The Unofficial Furman Football Page

Plays you would like etc


My list in order

- win. Duh
- but win in a way w offensive CHANGE and HOPE
- more specifically a few plays of easy passes to Wr screen or backs out of backfld.. EASY PASSES but they back people out off box. Not bombs. Maybe a 10 yd TE down seam? Maybe kick it to Harris on a short screen pass w two on two in the flat? I mean, any D1 team can complete that… then let Harris go one on one (2x2 w a blocker)
- less up the middle for 2 yds. Try it some. I get it. It sets stuff up. You could bust one. But I swear we got two yds between tackles 19 times recently
.. hey if it gets 4 yds per rush go with it a lot. I love a boring win!! But if we average 2 per rush.. well insanity and all that
- no option plays where we are obviously pitching. That’s option .. with no option! That’s crazy when QB pitches too early and D never has to commit to Qb. QB must be willing to run and also keep long enough before pitch if it’s a pitch. . HS has been a little better at this this year (keeping it a little more ) though pitches are still too early Imo .. I think Jace really could light this up when he’s ready. He’s fast ! Make them respect the Qb kep if you decide to run option. This spring and fall have been very frustrating watching our lack of option ability
- both QBs. At least some wildcat and a few basic plays for Jace. with Two weeks they should have time for tons of reps on, say, 5 plays or so. I think two weeks is enough to just hammer five plays into a QB that he can handle. Especially a few simple wildcat though then you need a pass to check to or Wof can put everyone in box and leave one on one coverage. Put Jace in. Run some wildcat and basic safe passes. Then line up as wildcat and toss one to Miller or deluca w one on one
- SPECIAL TEAMS. Hasn’t been mentioned much. I mean KOR when I say special teams. -as when an O is struggling a big KOR to the 40 or 50 is a big help. Haven’t busted one to midfield I don’t think?

Scoring A TD. 2 would be a bonanza. Unfortunately I think we see the same ol same ol. Hope they prove me wrong.

Sustained scoring drives. Just show consistency.

And a band. With that being said, I have never been to a game in Spartanburg. What is half time like and how do you get in and out of the stadium?

JohnKX512 wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 05, 2021 9:48 pm

Sustained scoring drives. Just show consistency.

And a band. With that being said, I have never been to a game in Spartanburg. What is half time like and how do you get in and out of the stadium?

The times I’ve bern there they either had a high school band or nothing, Don’t know what you mean “how do you get in out of the stadium.” Walk through a gate. If you’re talking traffic, don’t worry about it, there won’t be any. Doubt there wil be 5k peeps.

JohnKX512 wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 05, 2021 9:48 pm

Sustained scoring drives. Just show consistency.

And a band. With that being said, I have never been to a game in Spartanburg. What is half time like and how do you get in and out of the stadium?

I-85N to I-585 Pine Street (Exit to the right / turn right -careful on that exit; it’s been jacked up for years). Pine to Twitty - you’ll see the Starbucks. Turn right, go up the hill & you’ll be at the FU Tailgate. Just ignore / drive by any Parking Nazis that might try to detain you - same as at Furman.

I’m curious if we’ll see Shiflett specific plays. I think CCH has written him off at QB, but would like to see some of those WR screens or quick passes to him. I’ve said it before but I’d like a package of Shiflett plays in the red zone to punch in some TDs.

He mentioned him again on the Monday coaches show. Always seems to bring his name up but he never sees the field. Since he basically has never played maybe hes just not as good as we thought/hoped. Maybe he’s still learning the playbook? BTW WC has some new jerseys. Still ugly but at least new.

Shiflett > my fan perspective thoughts…

Shiflett is very athletic - enough so that before he broke his ankle his senior season he had ACC and SEC schools very interested. I'm not sure what the injuries were but CCH mentioned Luke fighting back from two serious injuries.

I watched several pre-season practices - the two receivers that stood out were Shiflett and Harris. You guys may remember— Brian Stone he transferred from Florida the year before Ingle Martin? Shiflett reminds me of him. Tall, deceptively fast, appears to run crisp routes, and has a toughness.

I think we will finally get to see how Shiflett performs at WR.

If Shiflett does step in and contribute this is IMO a big deal in many ways. That gives Furman three receivers with some length. Harris is 6-2 he appears to play longer, his sideline catches have been impressive. Miller is not that big if you think traditional TE size. Miller is a unicorn, he's really good near the line and on short passes, but he has another gear when he catches the ball in the open field. Shiflett brings more size at 6-2 and he has some speed.

As far as what I hope to see — I feel Noah Henderson keeps knocking on the door to make a big play. I love his move to TE. Noah is probably the most physical receiver Furman has. He's a matchup problem much like Miller.

I'm not a football coach, but I play one on a message board.

My general issue with the offense is not talent or coaching, really. I think that we have good players and I think that we have good coaches. A lot of our issue, in my view, is correlative. If we are committed to "x" we need to be able to do "y." Frequently, we struggle to execute "y."

My thoughts:

1. Run the QB. We are committed to this shotgun zone/read scheme. That's fine. I think to run that effectively, though, we have to be willing to move the quarterback. Move him in the run game. Move him in the pass game.

The last time we had an anemic rushing output was in the Bruce Fowler years and for much the same reason - we were committed to zone reads out of the shotgun, but never forced the defense to respect our ability to pull the ball and run to the edge. What happens is a pure numbers game. Defenses have more players in the box than we have to block them, and none of them are concerned with our ability to get the ball outside with the QB.

When Cronic was OC (and you saw this from Mercer last week), they will move the QB. Even plays Furman theoretically has defended, the mobile QB forces defenses to make choices in real time. We aren't forcing teams to do that. Even in the passing game, our QBs most frequently just drop straight back.

What's crazy is that we have three mobile QBs on roster. In the Fowler days, Reese Hannon was an excellent QB, but he was not much of a shifty runner. Currently, we've got guys that can move. We just have to move them.

If you aren't going to use the QB as a runner, I think we need to go back to more of a straight ahead run game. Use single back/single wing/I formation a la mid-2000s. Those offenses didn't put as much reliance on the QB running the ball, but also gave Furman more blockers at the point of attack.

2. Either run the option, or don't. One way we are trying to get the ball on the edge in the running game is this little pitch option thing. As others have observed, its not an option so much as a type of sweep and almost always ends in negative plays. Either run the option, or don't. Stop sort of running the option.

3. Execute Screen Plays. If we are committed to this style of offense, and don't necessarily have a QB that's going to be lighting it up in the passing game, we need to hit screens. Most of the screens I've seen us run to this point have been some variation of ugly. They are there, we just don't always execute them.

4. Stop getting cute. I've thought about this some, but I think sometimes are coaches are trying to get too cute out there. For instance, we like lining Devin Wynn up in the slot as a receiver in no huddle to force a defense to match up with us based on on-field personnel. In the vacuum of space, this is a pretty good idea. The problem is it isn't really seeming to work.

If I am a defensive coordinator, would I rather you take your best running back and line him up at WR in an offense that struggles to execute in the passing game, or would I rather him be in the backfield? The former, I think.

If we want to run a 3 WR set at defenses, why don't we just use three WRs? That's not to take anything from Wynn's pass catching, which is excellent, but it just takes your best player and moves him to a spot where he's less dangerous to the defense.

Here's a good screen play by Furman against NC State. Wayne Anderson is out in the slot. If you're a defensive coordinator, though, aren't you OK if Furman wants to screen to the fullback? Roberto's a good runner, but he's unlikely to take the ball 50-60 yards for a score.

If you're Furman, wouldn't you want to throw the ball to your TB? If you are going to run a 4 WR look, wouldn't we be better to substitute the FB for, say, Shiflett and put him in the slot and let the TB catch the screen? Seems like that makes us (1) more dangerous in the screen, (2) more dangerous downfield.

I want to see a pissed off football team. I'm tired of watching Wofford and The Citadel physically dominate us. I want us to pound the living crap out of them in all three phases of the game. I'm not so concerned about the score as much as I am seeing a team with a purpose. I'm not talking about playing dirty or smack talking between plays. I think we have lost our focus on physically punishing teams. We did this to Wofford in 2018. The Bus two guys need to show up!

Strippers!!!!
The kind that works the lunch crowd..... 12 wings and a good ole biggun !!!!

Is that all nude BYOB place still open in Welford?

Fred Garvin wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 06, 2021 11:28 am

Strippers!!!!
The kind that works the lunch crowd..... 12 wings and a good ole biggun !!!!

Is that all nude BYOB place still open in Welford?

Yessir. Kelly was asking FUBeAR about FreddyG last time he was in there. Should I let her know you’ll stop by Saturday?

FUBeAR wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 06, 2021 11:57 am

Fred Garvin wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 06, 2021 11:28 am

Strippers!!!!
The kind that works the lunch crowd..... 12 wings and a good ole biggun !!!!

Is that all nude BYOB place still open in Welford?

Yessir. Kelly was asking FUBeAR about FreddyG last time he was in there. Should I let her know you’ll stop by Saturday?

Nikita's Playhouse

JohnKX512 wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 05, 2021 9:48 pm

Sustained scoring drives. Just show consistency.

And a band. With that being said, I have never been to a game in Spartanburg. What is half time like and how do you get in and out of the stadium?

Park next to the Richardson building. Halftime might be two dogs chasing frisbees.