AstroDin wrote: ↑Thu Oct 14, 2021 9:20 am
Interesting rabbit hole Thompson went down related to recent Furman QBs from Jace to PJ. He called them similar (he described them as wiry, and they can scramble and throw).
Saturday will tell us a lot—number-wise Jace's performance as a rookie is tops when compared through PJ's first start. I do think Jace brings a few attributes that allow the Furman offense to be more difficult to handle.
Jace's shiftiness, and his ability to throw strikes on rollouts.
Calm demeanor and leadership beyond his years.
Advanced football IQ (we've always IMO had smart QBs) Jace in a way is like Tiger Woods. He's been coached by his father for many years. Jace said he has prepared since stepping foot on campus to start.
Last thing that has to concern Thompson and his defense. Jace played within the Furman offense against Wofford, but he showed the ability to make game-defining plays. He has the arm, the touch, and the legs to create explosive plays.
There is a 100% likelihood that Citadel is going to throw the kitchen sink at Wilson. They will try to confuse him. They will try to make him throw the ball into tight windows. They are going to play a lot of zone and keep eyes on him. I expect they will spy him. They'll blitz from odd places. It's all coming.
Coach Thompson, for whatever reason, has found a lot of success scheming up confusion against Furman's young quarterbacks. He did it to Blazejowski. He did it to Grainger. He did it to Sisson. He'll try to do it to Wilson.
For Furman's part, they are going to have to stay out of predictable passing situations. Take risks when the odds favor you, but maintain possession.
The one difference in Coach Thompson's Blazejowski experience is who else is in the backfield with the QB. In 2016, when El Cid harried Blazejowski all night, the Paladins second leading rusher (behind PJ) was Richard Hays with 19 yards. The Bulldogs are going to have a very different problem against this Furman team with Wynn/Anderson/Abrams/Roberto.
As you heard coach say on his show, they are working hard to stop the run. Everything the Citadel is going to want to do defensively is going to begin and end with not letting Devin Wynn do what he did last week. Furman, of course, needs to force the issue.
The Citadel is an underdog. They are on the road. It's a night game. The corps will be there. They'll be chippy. They'll be in our faces. This is a HUGE game for them. We have to expect it. We have to counter it. We need to play angry like we did against Wofford.
Wilson strikes me as a kid that's not easily rattled. That's great. However, we are going to need our backs and offensive line to put this one on their shoulders.
