across the formation or Anderson swinging out of the backfield.

We might also see . . . a screen play.

[AstroDin]

I just watched the Twitter post this morning > Anderson could be the breakout player for 2021 and that's saying something Furman is loaded in the backfield. Watkins (3) and Thomas (17) both made some grabs on the video.

And Cujo Coleman seems to be mixing it up in the middle on a lot of that video.

[The Jackal]

I just watched the Twitter post this morning > Anderson could be the breakout player for 2021 and that's saying something Furman is loaded in the backfield. Watkins (3) and Thomas (17) both made some grabs on the video.

And Cujo Coleman seems to be mixing it up in the middle on a lot of that video.

It might not be this year, but I think you'll see Furman get creative in how they use Thomas. From everything I've seen, he looks like an excellent receiver.

[The Jackal]

Video posted - I presume some clips from the scrimmage.

Hard to make out much. I did find one little clip interesting, though. at the :33 mark, Furman's offense is running a pitch option out of the shotgun. I noticed it first because of the really nice lead block downfield.

The lead blocker appears to be Ryan Miller, a TE. He looks to set up in the formation as an H-Back with both Anderson and Wynn in the backfield. Miller pulls across the formation is the lead blocker for the pitch man.

I don't recall many (any?) times that Furman used Miller as more of a lead blocking running back last year. With Wynn and Anderson both on the field with Miller, Furman can run the ball any direction and can also throw it - as all three of those guys are talented receivers. Lot for a defense to worry about there.

You can bet your biscuit safeties are going to get sucked in on the run and then have to find Miller cutting across the formation or Anderson swinging out of the backfield.

We might also see . . . a screen play.

Thought more about this. I'm wondering if we might see a slight shift in some offensive play calling.

Running triple option out of a shotgun look with an H back (whether a TE or FB) isn't something you see a ton of around the country. Most spread teams have a zone read approach (rarely triple option). Those teams running the triple option do so more out of a split veer look.

Two teams that are notable nationally running this sort of offense are Oregon and Auburn (moreso a few years ago with Newton and Marshall at QB).

When Hendrix arrived at Furman, based on available personnel, we were a lot more of a split wing look with a lot of fullback dives/traps. Not really complex stuff, but made it work.

With current personnel, we have a lot of available athletes - mobile QBs, a deeper and more athletic offensive line, running backs physical enough to run between the tackles and smooth enough to catch passes.

Maybe we will see some no huddle Oregon-style up tempo option rush attack.

[AstroDin]

Jackal - I believe Bear made a comment several years back about going to an offensive workshop put on by Quarles when he was still HC at Maryville. If I remember correctly Quarles ran a spread-option that had triple-option schemes.

Furman's edge speed is impressive and it's now not just a player or two deep. Wynn, Watkins, Anderson, and now Thomas can all catch the ball. I'd love to see Furman ran some Oregon uptempo stuff…

[The Jackal]

Jackal - I believe Bear made a comment several years back about going to an offensive workshop put on by Quarles when he was still HC at Maryville. If I remember correctly Quarles ran a spread-option that had triple-option schemes.

Furman's edge speed is impressive and it's now not just a player or two deep. Wynn, Watkins, Anderson, and now Thomas can all catch the ball. I'd love to see Furman ran some Oregon uptempo stuff…

Looking back, we ran a good bit more of this look than I initially thought we did.

It seemed we incorporated more two-back shotgun looks as the season went on and less double-wing under center.

[apaladin]

I noticed in the video, only 2 short pass completions.

[AstroDin]

You can't read much into a tightly edited and cropped set of highlight cuts.

[FUBeAR]

Jackal - I believe Bear made a comment several years back about going to an offensive workshop put on by Quarles when he was still HC at Maryville. If I remember correctly Quarles ran a spread-option that had triple-option schemes.

Furman's edge speed is impressive and it's now not just a player or two deep. Wynn, Watkins, Anderson, and now Thomas can all catch the ball. I'd love to see Furman ran some Oregon uptempo stuff…

Correct - he was running FU’s I-Option Offense of the 80’s using 4 & 5 wides...with more passing, of course.

[The Jackal]

With the time change, I find myself getting up early. Today, I opted to watch a lot of the Virginia Tech and Wofford games and some other selections. A few musings:

Over the season, you saw Furman incorporate more of a shotgun approach than the split back we saw early in Hendrix's tenure. From the Wofford game and later against Point, you saw a good bit more of the pistol multi-back look that we really did not see much of early in the season.

Our passing game much of the year was a bit of a mess with the probable exception of the game against Georgia State. You can see in some of the games where our offense found tougher sledding a few things:

1. We have a lot of misfires in the passing game. Both QBs. Guys are open, we just don't hit them. Balls sail a bit, spike into the ground, get thrown slightly in front or behind. Play design is there. Execution isn't.

2. Because we run so much play action, it seems like our young QBs sped up their clocks on slower developing plays. They hurry up their mechanics. Our offense, which has a lot of option looks, seems to leave a lot of guys unblocked on play action passing games. Defenses, I think, coach their kids that if unblocked - fire to the QB.

3. Our coaching staff was moving Thomas Gordon around everywhere trying to probe for matchup problems. He was the one guy defenses had to really be concerned with in the passing game.

4. If Gordon wasn't in the game, defenses had very little to be concerned about in the passing game. We almost never threw to any non-Gordon WRs not named Ryan Deluca. Our backup TE, Walker, plays a lot, but is not much of a receiving threat.

5. In the running game, you see some of the problem with having to move Gordon around a bunch. When lined up as a wing - as he frequently was - you would lose something in the running game. Gordon was not necessarily the guy you wanted trying to seal the edge against a DE or OLB, given that he was at a massive size disadvantage.

--

I'm wondering if we won't see a bit more of a Nevada-like pistol option this season, which we saw increasingly more of as the season progressed. Example:

I like our split wing looks and option principles, but I'm not sure we are built to be a real veer option team. We tend to avoid three back sets and that seems to sacrifice blocking the edge in the run game.

I think the increased depth at WR will help. We had a lot of looks last year where our offense really didn't have personnel on the field to threaten teams vertically. Depth and execution in the passing game will do wonders for us.

All the tools are there. We've got talent, speed, size, and coaching. Just need to execute better in games where teams aren't giving us much.

[youwouldno]

Our passing game much of the year was a bit of a mess with the probable exception of the game against Georgia State. You can see in some of the games where our offense found tougher sledding a few things:

1. We have a lot of misfires in the passing game. Both QBs. Guys are open, we just don't hit them. Balls sail a bit, spike into the ground, get thrown slightly in front or behind. Play design is there. Execution isn't.

2. Because we run so much play action, it seems like our young QBs sped up their clocks on slower developing plays. They hurry up their mechanics. Our offense, which has a lot of option looks, seems to leave a lot of guys unblocked on play action passing games. Defenses, I think, coach their kids that if unblocked - fire to the QB.

This is what I don't understand . . . in year 4, how can the staff have 2 scholarship QBs on the roster, neither of whom can execute the offense with any consistency? And the only other QB that's been enrolled under Hendrix is now a walk-on basketball player at Georgia Southern.

Are HS QBs put off by Furman's offense? I'd think it would be appealing to the dual-threat types, at least. And what about FBS transfers? The team has 2 FBS transfers at WR. Even if Grainger or Sisson ultimately develop into a good starter, both were obviously thrown out there before they were ready, and it wasn't because of injuries.

[The Jackal]

Our passing game much of the year was a bit of a mess with the probable exception of the game against Georgia State. You can see in some of the games where our offense found tougher sledding a few things:

1. We have a lot of misfires in the passing game. Both QBs. Guys are open, we just don't hit them. Balls sail a bit, spike into the ground, get thrown slightly in front or behind. Play design is there. Execution isn't.

2. Because we run so much play action, it seems like our young QBs sped up their clocks on slower developing plays. They hurry up their mechanics. Our offense, which has a lot of option looks, seems to leave a lot of guys unblocked on play action passing games. Defenses, I think, coach their kids that if unblocked - fire to the QB.

This is what I don't understand . . . in year 4, how can the staff have 2 scholarship QBs on the roster, neither of whom can execute the offense with any consistency? And the only other QB that's been enrolled under Hendrix is now a walk-on basketball player at Georgia Southern.

Are HS QBs put off by Furman's offense? I'd think it would be appealing to the dual-threat types, at least. And what about FBS transfers? The team has 2 FBS transfers at WR. Even if Grainger or Sisson ultimately develop into a good starter, both were obviously thrown out there before they were ready, and it wasn't because of injuries.

A few thoughts.

One, playing QB is hard. Moving from being Joe High School to D1 football is particularly hard.

Two, Furman has, unfortunately, had to play a lot of freshman at the position over the last ten years. Reese Hannon started as a freshman. Dillon Woodruff. Terry Robinson was thrown out there. Duncan Fletcher. PJ Blazejowski. Now Grainger and Sisson.

If you remember back to Blazejowski's early work, he went through a lot of growing pains has he developed in the offense. I remember one game against the Citadel where Furman lost a close contest after two crippling late interceptions on ill-advised passes. He did not make those same mistakes as a senior. You have to have time to develop and learn.

One real positive for both QBs is that while things aren't always clicking, they have not turned the ball over. Grainger threw only three interceptions last season against 13 touchdowns. Sisson also threw 3 interceptions, which included one freako-pick that bounced off a receiver's shoe against Wofford.

So, on 240+ attempts over 13 games, Furman's two freshman QBs had a 16:6 TD/Int ratio. Those are really positive numbers.

As to whether QBs want to play in this offense, I would have to think so. I would think an athletic QB would love to play in an offense that features them both as a passer and a runner.

Bottom line - you have to give it time. Hendrix didn't inherit a ton of depth at QB. He had one season of Blazejowski and one season of Harris (who was injured much of the season). Both of those guys looked much better as seniors than they did as freshmen, which you would expect.

The hope is that we see continued improvement from Grainger/Sisson as sophomores. Then you add a new QB in this class, who will not be called on to play right away, hopefully. He can redshirt, learn, and develop and take over in two seasons when these guys move on. That is a luxury we have not had a lot of the last few years.