The Unofficial Furman Football Page

fupaladin01 wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 14, 2022 12:33 am

Football is less than 3 weeks away and I cannot wait. Time to go on record with your best guess (purple glasses or otherwise) on the upcoming season. I'm choosing unbridled optimism. 9-2

This is how it COULD happen...

NGU (W) - Paladins come out swinging with the new offense and never look back. Defense is rarely challenged and the Crusaders only cross midfield 3 times. CCH pulls his punches out of respect and Paladins win the battle between Christian Knights 38-0

Clemson (L) - Clemson, spoiling a beautiful purple uniform with splotches of orange, makes fewer mistakes than we need them to in order for the Purple and White to keep it really close, but a couple of sacks and a fumble keep FU in the game for a half. Offense rolls out a couple of cool plays for big yardage, but ultimately we can't go the distance. 34-12

ETSU (W) - Roper shows us what he's been holding back and a new QB has a breakout game, connecting with KD twice for TDs. Defense knows what to expect from Quarles and stuffs ETSU's run game and adds 2 interceptions. Roberto hits 100 yds and the Paladins vault into the top 25 after upsetting the top-10 Bucs. 27-20

CSU (W) - Offense struggles in the muggy Charleston air for a half, then finds a rhythm. Defense has its best showing of the season and shuts out the struggling CSU offense. 24-0

Samford (W) -Samford has an axe to grind against FU after years of losing close ones to the Dins. They come out slinging and catch the D napping a few too many times. FU mounts a comeback lead by a deceptive and powerful run game with some impressive pass plays. Ryan Miller again saves the day with 2 TDs and Furman escapes in another close one, 30-27

The Citadel (W) - The Bulldogs throw everything they've got at us, which keeps it close for a half. Defense struggles initially against the option attack but eventually locks down. The 2-headed monster of KD and R. Miller wears down their secondary and FU pulls away in the 2nd half. 27-13

Western Carolina (W) - Glad we have this one at home. WCU impresses with their offensive talents and exploits some weakness in our D with their balanced attack. FU Defense fares better than last season, and keeps the Catamounts under 40. A long, methodical, late drive provides the winning FG from Ryan Leavy and the Paladins win a close one. 41-38

VMI (W) - Still ranked closer to 20 than top-10, FU puts together its most complete game in Lexington. Defense gets 4 sacks and 3 interceptions, and Roberto runs for 150 yards and earns SoCon player of the week. We also get our first KO return for a TD in a long time. 33-10

Chattanooga (L) - Furman, ranked #15, is in the national FCS playoff conversation. Chattanooga rolls into Greenville loaded with FBS transfer talent and dissatisfied with their 5-2 record and waning playoff prospects. A defensive battle ensues, and for some reason our O has temporarily lost its mojo. The Mocs humble a huge homecoming crowd. 13-16

Mercer (W) - Scariest game on the schedule. Drew Cronic knew Quarles' playbook like the back of his hand and his defense has been studying Roper's moves closely. However, the Paladin O throws a few surprises at the Bears and the Furman D returns to form with 3 sacks and a key interception to swing the momentum. An unsung hero in the WR core has a breakout game and Roberto wreaks havoc behind an angry and determined OL and Furman wins a close one in Macon. 21-17

Wofford (W) - The Terriers have improved from last season, but that's not saying much. They attempt to play spoiler to our near-certain playoff hopes, but the Paladin Offense is humming and can smell a SoCon Championship. 45-24

Furman cracks the Top-10 in all polls.

Thorny wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 14, 2022 10:45 am

I remember a time when anything short of making it to the quarterfinals was a disappointment.

/That's kind of where I am.

fupaladin01 wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 14, 2022 12:33 am

Football is less than 3 weeks away and I cannot wait. Time to go on record with your best guess (purple glasses or otherwise) on the upcoming season. I'm choosing unbridled optimism. 9-2

This is how it COULD happen...

NGU (W) - Paladins come out swinging with the new offense and never look back. Defense is rarely challenged and the Crusaders only cross midfield 3 times. CCH pulls his punches out of respect and Paladins win the battle between Christian Knights 38-0

Clemson (L) - Clemson, spoiling a beautiful purple uniform with splotches of orange, makes fewer mistakes than we need them to in order for the Purple and White to keep it really close, but a couple of sacks and a fumble keep FU in the game for a half. Offense rolls out a couple of cool plays for big yardage, but ultimately we can't go the distance. 34-12

ETSU (W) - Roper shows us what he's been holding back and a new QB has a breakout game, connecting with KD twice for TDs. Defense knows what to expect from Quarles and stuffs ETSU's run game and adds 2 interceptions. Roberto hits 100 yds and the Paladins vault into the top 25 after upsetting the top-10 Bucs. 27-20

CSU (W) - Offense struggles in the muggy Charleston air for a half, then finds a rhythm. Defense has its best showing of the season and shuts out the struggling CSU offense. 24-0

Samford (W) -Samford has an axe to grind against FU after years of losing close ones to the Dins. They come out slinging and catch the D napping a few too many times. FU mounts a comeback lead by a deceptive and powerful run game with some impressive pass plays. Ryan Miller again saves the day with 2 TDs and Furman escapes in another close one, 30-27

The Citadel (W) - The Bulldogs throw everything they've got at us, which keeps it close for a half. Defense struggles initially against the option attack but eventually locks down. The 2-headed monster of KD and R. Miller wears down their secondary and FU pulls away in the 2nd half. 27-13

Western Carolina (W) - Glad we have this one at home. WCU impresses with their offensive talents and exploits some weakness in our D with their balanced attack. FU Defense fares better than last season, and keeps the Catamounts under 40. A long, methodical, late drive provides the winning FG from Ryan Leavy and the Paladins win a close one. 41-38

VMI (W) - Still ranked closer to 20 than top-10, FU puts together its most complete game in Lexington. Defense gets 4 sacks and 3 interceptions, and Roberto runs for 150 yards and earns SoCon player of the week. We also get our first KO return for a TD in a long time. 33-10

Chattanooga (L) - Furman, ranked #15, is in the national FCS playoff conversation. Chattanooga rolls into Greenville loaded with FBS transfer talent and dissatisfied with their 5-2 record and waning playoff prospects. A defensive battle ensues, and for some reason our O has temporarily lost its mojo. The Mocs humble a huge homecoming crowd. 13-16

Mercer (W) - Scariest game on the schedule. Drew Cronic knew Quarles' playbook like the back of his hand and his defense has been studying Roper's moves closely. However, the Paladin O throws a few surprises at the Bears and the Furman D returns to form with 3 sacks and a key interception to swing the momentum. An unsung hero in the WR core has a breakout game and Roberto wreaks havoc behind an angry and determined OL and Furman wins a close one in Macon. 21-17

Wofford (W) - The Terriers have improved from last season, but that's not saying much. They attempt to play spoiler to our near-certain playoff hopes, but the Paladin Offense is humming and can smell a SoCon Championship. 45-24

Furman cracks the Top-10 in all polls.

gofurman wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 16, 2022 6:18 pm

I’ll come back w more detail but odd how we admit we struggle much more in years without a junior or senior QB and then I see these 9–2 predictions with either JW as sophomore in a new system (!) or Huff as grad but in a brand new system. We always do better with elder QBs who have been in our system multiple years. Jackal has touted this as just about the number one correlation w success and we are a year short (JW?) this year. Just sayin

Just thoughts. Hope we win it all

I’ll go 7-4. Detail later

The Jackal wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 16, 2022 10:05 pm

gofurman wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 16, 2022 6:18 pm

I’ll come back w more detail but odd how we admit we struggle much more in years without a junior or senior QB and then I see these 9–2 predictions with either JW as sophomore in a new system (!) or Huff as grad but in a brand new system. We always do better with elder QBs who have been in our system multiple years. Jackal has touted this as just about the number one correlation w success and we are a year short (JW?) this year. Just sayin

Just thoughts. Hope we win it all

I’ll go 7-4. Detail later

I did what now?

The number one correlation to success is scoring more than the other team does. The more you do that, the better you'll be.

Having an experienced players helps. I don't think that's breaking any new ground.

gofurman wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 17, 2022 1:18 am

7-4 ?

Possible losses.
Clemson - Very probably
ETSU
Chatt
Western
Mercer
Sammy? remember last year - it took HEROICS to win this.

Often we say, a few plays here and there and we are 8-3 (ETSU comes to mind)... also, a few plays we don't execute (Samford) and we are 5-6.

I hope we get a few and make the playoffs. Obviously, ETSU Chatt and Mercer are opportunities. If we don't win there is no one to look at but ourselves. The opportunities are there for the taking. Well, I still don't like the D2 game but there is no changing that now. Though I know CH agrees as he was upset a few years back when we were denied playoffs for too few games.