Nice game, fellas. Go win 'em all.
Mercer - Sep. 23
Great to see Pline pull in some catches and his first touchdown. Furman continues to use the transfer portal both efficiently and effectively.
FU All The Time. This is the way.
"Adapt" is a good word. I thought we looked very prepared for Mercer, even with them coming off a bye week.
Defensively, there were a few things that jumped off in real time that I am going back to look at on the game replay.
First, we seemed very unphased by Cronic's pre-snap "window dressing."
We know Cronic. He has a lot of pre-snap formation adjustments, flips TEs, puts guys in motion, shifts linemen, etc. None of that seemed to bother Furman's defense, which appeared to sort it out quickly. You could see the defense communicating with each other.
Second, we appeared to have a good defensive plan for dealing with James and Harper.
To me, it seemed Furman wasn't going to allow Mercer to get their edge stuff going. Sometimes we'd immediately drop the BANDIT into the flat. Frequently our DBs would be a heat seeking missile on Harper every time he ran across the field. I think Mercer TEs struggled to set the edge against our DBs, who frequently shoved them backwards, forcing ball carriers to stop their feet and turn back into the teeth of the defense.
I also think Furman did a good job of mixing up the coverages. A few times we would flip our SPUR and CB depending on whether Harper or James lined up in the slot. Mercer tries to get those matchup advantages on linebackers and safeties, and Furman was countering that with putting our cover guys on them.
It's hard to explain this, but it's also like we played the odds defensively. Roughly 80% of Mercer's passing yards goes to one of two players. Perhaps knowing this, we were a little more creative with disguising where the coverage was coming from.
Like this play:
It appears that Sciana, an inside linebacker, is actually in man coverage on the TE along the sideline. Mercer is statistically unlikely to throw it to him, so Furman may have just been taking a gamble that Sciana can run with him off the snap. That allows your better cover guys to stay on their two dangerous offensive weapons.
(yes, it was a good play for Mercer, but that doesn't change the point I'm making)
Honestly, what I saw today isn't the product of a team that started preparing for Mercer this week. We were ready for them.
Went back and watched the blocked punt.
A Mercer player does grab Jalen Miller around the shoulder pads and slings him to the ground as he attempts to release down the field before the kick is away.
Had nothing to do with Leavy's punt or the block, but definitely holding.
A Mercer player does grab Jalen Miller around the shoulder pads and slings him to the ground as he attempts to release down the field before the kick is away.
Had nothing to do with Leavy's punt or the block, but definitely holding.
Also seemed like this was a little wrinkle:
A few times we'd have a TE in the slot, and then start them in motion before the snap - almost like a 250 lbs A back on an option team. He'd take a step and then the ball would be snapped.
We seemed to use all three TEs pretty liberally. I do not remember seeing us do this sort of pre-snap timing motion before (at least I started noticing it in this game).
A few times we'd have a TE in the slot, and then start them in motion before the snap - almost like a 250 lbs A back on an option team. He'd take a step and then the ball would be snapped.
We seemed to use all three TEs pretty liberally. I do not remember seeing us do this sort of pre-snap timing motion before (at least I started noticing it in this game).
BTW Kudos to the 75 students that showed up today and a big shout out to the 17 that stayed for the second half.
Bootie, Davemeister liked this
Will sub in new photos later. #Paladins put Mercer away.
https://wellpilgrim.wordpress.com/2023/ ... cer-38-14/
https://wellpilgrim.wordpress.com/2023/ ... cer-38-14/
apaladin, hypercycloid liked this
My brother and I both commented on this motion after seeing it a few times that he is kinda almost sorta maybe slightly moving forward instead of parallel to the LOS, borderline penalty. This one didn’t look a quite as bad as the others but he takes nearly a 45 degree track.The Jackal wrote: ↑Sat Sep 23, 2023 9:34 pmAlso seemed like this was a little wrinkle:
A few times we'd have a TE in the slot, and then start them in motion before the snap - almost like a 250 lbs A back on an option team. He'd take a step and then the ball would be snapped.
We seemed to use all three TEs pretty liberally. I do not remember seeing us do this sort of pre-snap timing motion before (at least I started noticing it in this game).
This new wrinkle feels similar to how the old GSU backfield would fire out of the backfield. It's probably not an apples-to-oranges comparison.
Furman will have a physical advantage with these multiple tight-end looks. It should be noted that true freshman Brock Chappell is playing a lot of snaps. A 6-5 250 athletic tight end that appears to be becoming a formidable blocker gives Furman a formable tight end trio.
Furman will have a physical advantage with these multiple tight-end looks. It should be noted that true freshman Brock Chappell is playing a lot of snaps. A 6-5 250 athletic tight end that appears to be becoming a formidable blocker gives Furman a formable tight end trio.
AstroDin wrote: ↑Sun Sep 24, 2023 8:41 amThis new wrinkle feels similar to how the old GSU backfield would fire out of the backfield. It's probably not an apples-to-oranges comparison.
Furman will have a physical advantage with these multiple tight-end looks. It should be noted that true freshman Brock Chappell is playing a lot of snaps. A 6-5 250 athletic tight end that appears to be becoming a formidable blocker gives Furman a formable tight end trio.
This looks like some of Roper's Oregon roots.
Furman typically uses the H back/TE to "wham" block on inside zone runs.
This looks like an outside zone. Furman offensive linemen are all covering a play side gap. The TE comes across the formation and essentially is a fullback sealing the first wrong colored jersey that shows up.
It takes a pretty athletic TE to get out ahead of this play and stretch the defense and create gaps. As Chappell gets more experience, he's going to be a huge offensive weapon in the run game.
Also, watch Petit, the youngest member of the OL, working out of a double team and getting to the second level to seal off Mercer's inside linebacker.
Surprised by the late first half Time Out. Definitely not something Dick Sheridan was known for. It backfired but Hendrix was going for the early killshot. Very aggresive move.
It COULD have been a good call if we had not gone into a prevent defense that just gives teams 15-20 yards if they can throw it and catch it. That call was worse than the timeout. On that 3rd down pass, their receiver caught the ball wide open 20 yards downfield and ran another 15 yards before anyone got close,