Something To Play For

[apaladin]

With playoff hopes gone after yesterdays debacle, trying to think of something to play for.
1. A winning season for whatever that is worth.
2. Win 3 in a row to stay in the top 20 to begin fall season ranked.(Very important, but highly unlikely)
3. Beat rivals Citadel and Wofford. Again, highly unlikely but would be nice.
4. Try to fix this awful mess in the next 4 weeks or at least make some progress.
Anything else?? Please add if you can come up with something.

[Sad Din]

Half off Papa Johns coupon?

[Sad Din]

[purplehorse]

Those are all very big things to play for and important. I would love to beat Wofford and Citadel. I just do not see that happening as we are really BAD.

Although everybody always likes to say “we are not as bad as it appeared when we lost yesterday OR as good as it appeared when we won,” I am not convinced that statement is true here. We have had 5 games this year and it has largely been an uphill struggle. You cannot WIN when you show up and play well for one quarter or half etc. No part of our game has been top notch. We have had 14 months to improve since the Austin Peay debacle and it appears we are getting worse. Quite frankly we were fortunate to beat Sammy and ETSU. And we have 5 months to be ready for the fall season. Are the coaches going to pull a bunny out of the hat magically? It is not like they are going to be able to flick a switch. I am not optimistic at all but have to trust that CCH and his staff can address the problems. Getting in the playoffs would just be an embarrassment in the near future unless we have a complete overhaul! The problem appears to go much deeper than our W-L record.

What has happened this year is completely baffling and almost unexplainable. I can see why CCH was so frustrated on his postgame show. If he knew what to fix he would have done it by now.

[AlValonge]

Far be it from me to besmirch a Papa John's coupon, but I think we still have tons to play for. There are few things that would be tastier than beating both sets of dogs from our state and finishing with a winning record. Of course, I would like to win the SoCon every year and advance to the playoffs, but that is not always possible. I would also like a paid-for beach house and six-pack abs so I have to remind myself to stay grounded in reality and appreciate the little things.... It wasn't that long ago that I would have begged for 6 wins. Heck, I almost took a swan dive off the highest bleacher back during the Fowler years. I know I am sounding like an old man and am no longer a fountain hopping kid, but I trust our coaching staff and will be grateful for a winning season IF we can accomplish that goal. That alone is something to play for in my opinion. We need to keep recruiting and supporting our team and there will be better days ahead. Let's have some grace and remind ourselves that it really is nice to have football back!!

[The Jackal]

We are not "bad."

Our offense has been inconsistent. Our defense has largely been tough as nails.

At worst, the next few games will give players some valuable experience.

[purplehorse]

Jackal we will have to respectfully disagree. You know much more football than I do but folks are wired to see the glass as half empty OR half full. I hope you are correct and that we are not “bad” and that we beat Citadel and Wofford. Compared to the Marshall, App State, Ga Southern years I think we are a bad team in a bad conference. We are 3-4 in our last 7 games getting killed by Wofford, blown out by Austin Peay and this season losing to VMI a and Chat and having come-back close wins over Sammy & ETSU. And the last time we played Citadel they beat the crap out of us in Sept 2019. A bad trend IMHO. And the details seem to be even worse to me. Beating teams is not nearly as important to me when the playoffs have already been taken off the table.

[The Jackal]

Jackal we will have to respectfully disagree. You know much more football than I do but folks are wired to see the glass as half empty OR half full. I hope you are correct and that we are not “bad” and that we beat Citadel and Wofford. Compared to the Marshall, App State, Ga Southern years I think we are a bad team in a bad conference. We are 3-4 in our last 7 games getting killed by Wofford, blown out by Austin Peay and this season losing to VMI a and Chat and having come-back close wins over Sammy & ETSU. And the last time we played Citadel they beat the crap out of us in Sept 2019. A bad trend IMHO. And the details seem to be even worse to me. Beating teams is not nearly as important to me when the playoffs have already been taken off the table.

I mean, I go back and watch the "glory days" or whatever, and it's just a different era. In my opinion, you can't go back 20 years and say "why can't we just do that again?"

I can objectively watch and see we have a talented team. Even all those games you cite, the defense has never been the problem. Defense wasn't even a problem this year against Samford, who scored several times without their offense on the field. The defense has been as good as it's been in 15 years.

We didn't get "killed" by Wofford. We were stopped twice on the goal line, which makes a different in a 17 point margin. Two more feet and that's a 3 point game.

Look, our execution stinks. We've got too much going on offensively. That is on the coaches to fix. 2017 was a good example of a team just running a relatively simple offensive scheme, but running it well and putting up a bunch of points.

Also, our all american kicker transferred, and that has forced us to replace three different positions (PK, KO, P). In our two losses this season, special teams has been an issue and has really made the difference in the game.

[Furmanoid]

But why can’t you go back 20 years and just do that again? What has changed? That’s the thing to figure out. Right now we are scrambling to stay in the middle of a conference that is being dominated by VMI- historically one of the worst programs in sports. We have some talented players for sure, but is it possible to take a really talented team and coach poorly enough to be where we are? I don’t think so. I think the curious play calling is just a staff struggling to cover up serious deficiencies they see all week in practice. They are desperately trying to come up with something these guys can do.

[DeepPurple]

There is one big thing that has changed in the past 20 years. It is called the transfer portal. We all watch it happen in the fall with fbs schools. I believe it has effected Furman. We will never be a school to take in 30+ transfers like many in our league. When we do lose a kid, it hurts. Many schools in the SOCON live in the portal. We will never be that school, our academics are to tough and admissions the same. I do trust that our staff will dig their way out of this. We have lost two games by a couple of points. Those two teams are pretty good. Our opponents have had weeks to prepare for us. We have one week to prepare for them. I'm hoping this off week will help us more than we will ever know. CCH is a winner and I believe we will get it back on the road. We also have a fantastic recruiting class coming in a few months. We have recruited at a much higher level over the past few years. Everyone wants to be Alabama, we are not that.

[The Jackal]

But why can’t you go back 20 years and just do that again? What has changed? That’s the thing to figure out. Right now we are scrambling to stay in the middle of a conference that is being dominated by VMI- historically one of the worst programs in sports. We have some talented players for sure, but is it possible to take a really talented team and coach poorly enough to be where we are? I don’t think so. I think the curious play calling is just a staff struggling to cover up serious deficiencies they see all week in practice. They are desperately trying to come up with something these guys can do.

Remember, Furman played in a SoCon 20 years ago where most of the conference sucked. Western sucked. Elon sucked. ETSU sucked. UTC sucked. Wofford was meh. Citadel meh. There were three good teams and a bunch of garbage.

I think for a long time Furman was satisfied with just showing up and saying "hey, we're Furman, look what we did in the 80s." That dog doesn't hunt any more. We learned that the hard way watching the team slide into complete mediocrity for a decade. You want to talk about bad, go look at the Furman teams from 2009 or so until 2017.

I go back and watch games from 20 years ago (several are on Youtube). This current Furman team is bigger, stronger, and faster than those Furman teams at many positions.

College football was also a much different landscape then. In 1988 there were 192 Division 1 football teams (88 in the FCS/IAA). In 2019, there were 254 (124 in the FCS). So, Furman in the 80s was competing against roughly 1/3 fewer teams. None of the FCS/1-AA teams of that era were Furman comps - small private colleges in the south playing D1 football. Now there are four such colleges just in the SoCon.

If you assume that 62 (give or take) programs playing D1 football in 2019 that did not play in 1988 average about 70 scholarships a team, you are talking 4,340 more D1 scholarship football players now than in 1988. The modern landscape is just much different. More competition.

And, again, there is collective freakout, but the defense isn't remotely the problem. They've been lights out for most of the last 20 games or so. The issue is on offense.

[Furmanoid]

In general athletes are bigger, stronger and faster than 20 years ago. We may be getting bigger, stronger and faster but so is everybody else. The goal is to get BETTER.

Everybody is recruiting against more teams than 20 years ago. I don’t see how that hurts FU more than anybody else. The talent should be diluted across the board.

I don’t get the conference comparison at all. We used to be up against 2 teams that had immediate success when they moved up to FBS. Now the lead dog is VMI. Are you telling me VMI could move up and threaten for the Sunbelt championship next year? I really, really doubt they could. I don’t think they would win a game.

[gofurman]

In general athletes are bigger, stronger and faster than 20 years ago. We may be getting bigger, stronger and faster but so is everybody else. The goal is to get BETTER.

Everybody is recruiting against more teams than 20 years ago. I don’t see how that hurts FU more than anybody else. The talent should be diluted across the board.

I don’t get the conference comparison at all. We used to be up against 2 teams that had immediate success when they moved up to FBS. Now the lead dog is VMI. Are you telling me VMI could move up and threaten for the Sunbelt championship next year? I really, really doubt they could. I don’t think they would win a game.

Jackal. I have to agree here. I would appreciate your thoughts.

- If it’s dilution... EVERYONE should be diluted equally so the quality of athlete would be down but we would still be whooping up on others. IE we were a level 10 and they were an 8. Now we would be at a level 7 and they would a 4 (whatever that means). You get my point. Why should dilution affect us MORE?

- point 2. If we are more athletic than say 10 years ago - and I think we are far more athletic than under Fowler etc - then we should be KILLING other teams where dilution has set in. That implies we are a level 10 and they are now a 5. The difference should be greater

Thoughts? Not arguing. Just askin, Thanks in advance !
Gf

[The Jackal]

In general athletes are bigger, stronger and faster than 20 years ago. We may be getting bigger, stronger and faster but so is everybody else. The goal is to get BETTER.

Everybody is recruiting against more teams than 20 years ago. I don’t see how that hurts FU more than anybody else. The talent should be diluted across the board.

I don’t get the conference comparison at all. We used to be up against 2 teams that had immediate success when they moved up to FBS. Now the lead dog is VMI. Are you telling me VMI could move up and threaten for the Sunbelt championship next year? I really, really doubt they could. I don’t think they would win a game.

Jackal. I have to agree here. I would appreciate your thoughts.

- If it’s dilution... EVERYONE should be diluted equally so the quality of athlete would be down but we would still be whooping up on others. IE we were a level 10 and they were an 8. Now we would be at a level 7 and they would a 4 (whatever that means). You get my point. Why should dilution affect us MORE?

- point 2. If we are more athletic than say 10 years ago - and I think we are far more athletic than under Fowler etc - then we should be KILLING other teams where dilution has set in. That implies we are a level 10 and they are now a 5. The difference should be greater

Thoughts? Not arguing. Just askin, Thanks in advance !
Gf

I say all of that in response to those who just cite back 20-30 years ago and say "why can't we be like those teams?" That was a different era. The game was different. Recruiting was different. The SoCon was different. It's a useless thought exercise.

This is my honest opinion - we do not look outclassed. We look outcoached.

I think our offense has put in so much "window dressing" that we are losing the basics. Too many formations. Too much motion. Too many personnel groups. We simply aren't doing any of it well.

I watch our offense and I see confusion. When you see our offense getting overwhelmed at the point of attack, the most logical conclusion I can draw is that we are confused about what we are supposed to be doing. Football is a true team game, and if there is lack of clarity about an assignment the play is going to break down - guys will run the wrong way, block the wrong guy, zig when they should zag, whatever.

If I am a defensive coordinator, I am just going to attack Furman. We show little ability to adjust to it. In an offense built on timing, the defense needs only to disrupt the timing. Every team we are playing is essentially doing the same thing to us - attack and disrupt timing.

I am firmly of the opinion that we do not have bad players. I do not believe we have bad coaches. I think our offensive coaches need to take control of this thing, get a manageable playbook, get the ball in the hands of our best players, and start punching back.

[apaladin]

Many of our plays take way too long to get going. Even our straight handoffs are too slow. We are a total inefficient mess on offense.