Elon

[apaladin]

If I was Elon, my gameplan would be to throw 70% of the time. I would throw it deep often.

[palafan]

Elon QB Matthew McKay is interesting; 23 year old RS Senior. Played at NC State’17 (RS), ‘18 and ‘19. Started 5 games for the Wolfpack in’19 and threw for 1000+ yards. Transferred to Montana State for the’21 season and started on a 12-3 Playoff team. He’s 6’4, 212, and has thrown for 2,400 yards and run for 400+ this season.

Based on this, ESPN picks Elon to win.

[The Jackal]

If I was Elon, my gameplan would be to throw 70% of the time. I would throw it deep often.

Probably not a bad strategy, but remember, our pass defense isn't that bad.

We will surrender yards, no doubt. However, our pass defense efficiency is second in the SoCon. We surrender the lowest completion rate in the conference. We also pick off a ton of passes. We also are pretty good at getting to the QB.

Elon's QB is about middle of the CAA pack in terms of completion percentage.

[FurmAlum]

Looks to me we play a lot of M to M and not a lot of Cover 2 zone.

Is this true? Not necessarily saying we should change, but want to know.

[purplehorse]

Threw random thoughts:

1)-Elon is out of school this week per the Elon coach. He said all the players had to do was focus on the game, practice, eat, sleep etc.

When does Furman get out for Thanksgiving? If not until Wed, that seems like a disadvantage to me.

2)-Tyler Huff seems pretty “experienced” on the field, maybe more so than his cumulative game experience (based on bio only 12 total starts at PC-6 in 2019, 6 in spring 2021 and none in fall 2021).

3)--Last year someone parked in my brother’s parking space in the purple lot one game and the attendants said there was nothing they could do. Crazy to me. I would not think you would park in someone else’s space with their name on it.

[greenvegas]

As I recall previous playoff games, the size differential of the two teams may be apparent as I suspect Elon will be much bigger than Furman players in general. If I recall, teams like Rhode Island were huge. I have not looked at the rosters so, I could be wrong.

[apaladin]

As I recall previous playoff games, the size differential of the two teams may be apparent as I suspect Elon will be much bigger than Furman players in general. If I recall, teams like Rhode Island were huge. I have not looked at the rosters so, I could be wrong.

Not as much as it used to be. Currently have 15 players at 275 plus. 9 at 295 plus. Also have good size linebackers and dbs. Good size at running backs too. By comparison Elon has 21 275 plus and 15 295 plus, so yes they are will be bigger.

[The Jackal]

As I recall previous playoff games, the size differential of the two teams may be apparent as I suspect Elon will be much bigger than Furman players in general. If I recall, teams like Rhode Island were huge. I have not looked at the rosters so, I could be wrong.

Sorta. I don't think "much bigger." Some positions yes. Some positions no.

They are big along the offensive line, which can sometimes cut both ways.

[The Jackal]

Looks to me we play a lot of M to M and not a lot of Cover 2 zone.

Is this true? Not necessarily saying we should change, but want to know.

We do a little bit of everything.

[FU Hoopla]

Size and might won't overcome the heart and will of a champion

[gofurman]

Threw random thoughts:

1)-Elon is out of school this week per the Elon coach. He said all the players had to do was focus on the game, practice, eat, sleep etc.

When does Furman get out for Thanksgiving? If not until Wed, that seems like a disadvantage to me.

2)-Tyler Huff seems pretty “experienced” on the field, maybe more so than his cumulative game experience (based on bio only 12 total starts at PC-6 in 2019, 6 in spring 2021 and none in fall 2021).

3)--Last year someone parked in my brother’s parking space in the purple lot one game and the attendants said there was nothing they could do. Crazy to me. I would not think you would park in someone else’s space with their name on it.

That could be a big advantage. Is Furman in school this week? Most schools are in until, zTuesday. Elon could do nothing but practice. And study our games…

[gofurman]

If I was Elon, my gameplan would be to throw 70% of the time. I would throw it deep often.

I do agree. We are better at run D than pass D in my opinion. Just witness Woff. Nothing doing on ground. Nothing! But a few stellar drives through air n first quarter. Woff threw for over 400 but ran for less than 50. Our DL is a great one but if you have to choose we are better at run stopping than pass rush. It seems 7 and 0 are the best two on the DL and are run stopper extraordinaire. I would say our DL as an 8 of 10 at run stopping and 6 of 10 at pass rush. Saylors etc ran for nothing. But again we gave up a blown coverage v ETSU. We appear to have learned and improved though.

GoFurman win !!!!!!!!!

And we have seen this with aWestern and blown coverages during year. Hoping we’ve fixed that but I still recall that WCU score fest in 4th quarter where they almost caught us.

[The Jackal]

If I was Elon, my gameplan would be to throw 70% of the time. I would throw it deep often.

I do agree. We are better at run D than pass D in my opinion. Just witness Woff. Nothing doing on ground. Nothing! But a few stellar drives through air n first quarter. Woff threw for over 400 but ran for less than 50. Our DL is a great one but if you have to choose we are better at run stopping than pass rush. It seems 7 and 0 are the best two on the DL and are run stopper extraordinaire. I would say our DL as an 8 of 10 at run stopping and 6 of 10 at pass rush. Saylors etc ran for nothing. But again we gave up a blown coverage v ETSU. We appear to have learned and improved though.

GoFurman win !!!!!!!!!

And we have seen this with aWestern and blown coverages during year. Hoping we’ve fixed that but I still recall that WCU score fest in 4th quarter where they almost caught us.

We've held four consecutive opponents under 100 yards rushing.

Three of those four opponents we've held to fewer than 50.

Still not sure I've completely processed this play.

[The Jackal]

Threw random thoughts:

1)-Elon is out of school this week per the Elon coach. He said all the players had to do was focus on the game, practice, eat, sleep etc.

When does Furman get out for Thanksgiving? If not until Wed, that seems like a disadvantage to me.

2)-Tyler Huff seems pretty “experienced” on the field, maybe more so than his cumulative game experience (based on bio only 12 total starts at PC-6 in 2019, 6 in spring 2021 and none in fall 2021).

3)--Last year someone parked in my brother’s parking space in the purple lot one game and the attendants said there was nothing they could do. Crazy to me. I would not think you would park in someone else’s space with their name on it.

That could be a big advantage. Is Furman in school this week? Most schools are in until, zTuesday. Elon could do nothing but practice. And study our games…

Maybe.

Routine is important in football. Staying on your normal schedule may have its advantages over coming off a bye week and not being on a normal school schedule.

At this point, Elon's going to come play their game. We're going to play ours. We'll have some wrinkles. So will they.

[The Jackal]

It's always interesting when you dig into the numbers.

Elon is top 10 in the country in sacks with 34. However, they notched eleven against a bad Albany team. Eleven.

Against the arguably three toughest teams they played (Vanderbilt, W&M, and Richmond), the Phoenix had 1 sack over those three games.

If you are counting, the most sacks Furman allowed in a game was 3 (Samford with our backup QB). Since Samford, only one team (oddly, VMI) has notched multiple sacks in a game.

So, that will be an interesting back and forth to watch during the game. It appears to me that most teams are reluctant to really come after Huff due to his running ability.