That is certainly a valid opinion. When I see Grainger playing the way he did last year at Georgia State I have to wonder why we were unable to coach him to the level that staff has. Credit them for that transformation. Both of our competing QB's in that period looked totally confused much of the time. I think that was on the OC. We will get a better idea very shortly when we see the Dins under a new OC and ETSU under Quarles. IF he starts putting up 40+ a game there, then he was surely not the problem here. I'm taking the under on that bet.
2022 Outlook
Your argument appears to overlook that Georgia State has benefitted from Grainger as a redshirt junior and redshirt senior.Jasper wrote: ↑Sun Jul 10, 2022 1:11 pmThat is certainly a valid opinion. When I see Grainger playing the way he did last year at Georgia State I have to wonder why we were unable to coach him to the level that staff has. Credit them for that transformation. Both of our competing QB's in that period looked totally confused much of the time. I think that was on the OC. We will get a better idea very shortly when we see the Dins under a new OC and ETSU under Quarles. IF he starts putting up 40+ a game there, then he was surely not the problem here. I'm taking the under on that bet.
Does that really matter that much? He had to pretty much start over when he got there.
You mean all he had to do was get older? I think not
Of course it matters. QB is a position with a steep learning curve. Rarely does a kid look as good as a freshman as he will as a junior or senior.
You can look at it two ways, in my opinion.
On one hand, you can say Furman's coaches never were able to meet Grainger's potential and Georgia State's were.
On the other hand, you could argue that Furman's coaches developed Grainger from a high school wide receiver to a college QB and Georgia State is reaping the benefits from the three years of development put in by Furman's coaches.
What I mean is that he had to start over with a new system. That’s the learning part. He already knows how to run and how to throw. If they do all shotgun, they don’t even use the other main skills people have spend time learning. And it sure seemed like we had thrown in the towel on his development.The Jackal wrote: ↑Sun Jul 10, 2022 10:07 pmOf course it matters. QB is a position with a steep learning curve. Rarely does a kid look as good as a freshman as he will as a junior or senior.
You can look at it two ways, in my opinion.
On one hand, you can say Furman's coaches never were able to meet Grainger's potential and Georgia State's were.
On the other hand, you could argue that Furman's coaches developed Grainger from a high school wide receiver to a college QB and Georgia State is reaping the benefits from the three years of development put in by Furman's coaches.
the cool thing is we will be able to see it quite directly (and I wish no ill will to Quarles except versus us!) in conference next year. If ETSU scores 40 a game... well, that ain't good. That would indicate it wasn't him but something at FU that may still be here. If they score 20 a game or whatever we did then we made the right decision.
On our side it is a little tougher to tell as we are switching to a slightly more passing system and that may take a while to get the routes right etc.. but if we could score 25 a game (not crazy in today's football) we would have been roughly 9-2 last year ! At just 25 a game. Losing to NC State and... dmn WCU
I think we'll be fine.gofurman wrote: ↑Thu Jul 14, 2022 12:08 amthe cool thing is we will be able to see it quite directly (and I wish no ill will to Quarles except versus us!) in conference next year. If ETSU scores 40 a game... well, that ain't good. That would indicate it wasn't him but something at FU that may still be here. If they score 20 a game or whatever we did then we made the right decision.
On our side it is a little tougher to tell as we are switching to a slightly more passing system and that may take a while to get the routes right etc.. but if we could score 25 a game (not crazy in today's football) we would have been roughly 9-2 last year ! At just 25 a game. Losing to NC State and... dmn WCU
While we are running a different "system" with a new OC, a lot of the scheme was already in the playbook. When you watch the Western Carolina game, for instance, we spent a lot of time in Roper's preferred single back sets. For instance, here is 1 RB, 1 TE, 3 WR and a 45 yard run:
I'm not sure Roper is necessarily going to pass more. He'll certainly utilize 3 WRs more than Quarles did, but the system is still going to be a run heavy scheme.
At the end of the day, to really take the next step as a football team, our QBs are going to have to start being able to consistently complete intermediate passes along the sideline and in the middle of the field. Once we start doing that, I think we'll be tough to stop.
GoFu… you need to watch some of the Holy Cross games for last year - especially their two playoff games.
I'm very curious to see how JR runs the offense from playcalling to personnel.
Let's remember Wayne Anderson has moved over to WR. IMO a smart move, Anderson is a skilled receiver, and also a hard runner with speed. Could we see KT also used in unique ways?
I might be looking at the receiving corps too simplistically. It's interesting how as a group they break down into physical traits. Once you start grouping these guys Furman has a lot IMO to work with in 2022.
Group A
Luke Shiflett 6-2 201 SR
Kyndel Dean 6-1 190 GRAD
Joshua Harris 6-2 182 SO
Ethan Harris 6-2 188 FR
Riley Clark 6-1 185 FR-PWO
Group B
Dejuan Bell 5-9 162 SR
Wayne Anderson 5-9 200 JR
Bailor Hughes 5-11 205 SO
Kelton Gunn 5-10 184 SO
Lex Capitano 5-9 173 SO
Ben Ferguson 5-11 190 FR
If Dean plays anywhere near his Freshman level at JMU the DINS will have some size advantage with the ability to put multiple receivers ranging from 6-1 - 6-2 against typically 5-10 SoCo DBs. You can probably throw Ryan Miller in this group as another player that's 6-2 and over 220 pounds.
The you have the speed freak group of Bell & ANderson, plus two former HS track stars in Hughes & Gunn.
I'm very curious to see how JR runs the offense from playcalling to personnel.
Let's remember Wayne Anderson has moved over to WR. IMO a smart move, Anderson is a skilled receiver, and also a hard runner with speed. Could we see KT also used in unique ways?
I might be looking at the receiving corps too simplistically. It's interesting how as a group they break down into physical traits. Once you start grouping these guys Furman has a lot IMO to work with in 2022.
Group A
Luke Shiflett 6-2 201 SR
Kyndel Dean 6-1 190 GRAD
Joshua Harris 6-2 182 SO
Ethan Harris 6-2 188 FR
Riley Clark 6-1 185 FR-PWO
Group B
Dejuan Bell 5-9 162 SR
Wayne Anderson 5-9 200 JR
Bailor Hughes 5-11 205 SO
Kelton Gunn 5-10 184 SO
Lex Capitano 5-9 173 SO
Ben Ferguson 5-11 190 FR
If Dean plays anywhere near his Freshman level at JMU the DINS will have some size advantage with the ability to put multiple receivers ranging from 6-1 - 6-2 against typically 5-10 SoCo DBs. You can probably throw Ryan Miller in this group as another player that's 6-2 and over 220 pounds.
The you have the speed freak group of Bell & ANderson, plus two former HS track stars in Hughes & Gunn.
It’s not just the QB, our receivers struggled last year getting open or getting any seperation from the defenders. It was glaring at times.
I don't think that's a fair assessment.
Go back and watch clips of Ryan Miller. Defenders have an incredibly difficult time keeping up with him.
Passing and catching is a game of timing.
AstroDin wrote: ↑Thu Jul 14, 2022 7:59 amGoFu… you need to watch some of the Holy Cross games for last year - especially their two playoff games.
I'm very curious to see how JR runs the offense from playcalling to personnel.
Let's remember Wayne Anderson has moved over to WR. IMO a smart move, Anderson is a skilled receiver, and also a hard runner with speed. Could we see KT also used in unique ways?
I might be looking at the receiving corps too simplistically. It's interesting how as a group they break down into physical traits. Once you start grouping these guys Furman has a lot IMO to work with in 2022.
Group A
Luke Shiflett 6-2 201 SR
Kyndel Dean 6-1 190 GRAD
Joshua Harris 6-2 182 SO
Ethan Harris 6-2 188 FR
Riley Clark 6-1 185 FR-PWO
Group B
Dejuan Bell 5-9 162 SR
Wayne Anderson 5-9 200 JR
Bailor Hughes 5-11 205 SO
Kelton Gunn 5-10 184 SO
Lex Capitano 5-9 173 SO
Ben Ferguson 5-11 190 FR
If Dean plays anywhere near his Freshman level at JMU the DINS will have some size advantage with the ability to put multiple receivers ranging from 6-1 - 6-2 against typically 5-10 SoCo DBs. You can probably throw Ryan Miller in this group as another player that's 6-2 and over 220 pounds.
The you have the speed freak group of Bell & ANderson, plus two former HS track stars in Hughes & Gunn.
I've watched this play from the spring a number of times and get excited about some of what we may do offensively.
To start, though, this isn't "new football." We've run some of this stuff over the past few years, and were more heavily into it during the Bruce Fowler years, but without good personnel.
These are not our #1s, but you can see how much stuff there is for a defense to worry about.
RB can run zone to the left or counter back to the left.
The TE is in the backfield and acts as an extra blocker on a run to the left. No big deal, but remember that the two guys likely out there in a game will be Anderson Tomlin and Ryan Miller, both who have NFL buzz. Those may be your two primary blockers in front of a 240 lbs running back.
TE can go out for a pass or cut across the backside of the formation. Furman already does this a good bit trying to get Miller in matchup advantages. There aren't many safeties/linebackers in the SoCon that will be able to pick up Miller out of the backfield.
The stacked formation with the receivers gives another wrinkle. That's a common set up for RPO passes to the edge, especially if the front WR in the stack is one of the bigger guys (Shiflett, Harris, etc.). A quick ball to the edge against a dropping CB could let one of the shiftier receivers tuck in behind a good block for some yards.
You can see with the rollout that the QB is probably going to have some options to run the ball. Again, you put that linebacker/safety in a tough spot - run with the TE or attack the QB?
TE can also run the same sort of motion and attack the end for a type of "wham" block on the backside. Furman can either run the ball up the middle with the back or have the QB run it up there himself or follow behind the big running back.
None of this is "new" to football, but you can just see in that one formation how many different ways Furman can try to attack a defense.
AstroDin liked this
Since I mentioned it, same play from earlier. Lot of press on Miller's pass catching ability, but you can also see how good he is as a blocker too.
Furman only needs a yard, but Miller and Tomlin essentially collapse Western's defensive line. You aren't going to arm tackle Roberto.
Furman only needs a yard, but Miller and Tomlin essentially collapse Western's defensive line. You aren't going to arm tackle Roberto.
The only one that was pending was the ETSU game and it figured to be a night game. Was it two or three years ago when we had the 4th quarter collapse/meltdown/nightmare there?