Post game summary and questions

[fupaladin01]

I remain slightly on the "half empty" side with regard to offensive production, but I wondered if it wasn't because I'm comparing this year's team to my memories of 1999-2005 teams, or Forcier/Blazejowski teams more recently. Maybe it's more fair to compare our O to this year's opponents. So I ran some numbers. Through half a season:

-NC A&T has given up an avg of 19 pts to FCS teams (FU excluded). FU scored 29 (+10)
-Tenn Tech has given up 26.6 pts to FCS teams. FU scored 26 (even)
-Mercer has surrendered 37 pts on avg to FCS, FU score 3 (-34)
(consider MU faced two of the best O's in the SoCon in VMI and Samford)
-Wofford has given up 27.6 pts to FCS. FU scored 42. (+14)
-Citadel has given up 36.6 to the FCS. FU scored24 (-12)
(consider: our best offensive player was out, and Cit has faced only ETSU and VMI O's in conf. play.)

FWIW, vs FBS NCSU, who has given up 20 pts per game vs FBS teams, FU was only 13 pts off that

I don't like the offensive trend post-Cronic, but considering we've only played ONE game this season with JW as the starter AND a healthy Devin Wynn, and that result was a 42-20 drubbing on the road vs a rival that's had our number for nearly a decade, I don't blame anyone for being cautiously optimistic.

[gofurman]

I have to step back and take back part of a comment I made earlier…

GF, I want backtrack on my “troll” comment. Saw your post on the Citadel message board (ie, Thompson’s whining about the one penalty call) and I stand corrected. You are definitely one of us. My apologies.

And to the point of statistics…Most here have no problem with others pointing out the good and the bad. Just don’t forget to celebrate the wins in the midst of the statistical critique. Peace.

THANK YOU TO SIR WILLIAM !!!!

I think there were just some misunderstandings. I’m all for Furman ! Even if I’m a stats nerd

Good stuff !! Let’s all try and get along.

Thank you again Sir William for checking - that’s good of you and I appreciate it Sir !

[FUBeAR]

I have to step back and take back part of a comment I made earlier…

GF, I want backtrack on my “troll” comment. Saw your post on the Citadel message board (ie, Thompson’s whining about the one penalty call) and I stand corrected. You are definitely one of us. My apologies.

And to the point of statistics…Most here have no problem with others pointing out the good and the bad. Just don’t forget to celebrate the wins in the midst of the statistical critique. Peace.

still holds a candle for them purty pups over in SparkleCity tho

[soconjohn]

The thing that is hilarious about Thompson's rant is they had 6 penalties for 43 yards...two were for offsides and the other encroachment which is literally half of their penalties

[FUBeAR]

The thing that is hilarious about Thompson's rant is they had 6 penalties for 43 yards...two were for offsides and the other encroachment which is literally half of their penalties

…and the block in the back on Blackshear (happened the series after the block out of bounds) was obvious & right in front of him…about 3 yards from the sideline…so there’s another 1 of the 6 for 10 yards that he knew was a correct call

Jaylan Adams rush for 11 yards to the CIT40, out-of-bounds, PENALTY CIT (Raleigh Webb) 1 yards to the CIT30, NO PLAY.

…and he still went nuts on the Ref for calling it.

How’s that saying go…oh yeah … WHINERS gonna WHINE

[apaladin]

Did HS throw any passes? Seems like all we did was hand off (which worked out fine). Gosh, I hope we haven’t decided to unfix the offense.

2nd series he was in he threw 3 straight incomplete. Ended up 0-3 passing, 1 "carry" for -4 yards (fumbled snap on his first series).

HS threw a pretty nice ball for about 35-40 yards to Z. Peterson. Hit him in the hands. He didn't come down with it. Watch the game; JW can play a lot better. And I believe he will.

That pass to Pederson was under thrown and Pederson had to slow up and wait on it. Waiting on it allowed Citadel defenders to recover, so after Pederson’s initial catch or not catch and on his way down a Citadel defender was able to slap it out of his hands. Couldn’t really tell if he ever had it or not. Ball was under thrown either way.

[The Jackal]

Another good piece in the Charleston P&C. “SoCon director of officials defends call in The Citadel’s loss at Furman.” https://www.postandcourier.com/sports/c ... b1aa6.html

Synopsis for those of us who do not (and won’t) subscribe to the P&C?

I don't even have to read it to know.

Citadel is upset about the "blocking out of bounds penalty." Hartsell was tweeting about it. Thompson ranted about it after the game. Their fans raged about it.

It is a 100% penalty. It's dumb to even argue about it. It doesn't matter whether the Citadel player body slammed the Furman player into the water cooler.

It is a type of strict liability crime. Intent doesn't matter. Did you do the thing the rule says you can't do? Yes? It's a 15 yard personal foul. It's not even a judgment call.

Their fans also cite to Miller's long touchdown run where Joshua Harris is blocking a Citadel player while he is out of bounds. The difference is, on that play, Harris was in bounds when he initiated the block. Therefore, not a penalty. You can do that all day.

My guess is the Citadel got "clarification" from the SoCon office, which said "yes, it's a penalty." It clearly was. Joshua Harris' block clearly was not.

[The Jackal]

I don't necessarily disagree with your premise, but I think it's important to put things in context.

College football today is a different animal. Hendrix inherited a team that basically didn't retain a QB recruit for three seasons. I am fairly certain that prior to Jace Wilson, Hamp Sisson is the only QB recruit in Hendrix's tenure that has managed to stick with the program.

I'm 100% on board with cutting coaches slack for things they can't control. But the coaches control the roster. Building that roster does not just mean recruiting HS students and filing LOIs once a year. It means accounting for possible attrition. It means making hard choices between competing priorities. Player retention is talked about constantly in college athletics.

It is the coaches' job - a huge part of the job - to bring in the right players, and keep them, or replace them. An occasional transfer isn't bad luck - it's part of the game. The lack of depth at QB has been discussed for years now in this forum, yet the problem just seems to get worse and worse. Meanwhile, the team has a top 25 defense, some major offensive weapons, even a solid kicker, and still is very unlikely to make the playoffs, and of course with no chance of making noise in the playoffs even if there is a bid.

Coaching is hard, I have no doubt. And I've never questioned whether CCH or anyone on his staff is a 'good coach'. But the simple truth is that they've mishandled the QB situation pretty much since taking over, between targeting the wrong recruits, not allocating enough scholarships to the position, not retaining players, etc. It's a shame because just one or two different decisions could have finally changed the program's trajectory. But alas.

The past is the past of course - what concerns me is what this problem says about the future. Even assuming JW is the answer, he takes some hits running the ball, and QBs get hurt with some frequency in general. This strategy of having 2, occasionally 3 scholarship QBs has got to stop. No one else does it (willingly) and it has failed horribly.

I've thought some about this. Had started a post, but then deleted it, or maybe posted it. I forget.

I watched the Texas A&M/Alabama game a few weeks ago. A&M's backup QB that night (and, I think, still is) was a walk-on freshman.

USC had to literally pull a coach off the bench to play QB for them. He got the starting job while competing with a transfer from a low-level FCS school.

In my view, if major P5 schools are struggling to retain and develop QB depth, then I imagine it's not just a Furman issue. This is probably just where college football is right now.

[AstroDin]

A look back at recent QB recruiting.
Keep in mind Furman is kinda looking for a unicorn.
High academic, dual-threat, plus other intangibles.

Sisson was highly recruited out of Mountain Brook. Hamp committed to Furman over Wofford, Citadel, and numerous other schools. Furman in the last couple of years missed on a QB at Hanna, and another QB that I believe chose Yale.

Furman targeted Jace very early - guessing Pete Lusk saw him play during his Sophomore year. Jace visited as a Junior committed early with plans to be an early enrollee.

Related to everyone's concerns about QB depth, based on recruiting interests and offers Furman is making recruiting another quarterback a priority. Furman was listed with several high-level QBs from Burger at Myrtle Beach, Cade Law at CPA, to Carson Jones at Maryville.

Not sure of the timing Burger commits to APP, about the same time Jones commits to us. IMO - Furman got a steal. Jones was collecting offers and was getting a lot of interest when he shut it down and chose Furman. By the way, Jones is having an impressive senior season. Maryville is ranked #1 in the state, undefeated, Jones has 14 touchdowns, no interceptions in 132 attempts.

Size-wise Carson Jones is a little bigger than Luke Shiflett - Carson Jones is listed at 6-2 215.

[Furmanoid]

I saw the best HS QB performance I’ve seen in a couple of years out of a freshman at my wife’s little town in Ohio. Shocking arm talent for a 14 year old or anybody really. So for grins I passed that along to GQ and he actually responded that he’d check him out. I expected to be blown off, so that impressed me. He seems willing to think outside the box.

[AstroDin]

I saw the best HS QB performance I’ve seen in a couple of years out of a freshman at my wife’s little town in Ohio. Shocking arm talent for a 14 year old or anybody really. So for grins I passed that along to GQ and he actually responded that he’d check him out. I expected to be blown off, so that impressed me. He seems willing to think outside the box.

FYI - we're recruiting Ohio and Indiana hard…

[AstroDin]

Speaking about Freshman HS Quarterbacks.
Parish Episcopal School in Dallas is a client of mine.
I got to see them play one of their rivals a few weeks ago in person.

The starting QB for Parish is freshman Sawyer Anderson. Sawyer is the grandson of former Green Bay Packers running back Donny Anderson, a two-time Super Bowl champion. Furman recruits that area of Dallas hard. Grant Robinson, Myion Hicks, and Lardeo HS Maddox Epperson a stud center coming in next season.

https://www.dallasnews.com/high-school- ... te-champs/

[Davemeister]

Did HS throw any passes? Seems like all we did was hand off (which worked out fine). Gosh, I hope we haven’t decided to unfix the offense.

2nd series he was in he threw 3 straight incomplete. Ended up 0-3 passing, 1 "carry" for -4 yards (fumbled snap on his first series).

HS threw a pretty nice ball for about 35-40 yards to Z. Peterson. Hit him in the hands. He didn't come down with it. Watch the game; JW can play a lot better. And I believe he will.

That pass to Pederson was under thrown and Pederson had to slow up and wait on it. Waiting on it allowed Citadel defenders to recover, so after Pederson’s initial catch or not catch and on his way down a Citadel defender was able to slap it out of his hands. Couldn’t really tell if he ever had it or not. Ball was under thrown either way.

While watching the game at Paladin Stadium and viewing it from a side angle, I thought the pass was batted away. Until I saw a replay of the game last night. On the pass in question, ESPN showed a replay from the end zone camera. The ball was in Peterson's hands - both hands - and he just didn't hold on. No evidence of it being slapped away. To quote the ESPN announcer: "This is a pass Peterson HAS to catch."

But he didn't. Can't blame everything on Hamp.

[gman84]

If it takes 2 qbs to get it done, I don't care. Hamp get's a lot of flack that is undeserved. The fact that he is a captain tells me all I need to know. I remember a game against App in the early 2000's, we couldn't run or pass. Everybody was yelling at the play calls and our qb. Statistically we were getting drilled. We may have only completed a handful of passes that day. 2 were td passes to Ike West. We won the game. I'm not saying this will happen Saturday. Yes our offense still has some warts. Statistically we are behind. But this game is at home, we have a very good defense and our arrow is still pointing up!

[youwouldno]

In my view, if major P5 schools are struggling to retain and develop QB depth, then I imagine it's not just a Furman issue. This is probably just where college football is right now.

Was it an issue at the schools you mentioned for basically 4 seasons in a row? I think that's the disconnect. The top programs (FCS or FBS) don't seem to have this problem very often, even if no one is entirely immune.

Bad luck is a thing, no question. I mean, if a team has 4 scholarship QBs and all 4 get hurt, it would be pretty unreasonable to expect a coaching staff to have a great solution.

But, when you have 2 scholarship QBs, it's not really "bad luck" to run into a depth problem. That's just not enough guys to start with. There's a commit for next year, but what if, say, Sisson decides to graduate? Whoops, 2 QBs again.

The 2019 and 2020 classes had 0 QBs. Sign a QB every year. If there's attrition, sign 2. It's too important of a position to shortchange.