Ga. State giving Tennessee all they can handle.
Game 1 - Charleston Southern
In a nutshell the offense looked better than I expected and the defense was not as good as expected. Grainger needs to improve his accuracy downfield. He has the 40 yd. sideways pass for a 2 yd gain down pat. Overall he looked good. We have some excellent running backs. Zero turnovers was a big plus today. Would have loved to see Sisson play more but I think he handed off 3-4 times and we scored twice. The defense gave up a lot of yds to an offense we didn't think would be that good. Not many points which is the main thing. We will face much better offenses. Seems like they got 8-15 yds every sideways pass they threw behind the line of scrimmage. The Paladins pass defense is very giving. Good to start the season with a win. On to Georgia State.
A few thoughts after a dominating win over CSU:
1. Grainger is still more comfortable making plays with his feet than with his arm, but he is light years better at throwing and decision-making than he was last year. He made several throws that caused me to think "he wouldn't have made that throw last year." That's a testament to his ability and to our coaches: poorly coached players don't improve like that.
2. Grainger+Wynn+O line should equal lots of yards over the next two years; very potent combination.
3. It's hard to judge someone doing mop-up duty, but Sisson looks at least capable too. There is reason to think we might be OK at QB, arguably our biggest question mark preseason.
4. CCH's strategy of using the redshirt to build depth is paying off: we could substitute much more freely today than in recent years without having a big dropoff in ability.
5. Defense looks solid in the front 7 (good penetration and run stop) but vulnerable in the secondary and on the perimeter. CSU's personnel might have had something to do with that.
6. We were mentally strong: very few penalties and turnovers.
7. Kicking game looks good.
1. Grainger is still more comfortable making plays with his feet than with his arm, but he is light years better at throwing and decision-making than he was last year. He made several throws that caused me to think "he wouldn't have made that throw last year." That's a testament to his ability and to our coaches: poorly coached players don't improve like that.
2. Grainger+Wynn+O line should equal lots of yards over the next two years; very potent combination.
3. It's hard to judge someone doing mop-up duty, but Sisson looks at least capable too. There is reason to think we might be OK at QB, arguably our biggest question mark preseason.
4. CCH's strategy of using the redshirt to build depth is paying off: we could substitute much more freely today than in recent years without having a big dropoff in ability.
5. Defense looks solid in the front 7 (good penetration and run stop) but vulnerable in the secondary and on the perimeter. CSU's personnel might have had something to do with that.
6. We were mentally strong: very few penalties and turnovers.
7. Kicking game looks good.
A few takes on the CSU game
1. I love the GRAY uniforms - It hit me in the second half why - all the dominate purple trim, especially the thick purple collar. I like FURMAN across the chest too.
2. I thought Grainger played a great game - when I got home I scanned through the replay on ESPN+ Sam Wyche was very complimentary of Grainger and the zip he has to put on those across the field passes. The roll-out pass to his right for completion to Gordon was money. Some have dinged him on overshooting on the two long throws - I'm not worried. Go watch the pass to Anderson that he threw between two defenders. Grainger had a great first collegiate start.
3. The offensive line was dominant. Pretty impressed with the rotation at center of Jumper/Neely. I thought Bo Layton played very well. On the Anderson run - true freshman Pearson Toomey was a one-man wrecking crew.
4. Wynn - excellent vision, patient, and kick into high gear fast. Anderson is as good as we all had hoped. He's going to be a matchup nightmare in the passing game.
5. Maples and Abrams -love our big backs, had no idea Abrams was that good of a blocker.
6. Gordo had a great game. Miller almost had two huge catches, I expect he's going to snag a few big passes this season.
7. I thought the D settled in nicely -CSU had some very good skill players, Perryman got my defensive game ball award. Hugh Ryan played a lot made some good plays.
8. Hope played a great game - often double-teamed but still put pressure on the CSU QB.
9. Kudos to the coaches - Furman was very well prepared - and obviously our coaches can develop players, our young players performed very well.
Wynn is going to have a great year.
1. I love the GRAY uniforms - It hit me in the second half why - all the dominate purple trim, especially the thick purple collar. I like FURMAN across the chest too.
2. I thought Grainger played a great game - when I got home I scanned through the replay on ESPN+ Sam Wyche was very complimentary of Grainger and the zip he has to put on those across the field passes. The roll-out pass to his right for completion to Gordon was money. Some have dinged him on overshooting on the two long throws - I'm not worried. Go watch the pass to Anderson that he threw between two defenders. Grainger had a great first collegiate start.
3. The offensive line was dominant. Pretty impressed with the rotation at center of Jumper/Neely. I thought Bo Layton played very well. On the Anderson run - true freshman Pearson Toomey was a one-man wrecking crew.
4. Wynn - excellent vision, patient, and kick into high gear fast. Anderson is as good as we all had hoped. He's going to be a matchup nightmare in the passing game.
5. Maples and Abrams -love our big backs, had no idea Abrams was that good of a blocker.
6. Gordo had a great game. Miller almost had two huge catches, I expect he's going to snag a few big passes this season.
7. I thought the D settled in nicely -CSU had some very good skill players, Perryman got my defensive game ball award. Hugh Ryan played a lot made some good plays.
8. Hope played a great game - often double-teamed but still put pressure on the CSU QB.
9. Kudos to the coaches - Furman was very well prepared - and obviously our coaches can develop players, our young players performed very well.
Wynn is going to have a great year.
Last edited by AstroDin on Sat Aug 31, 2019 10:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Grainger was just fine. 14-20 for 130 and no turnovers is exactly the sort of game you want in this offense.apaladin wrote: ↑Sat Aug 31, 2019 6:16 pmIn a nutshell the offense looked better than I expected and the defense was not as good as expected. Grainger needs to improve his accuracy downfield. He has the 40 yd. sideways pass for a 2 yd gain down pat. Overall he looked good. We have some excellent running backs. Zero turnovers was a big plus today. Would have loved to see Sisson play more but I think he handed off 3-4 times and we scored twice. The defense gave up a lot of yds to an offense we didn't think would be that good. Not many points which is the main thing. We will face much better offenses. Seems like they got 8-15 yds every sideways pass they threw behind the line of scrimmage. The Paladins pass defense is very giving. Good to start the season with a win. On to Georgia State.
He overshot a few guys down field, but you could tell CSU was defending that play. He made a few other beautiful down field throws - the seam pass to Anderson and one to Miller that was dislodged by a safety on a nice play.
I had no issue with the defense. CSU got a touchdown on a really impressive run by their RB (he spun off several tackles). Other than that, the CSU offense didn't do much.
I said in the leadup I expected CSU to give their QB a lot of easy throws. They did just that. Very little worked down field. If Furman has a 20-30 point lead and wants to throw the ball two yards - let them.
You don't win based on yards, you win based on points, and we surrendered only two touchdowns against an offense with some talent that we didn't know anything about.
MNORM, DeepPurple liked this
One other area for improvement....AstroDin wrote: ↑Sat Aug 31, 2019 10:03 pmA few takes on the CSU game
1. I love the GRAY uniforms - It hit me in the second half why - all the dominate purple trim, especially the thick purple collar. I like the GRAY saying FURMAN across the chest too.
2. I thought Grainger played a great game - when I got home I scanned through the replay on ESPN+ Sam Wyche was very complimentary of Grainger and the zip he has to put on those across the field passes. The roll-out pass to his right for completion to Gordon was money. Some have dinged him on overshooting on the two long throws - I'm not worried. Go watch the pass to Anderson that he threw between two defenders. Grainger had a great first collegiate start.
3. The offensive line was dominant. Pretty impressed with the rotation at center of Jumper/Neely. I thought Bo Layton played very well. On the Anderson run - true freshman Pearson Toomey was a one-man wrecking crew.
4. Wynn - excellent vision, patient, and kick into high gear fast. Anderson is as good as we all had hoped. He's going to be a matchup nightmare in the passing game.
5. Maples and Abrams -love our big backs, had no idea Abrams was that good of a blocker.
6. Gordo had a great game. Miller almost had two huge catches, I expect he's going to snag a few big passes this season.
7. I thought the D settled in nicely -CSU had some very good skill players, Perryman got my defensive game ball award. Hugh Ryan played a lot made some good plays.
8. Hope played a great game - often double-teamed but still put pressure on the CSU QB.
9. Kudos to the coaches - Furman was very well prepared - and obviously our coaches can develop players, our young players performed very well.
Wynn is going to have a great year.
Twice Grainger completely missed a wide open receiver in the end zone. Both times he was rolling out under a bit of pressure and seemed to really key in on one guy...resulting in him never seeing the easy TD. I expect his vision downfield will continue to improve the more snaps he gets.
Riz Dawg liked this
Yes I noticed he missed the wide open receivers in the end zone too and threw the 5 yd pass instead but his vision should improve with experience. Of course it's a lot easier to see form the stands, LOL. The only other thing is he threw a couple of passes just a tad late, again something that should improve with experience. You can see why DG won the starting job.MNORM wrote: ↑Sat Aug 31, 2019 10:10 pmOne other area for improvement....AstroDin wrote: ↑Sat Aug 31, 2019 10:03 pmA few takes on the CSU game
1. I love the GRAY uniforms - It hit me in the second half why - all the dominate purple trim, especially the thick purple collar. I like the GRAY saying FURMAN across the chest too.
2. I thought Grainger played a great game - when I got home I scanned through the replay on ESPN+ Sam Wyche was very complimentary of Grainger and the zip he has to put on those across the field passes. The roll-out pass to his right for completion to Gordon was money. Some have dinged him on overshooting on the two long throws - I'm not worried. Go watch the pass to Anderson that he threw between two defenders. Grainger had a great first collegiate start.
3. The offensive line was dominant. Pretty impressed with the rotation at center of Jumper/Neely. I thought Bo Layton played very well. On the Anderson run - true freshman Pearson Toomey was a one-man wrecking crew.
4. Wynn - excellent vision, patient, and kick into high gear fast. Anderson is as good as we all had hoped. He's going to be a matchup nightmare in the passing game.
5. Maples and Abrams -love our big backs, had no idea Abrams was that good of a blocker.
6. Gordo had a great game. Miller almost had two huge catches, I expect he's going to snag a few big passes this season.
7. I thought the D settled in nicely -CSU had some very good skill players, Perryman got my defensive game ball award. Hugh Ryan played a lot made some good plays.
8. Hope played a great game - often double-teamed but still put pressure on the CSU QB.
9. Kudos to the coaches - Furman was very well prepared - and obviously our coaches can develop players, our young players performed very well.
Wynn is going to have a great year.
Twice Grainger completely missed a wide open receiver in the end zone. Both times he was rolling out under a bit of pressure and seemed to really key in on one guy...resulting in him never seeing the easy TD. I expect his vision downfield will continue to improve the more snaps he gets.
He might have overthrown a few haymakers, but this was a beautiful toss.apaladin wrote: ↑Sat Aug 31, 2019 11:13 pmYes I noticed he missed the wide open receivers in the end zone too and threw the 5 yd pass instead but his vision should improve with experience. Of course it's a lot easier to see form the stands, LOL. The only other thing is he threw a couple of passes just a tad late, again something that should improve with experience. You can see why DG won the starting job.MNORM wrote: ↑Sat Aug 31, 2019 10:10 pmOne other area for improvement....AstroDin wrote: ↑Sat Aug 31, 2019 10:03 pmA few takes on the CSU game
1. I love the GRAY uniforms - It hit me in the second half why - all the dominate purple trim, especially the thick purple collar. I like the GRAY saying FURMAN across the chest too.
2. I thought Grainger played a great game - when I got home I scanned through the replay on ESPN+ Sam Wyche was very complimentary of Grainger and the zip he has to put on those across the field passes. The roll-out pass to his right for completion to Gordon was money. Some have dinged him on overshooting on the two long throws - I'm not worried. Go watch the pass to Anderson that he threw between two defenders. Grainger had a great first collegiate start.
3. The offensive line was dominant. Pretty impressed with the rotation at center of Jumper/Neely. I thought Bo Layton played very well. On the Anderson run - true freshman Pearson Toomey was a one-man wrecking crew.
4. Wynn - excellent vision, patient, and kick into high gear fast. Anderson is as good as we all had hoped. He's going to be a matchup nightmare in the passing game.
5. Maples and Abrams -love our big backs, had no idea Abrams was that good of a blocker.
6. Gordo had a great game. Miller almost had two huge catches, I expect he's going to snag a few big passes this season.
7. I thought the D settled in nicely -CSU had some very good skill players, Perryman got my defensive game ball award. Hugh Ryan played a lot made some good plays.
8. Hope played a great game - often double-teamed but still put pressure on the CSU QB.
9. Kudos to the coaches - Furman was very well prepared - and obviously our coaches can develop players, our young players performed very well.
Wynn is going to have a great year.
Twice Grainger completely missed a wide open receiver in the end zone. Both times he was rolling out under a bit of pressure and seemed to really key in on one guy...resulting in him never seeing the easy TD. I expect his vision downfield will continue to improve the more snaps he gets.
I am thankful for yesterday.
I am thankful that I was there yesterday.
I am thankful for where we are at present with our football program.
I do realize that we must always strive to improve.
So we shall.
It gets harder.
I am thankful for yesterday.
I am thankful for today.
I am thankful for the opportunity to strive to improve, even though it gets harder to improve.
I am thankful that I was there yesterday.
I am thankful for where we are at present with our football program.
I do realize that we must always strive to improve.
So we shall.
It gets harder.
I am thankful for yesterday.
I am thankful for today.
I am thankful for the opportunity to strive to improve, even though it gets harder to improve.
A great highlight for many reasons, but worth a deeper look. As Anderson turns the corner, watch true freshman Pearson Toomey #75 shuck a Buc… a few other notes Shiflet #12 was on cruise-control leading the play -tying up the lone defender. Who was right behind Anderson and Shiflet - #62 Evan Jumper.
Last edited by AstroDin on Sun Sep 01, 2019 10:47 am, edited 1 time in total.
Credit Scott Keeler for this amazing nugget:
"Couple of other numbers for Furman today: 0 turnovers. In fact, 0 fumbles on 40 rushing attempts, 18 pass completions. 61 Paladins saw action. 31 recorded at least one tackle."
http://www.furmansportsreport.com/2019/ ... l?spref=tw
"Couple of other numbers for Furman today: 0 turnovers. In fact, 0 fumbles on 40 rushing attempts, 18 pass completions. 61 Paladins saw action. 31 recorded at least one tackle."
http://www.furmansportsreport.com/2019/ ... l?spref=tw
After watching Furman struggle in the last decade with Gardner Webb, Presbyterian et al from the Big South, it was great to see what a top SoCon team should do when playing them - dominate. Just a few observations:
Any concerns expressed on here about our O line being "overrated" were clearly answered. That was complete domination today. The numbers speak for themselves. We have a ton of really good linemen and they all showed it today. They get the game ball today.
Missed a couple of long throws but so what? - everyone does. And they served their purpose anyway. We will hit them next week.
These running backs are something special. Who would have thunk that the 235 pound, 3 yards and cloud of dust type FB, Maples, could bust one for 66 up the middle and score while outrunning their defensive secondary?
This kid, Anderson, is going to be something special. Maybe he already is?
Big time defensive effort by the whole unit. Of note: Perryman was all over the field, Dru Seabrook was strong and Adrian Hope continues to show an uncanny ability to get to the football despite being double teamed. Hugh Ryan played well at safety- nice to see.
Very good job by the offensive staff in giving the freshman QB's a very basic package to work with in the first game. Grainger is growing into the job nicely - big improvement from last year. Sisson looked smooth is his limited appearance in which he was clearly under wraps because of the score. Yet we scored twice on simple handoffs because of the upfront blocking.
Looks like will be tested next week against a much improved Georgia State team. I think FU will be up to it.
Any concerns expressed on here about our O line being "overrated" were clearly answered. That was complete domination today. The numbers speak for themselves. We have a ton of really good linemen and they all showed it today. They get the game ball today.
Missed a couple of long throws but so what? - everyone does. And they served their purpose anyway. We will hit them next week.
These running backs are something special. Who would have thunk that the 235 pound, 3 yards and cloud of dust type FB, Maples, could bust one for 66 up the middle and score while outrunning their defensive secondary?
This kid, Anderson, is going to be something special. Maybe he already is?
Big time defensive effort by the whole unit. Of note: Perryman was all over the field, Dru Seabrook was strong and Adrian Hope continues to show an uncanny ability to get to the football despite being double teamed. Hugh Ryan played well at safety- nice to see.
Very good job by the offensive staff in giving the freshman QB's a very basic package to work with in the first game. Grainger is growing into the job nicely - big improvement from last year. Sisson looked smooth is his limited appearance in which he was clearly under wraps because of the score. Yet we scored twice on simple handoffs because of the upfront blocking.
Looks like will be tested next week against a much improved Georgia State team. I think FU will be up to it.
We played a solid football game yesterday. I am shocked how much better we look physically than we did CCH's first year. We are so much more physical and hard nosed at all positions. Our OL looked very good. Our depth is light years ahead of a few years ago. I feel like we will absolutely compete with GSU in Atlanta. It is good to be us!
2 worst things about the game
whoever printed the programs left out the details and identity of any paladin who had a # in the thirties.
it appears the budget for band uniforms has been drastically cut this year.
however delighted with the effort of the team in general and the starting qb in particular.
wanted to see more of sisson but the offense betrayed him.instead of long drawn out drives they broke two long td runs instead which completely limited his playing time.suggest next time we need a long scoring run we put him in to hand the ball off.lol.
whoever printed the programs left out the details and identity of any paladin who had a # in the thirties.
it appears the budget for band uniforms has been drastically cut this year.
however delighted with the effort of the team in general and the starting qb in particular.
wanted to see more of sisson but the offense betrayed him.instead of long drawn out drives they broke two long td runs instead which completely limited his playing time.suggest next time we need a long scoring run we put him in to hand the ball off.lol.
PalaDad liked this
The thing I loved about our QB, he protected the Football. 0 Turnovers. Again, NO turnovers!
Paladin575 liked this