fufanatic wrote: ↑Tue May 22, 2018 10:44 amAnd by "games like this" I meant games against top five FBS teams. Which we don't play a lot of. And this Clemson team is scary ... 2016, 2017, 2018 Clemson is probably on a bit different level than 2012 Clemson and I always hate playing the FBS team the first game of the year. In 2012 it was the 3rd game. Without looking it up I can only imagine that our FBS scores are much more competitive when they aren't the first game of the year. Having said that I do agree with the above ... we almost always play Clemson well at least for a while, we almost always play FBS teams well in general, and our offense is helpful to keeping the score a bit lower than a normal FCS team might. So here's certainly hoping for an all-time upset, but if not that, a score that's competitive and no injuries.The Jackal wrote: ↑Tue May 22, 2018 8:55 am
Furman played Clemson in 2012 starting Reese Hannon in his first college start as a true freshman. It was 20-7 at halftime.
We were down 21-13 to NC State last year before giving up a late score with seconds left in the first half. Many thought Furman left some points on the field. That NC State team lost to Clemson by 7. NC State also had the #5 pick in the draft on their defensive line, and he managed 2 tackles against us. So, it isn't like this fall will be the first time our OL sees NFL caliber defensive linemen.
Clemson's a good club, but I have no expectations that this game will get wildly out of hand. We are better than they think we are. We also run the ball a lot and the clock will keep moving and shortening the game.
Maybe Clemson is better than they were in 2012, but so is Furman. That 2012 Furman team was 3-8.
I remember watching Furman play at Auburn (2009). Auburn's first string could have pushed us around all over the field. They eventually put in their backups, which were much more our speed and we started to move the ball and put up points.
The only way this game gets abysmally out of hand is if Clemson goes full throttle for four quarters (they won't) and we start kicking the ball around and giving it back to them (hopefully not).
This is a broad statement, but many times when there's a truly ugly scoreline the other team simply cannot hold on to the ball. Rarely do you see a team just pin their opponent on the 20 yard line and make them punt 15 times. Most games that really get out of hand do so because of turnovers, non-offensive touchdowns, that sort of thing. As long as the clock is moving and your team gets its 3 or 4 possessions a quarter, things will be manageable.