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We Are Improving!
PostPosted:Wed Nov 16, 2022 7:50 pm
by purplehorse
We seem to be improving with our game against Mercer being our best-complete in all 3 phases. I especially liked our big pass plays against Mercer. Those are huge to help open up our offense with our running game and Huff running. Defensive line play was superb, blocking kicks etc.
It seems we are much better than we were the day we lost to Samford. We are learning how to WIN.
If we learn to convert 4th and 1 and don’t give up the long pass play and don’t turn the ball over, we could do serious damage in the playoffs.
Re: We Are Improving!
PostPosted:Wed Nov 16, 2022 8:44 pm
by The Jackal
I still don't think we've seen our offense at full tilt.
We look creative on offense mixed with physicality. It's a good combination. Right now, we just need to start converting some of these field goals to touchdowns.
Re: We Are Improving!
PostPosted:Wed Nov 16, 2022 10:24 pm
by AllTimeFU
Agree. I bet we learned something on that 4th down attempt out of that wildcat. I bet we don't see that again unless he's passing it. I mentioned a few weeks ago when there was a bit more frustration on this board that it was important to be peaking at the right time and moving to playing on 8 cylinders. I THINK that's happening. An explosive showing on Saturday will validate it. From a few of the podcasts it sounded like we have a case based on resume to contend for one of the last seeds. While a Samford loss to Mercer (which was predicted by the Analyst today) would give us the opportunity for a share in the conference, I wonder how it would impact us for seeding.
Re: We Are Improving!
PostPosted:Thu Nov 17, 2022 2:28 am
by apaladin
Would like to see it but I don’t see Mercer beating Sammy. Hope I am wrong.
Re: We Are Improving!
PostPosted:Thu Nov 17, 2022 7:14 am
by Afurmanfan
Remember, Huff was out versus Samford. What is so obvious is the direction of this program overall.
Re: We Are Improving!
PostPosted:Thu Nov 17, 2022 8:17 am
by The Jackal
Afurmanfan wrote: ↑Thu Nov 17, 2022 7:14 am
Remember, Huff was out versus Samford. What is so obvious is the direction of this program overall.
The transfer portal has been a benefit as well as the school's commitment to doing things that will help the football program from an academic standpoint (the addition of an attractive master's program, for instance).
Furman strategically used the transfer portal not to rebuild the roster, but fill in some gaps and provide needed depth and experience.
That and we've actually been remarkably healthy this season, especially on the offensive line. I can buy an argument that Furman has the best OL in the SoCon, and I believe we've had only one game without our 5 starters (Jumper was out against Charleston Southern). We have an offensive line where the
least experienced player has like 15 starts.
Re: We Are Improving!
PostPosted:Thu Nov 17, 2022 8:34 am
by gman84
I remember CCH stating a couple of years ago that he had limited knowledge of the portal or something like that. I think he was sandbagging a little. The new grad program has allowed us to do exactly what Jackal said.
Re: We Are Improving!
PostPosted:Thu Nov 17, 2022 9:52 am
by Davemeister
purplehorse wrote: ↑Wed Nov 16, 2022 7:50 pm
If we learn to convert 4th and 1 and don’t give up the long pass play and don’t turn the ball over, we could do serious damage in the playoffs.
Can't figure out why we struggle on 4th and short. We have a good O Line and quality backs. Need to fix this
if we are to compete in the Playoffs.
Re: We Are Improving!
PostPosted:Thu Nov 17, 2022 10:24 am
by The Jackal
Davemeister wrote: ↑Thu Nov 17, 2022 9:52 am
purplehorse wrote: ↑Wed Nov 16, 2022 7:50 pm
If we learn to convert 4th and 1 and don’t give up the long pass play and don’t turn the ball over, we could do serious damage in the playoffs.
Can't figure out why we struggle on 4th and short. We have a good O Line and quality backs. Need to fix this
if we are to compete in the Playoffs.
Just my take, but when you run that "heavy set" you are signaling that you are just going to try and run over the defense.
Defensive linemen on a short yardage situation don't have to worry about much. They have to try to get under the offensive line, create a pile up, and hold their ground.
Frankly, with a good OL, dual threat QB, and 230 lbs running back, I'd just as soon see us line up and spread a defense out and force them to cover our receivers and pound the ball if we need to.
Re: We Are Improving!
PostPosted:Thu Nov 17, 2022 11:10 am
by apaladin
Davemeister wrote: ↑Thu Nov 17, 2022 9:52 am
purplehorse wrote: ↑Wed Nov 16, 2022 7:50 pm
If we learn to convert 4th and 1 and don’t give up the long pass play and don’t turn the ball over, we could do serious damage in the playoffs.
Can't figure out why we struggle on 4th and short. We have a good O Line and quality backs. Need to fix this
if we are to compete in the Playoffs.
What Jackal said. The formation, knowng we are running up the middle, no spread. 20 bodies in a small space, just nowhere to go especially now when the play starts 7 yards deep. No matter how good your OL is opening a hole and or getting a push in that situation is near impossible. Need to do something different.
Re: We Are Improving!
PostPosted:Fri Nov 18, 2022 8:58 am
by Davemeister
For years Furman lined up in the "I" with QB under Center. Everyone knew what we were going to do but our guys did it anyway. Now we are lucky if we get the ball back to the line of scrimmage, much less gain the necessary yardage. Not saying we should go back to the "I", but what we're doing now ain't working.
Re: We Are Improving!
PostPosted:Fri Nov 18, 2022 9:39 am
by FUBeAR
Davemeister wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 8:58 am
For years Furman lined up in the "I" with QB under Center. Everyone knew what we were going to do but our guys did it anyway. Now we are lucky if we get the ball back to the line of scrimmage, much less gain the necessary yardage. Not saying we should go back to the "I", but what we're doing now ain't working.
Yep - FUBeAR hears ya … Toss Sweep back in FUBeAR’s days & Fullback Belly G into the 2000’s.
BUT…The Center / QB under-center exchange is not as easy as it looks and it’s really not easy when there are a bunch of 300+ pound wildebeests a-snortin’ and a-brayin’ a credit card’s width off the ball … and the Center is adjusting his stance to get his head and body under the wildebeests and the QB is trying to get out a little quicker to be sure the wildebeests don’t grab him as soon as he gets the ball. HIGH probability of FUMBLING the exchange.
If you don’t practice it often and it’s not something you do regularly, FUBeAR recommends NOT trying to do it in the extremely high pressure situation of 3rd or 4th and short or goal. Since FU never gets under Center in this Offense, then we don’t want to in those situations either. Big fan of Shiflett (a good-sized dude and a former dual-threat QB) in the Wildcat on those short yardage situations. Just gotta execute better and not be afraid to let him toss the ball to, say, Ryan Miller, after faking another smash into the line. Thinking we might see just that down the road a piece.
Re: We Are Improving!
PostPosted:Fri Nov 18, 2022 1:17 pm
by The Jackal
FUBeAR wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 9:39 am
Davemeister wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 8:58 am
For years Furman lined up in the "I" with QB under Center. Everyone knew what we were going to do but our guys did it anyway. Now we are lucky if we get the ball back to the line of scrimmage, much less gain the necessary yardage. Not saying we should go back to the "I", but what we're doing now ain't working.
Yep - FUBeAR hears ya … Toss Sweep back in FUBeAR’s days & Fullback Belly G into the 2000’s.
BUT…The Center / QB under-center exchange is not as easy as it looks and it’s really not easy when there are a bunch of 300+ pound wildebeests a-snortin’ and a-brayin’ a credit card’s width off the ball … and the Center is adjusting his stance to get his head and body under the wildebeests and the QB is trying to get out a little quicker to be sure the wildebeests don’t grab him as soon as he gets the ball. HIGH probability of FUMBLING the exchange.
If you don’t practice it often and it’s not something you do regularly, FUBeAR recommends NOT trying to do it in the extremely high pressure situation of 3rd or 4th and short or goal. Since FU never gets under Center in this Offense, then we don’t want to in those situations either. Big fan of Shiflett (a good-sized dude and a former dual-threat QB) in the Wildcat on those short yardage situations. Just gotta execute better and not be afraid to let him toss the ball to, say, Ryan Miller, after faking another smash into the line. Thinking we might see just that down the road a piece.
Well, we've got at least one play in the playbook with the QB under center
Re: We Are Improving!
PostPosted:Fri Nov 18, 2022 2:33 pm
by Furmanoid
Some teams even shotgun the victory formation. Good grief.
The under center snap only requires maybe 10 minutes a day to perfect, but apparently even that is too much for most teams. And if you aren’t willing to do even minimal preparation, you fumble. I think maybe the coaches who are familiar with it are dying out.
The shotgun requires tons of practice and leads to really disastrous fumbles, but everybody is fine with that. They just dog cuss the poor center. The center didn’t come up with the stupid shotgun idea, but it’s his fault when there’s a problem. Sometimes it’s the center, but usually the qb takes his eye off the ball to look downfield. They still blame the center.
Under center the qb never has to look at the ball. All he has to do is take it. But he does have to practice footwork: reverse pitch, reverse handoff, 3 step drop, 7 step drop. They can master all that by 9th grade, but they don’t do it. Learning it all in college is tricky, so instead of the qb learning and practicing a little bit, the poor ol’ fat boy is expected to do 60 or so no look passes between his legs without missing. If he takes anything off of it, the quick passes aren’t quick enough, certainly slower than a pitch to get to the edge. But if he drills it back there and misses you lose 20 yards or worse.
If he concentrates too much on the snap, his first step is too slow and he gets beat. But if he even leans too quickly to make that step, the snap will miss.
The shotgun is just a way to make life even easier on qb’s at the expense of under-appreciated linemen. Everybody prepares for it. It’s all they’ve ever played against or coached against. The I is now a gimmick and most teams don’t even have the right guys to stop it. I wish we’d at least put in a few plays and master them: reverse pitch sweeps, off tackle to either side, a dive/ inside veer and a couple play actions (to TE preferably). Work on it a little now and let qb’s master the footwork over the winter.
Re: We Are Improving!
PostPosted:Fri Nov 18, 2022 2:44 pm
by FUBeAR
Furmanoid wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 2:33 pm
Some teams even shotgun the victory formation. Good grief.
The under center snap only requires maybe 10 minutes a day to perfect, but apparently even that is too much for most teams. And if you aren’t willing to do even minimal preparation, you fumble. I think maybe the coaches who are familiar with it are dying out.
The shotgun requires tons of practice and leads to really disastrous fumbles, but everybody is fine with that. They just dog cuss the poor center. The center didn’t come up with the stupid shotgun idea, but it’s his fault when there’s a problem. Sometimes it’s the center, but usually the qb takes his eye off the ball to look downfield. They still blame the center.
Under center the qb never has to look at the ball. All he has to do is take it. But he does have to practice footwork: reverse pitch, reverse handoff, 3 step drop, 7 step drop. They can master all that by 9th grade, but they don’t do it. Learning it all in college is tricky, so instead of the qb learning and practicing a little bit, the poor ol’ fat boy is expected to do 60 or so no look passes between his legs without missing. If he takes anything off of it, the quick passes aren’t quick enough, certainly slower than a pitch to get to the edge. But if he drills it back there and misses you lose 20 yards or worse.
If he concentrates too much on the snap, his first step is too slow and he gets beat. But if he even leans too quickly to make that step, the snap will miss.
The shotgun is just a way to make life even easier on qb’s at the expense of under-appreciated linemen. Everybody prepares for it. It’s all they’ve ever played against or coached against. The I is now a gimmick and most teams don’t even have the right guys to stop it. I wish we’d at least put in a few plays and master them: reverse pitch sweeps, off tackle to either side, a dive/ inside veer and a couple play actions (to TE preferably). Work on it a little now and let qb’s master the footwork over the winter.
Except for it only taking 10 minutes/day to perfect the under center exchange (FUBeAR still says it was the QB’s fault on the UNC Goal Line just before halftime in ‘80. FUBeAR put the ball there. QB pulled out early), the rest of this is painfully true.
Did see us running some pure old-school Power scheme out of gun or pistol vs. Mercer…so there’s still hope for this new-fangled generation.