Furman @ WCCC Oct. 21st

[gofurman]

Has Western done that much this season to go up the rankings so fast, or is that mainly because of the amount of points they're scoring

WCU has been playing very well. They have also benefited from the following...

1) Head Coach with a 'name' who was an SEC and Pro Football 'feel good' story and has Natl Champ 'chops' @ D2
2) Flashy Scores - vs. ChuckSouth, CIT, and Chatt (just ignore Chatt's half-a-hundred)
3) Flashy Stats - Reid particularly and Gonzales as well
4) Flashy Games - Their contests with EKU and Chatt are 'hot'
5) Schedule - People, for some reason, think unranked 3-3 EKU is a GREAT win...and the win over now-ranked Chatt helps
6) This is a BIG one - The performance of Furman, particularly (this year AND last year), and also Samford (last year) have enabled a SoCon Team that is doing well to ascend in the rankings at a much more rapid rate than Furman, Samford, and ETSU before them were able to ascend.
7) The Catamounts are doing a VERY NICE job hyping themselves. In today's world that matters and this is not a knock, at all. FU is good at it (now), and WCU is doing very, very well in publicizing their recent success

Great, we want the SoCon to allow for strong rankings. It only helps all the teams in the conference. We have a shot at 3 playoff teams this year - GoFurman ! Go Socon !

[gofurman]

I hope gofurman is properly skeered of WCU.

Davemeister, I am very skeered!

[gofurman]

Game Notes: https://furmanpaladins.com/documents/20 ... _Stats.pdf

- No real changes on the depth chart. Appears Brinson didn't start against Samford.

- Furman is 17-4 in their last 21 games, with two losses of the losses to Clemson and USC.

Yep. I agree - two things jump out. Still not 'listing' KT. hope he is available... But honestly more importantly I hope Brinson is available. Not sure what is going on there. All-Conference guy not playing despite dressing out at Samford and repllaced by a guy in his first start. We could use Brinson in addition to Blackshear and Ryan !

Oh, Stephens and Clark are both listed as starting so that is very good!

[FUwolfpacker]

If Brinson is healthy and isn't starting, then I have to trust that either the coaches think Williams is better right now, or they maybe feel like he's better in coverage than Brinson? That's why Chizik is starting at spur this week most likely. Also, even though it was his first start, Williams has played a decent amount of football for Furman. He was the only freshman not to redshirt last year I believe, so he's a pretty good player. But yes, you would prefer an all conference guy with a ton of experience if you had to choose!

It is interesting in regards to Brinson. He wasn't mentioned at the presser I don't believe, and I don't think anyone asked about it (I could be wrong). You would think that there probably is a minor injury thing he's dealing with that just didn't let him go on Saturday.

[gman84]

GF, a lot of factors go into who plays. Not every situation is injury related. That's for the coaches to deal with. This I know with 100% certainty... they put the best guy available out there. The red shirt situation is a factor as well. I'm sure our staff is planning for the WC rb to be on that field Saturday. And what Wolfpacker said.

[The Jackal]

Two things:

First, the depth chart is hardly set in stone. Furman does a pretty good job of keeping it updated, but it's rarely 100% accurate on who is or isn't going to play.

Second, Furman's defense held Samford's offense to under their season averages for points, yards, passing yards, and rushing yards. In a few of those categories, they were way under their average output. Samford, to that point, had allowed 16 sacks all season and gave up 9 to the Paladin defense.

Caleb Williams only recorded two tackles as a strong safety. I'm inclined to wonder if he may have been a better option in pass coverage against Samford, which allowed Furman to deploy Hugh Ryan underneath.

Either way, whatever we did defensively against Samford worked well.

[FUBeAR]

Two things:

First, the depth chart is hardly set in stone. Furman does a pretty good job of keeping it updated, but it's rarely 100% accurate on who is or isn't going to play.

Second, Furman's defense held Samford's offense to under their season averages for points, yards, passing yards, and rushing yards. In a few of those categories, they were way under their average output. Samford, to that point, had allowed 16 sacks all season and gave up 9 to the Paladin defense.

Caleb Williams only recorded two tackles as a strong safety. I'm inclined to wonder if he may have been a better option in pass coverage against Samford, which allowed Furman to deploy Hugh Ryan underneath.

Either way, whatever we did defensively against Samford worked well.

Also…FWIW - Chizik (5-9/183 - more of a DB) also started instead of Miller (5-11/211 - more of an LB) at Spur. Miller DNP’d and Chizik had 13 tackles, including a TFL.

Not sure if Miller was / is available or not, but he is / was listed on FU’s 2-deep.

Made sense 100% to go with the extra DB vs. Samford’s O. Depending on Reid’s status, it may make sense to ‘run back’ the Samford D or we might see more of Miller if Reid has had some of those Jackson County snake handlers lay hands on his hamstring.

[AllTimeFU]

Any suggested locations for dinner and rattle handling Friday night as we descend on WCU?

[FUBeAR]

From SoCon and Furman Hater, Craig Haley and "The Analyst"...He and his podcast co-host both picked WCU.

Southern: No. 4 Furman (5-1, 3-0) at No. 8 Western Carolina (5-1, 3-0)
Kickoff: 2:30 p.m. (ESPN+)

Notable: First place is on the line for two SoCon teams whose only losses are to FBS opposition. WCU’s No. 1-in-the-FCS offense at 531.8 yards per game has had two weeks to recharge after a 52-50 walk-off win at Chattanooga. Running back Desmond Reid ranks No. 1 nationally with 141.2 rushing yards per game, but Furman has allowed just under 100 per game, which is best in the conference. In the Paladins’ 47-40 victory over WCU last year, Dominic Roberto rushed for 252 yards as part of their 57-run, 10-pass breakdown, although three of Tyler Huff’s seven completions went for touchdowns.

The Pick: Western Carolina

[FUBeAR]

Any suggested locations for dinner and rattle handling Friday night as we descend on WCU?

FUBeAR knows...seems odd...and, no, they are not serving "mountain oysters" .... Ate here in 2019 and it was VERY GOOD.

5.9 miles North of the stadium in Sylva, NC
https://creeksideoysterhouse.com/

Creekside Oyster House and Grill is a popular restaurant in Sylva, North Carolina.
It's located at 219 West Main Street.

Atmosphere: Creekside Oyster House and Grill has a laid-back, comfortable atmosphere. It's known for its cocktails.

Menu: Creekside Oyster House and Grill serves seafood, American dishes, and cocktails. It also offers health-conscious menu items, beer, and wine.

Amenities: Creekside Oyster House and Grill has an onsite bar, booster seats, and high chairs. It also has special features for families with children, such as reduced rates, cots, and a kid's club.

Hours: Creekside Oyster House and Grill serves meals late into the night.

Reviews: Some say Creekside Oyster House and Grill has great staff, reasonable prices, and quality food and service.

[Stumpy]

"Creekside Oyster House and Grill has an onsite bar, booster seats, and high chairs. "

Just gonna let that sit right there.

[The Jackal]

Two things:

First, the depth chart is hardly set in stone. Furman does a pretty good job of keeping it updated, but it's rarely 100% accurate on who is or isn't going to play.

Second, Furman's defense held Samford's offense to under their season averages for points, yards, passing yards, and rushing yards. In a few of those categories, they were way under their average output. Samford, to that point, had allowed 16 sacks all season and gave up 9 to the Paladin defense.

Caleb Williams only recorded two tackles as a strong safety. I'm inclined to wonder if he may have been a better option in pass coverage against Samford, which allowed Furman to deploy Hugh Ryan underneath.

Either way, whatever we did defensively against Samford worked well.

Also…FWIW - Chizik (5-9/183 - more of a DB) also started instead of Miller (5-11/211 - more of an LB) at Spur. Miller DNP’d and Chizik had 13 tackles, including a TFL.

Not sure if Miller was / is available or not, but he is / was listed on FU’s 2-deep.

Made sense 100% to go with the extra DB vs. Samford’s O. Depending on Reid’s status, it may make sense to ‘run back’ the Samford D or we might see more of Miller if Reid has had some of those Jackson County snake handlers lay hands on his hamstring.

I'm talking out of school here, but this is what I saw.

Furman typically appeared to deploy Williams and Chizik together to the strong side of the field, which appeared to be dictated by the strength of Samford's passing ability - often wherever there were multiple receivers or the wide side of the field.

If Samford was going to run the ball, they would either have to run it to their formation strength and into Furman's numerical advantage, or they'd run to the weak side, where you'd have Sochovka, Gilby, and Ryan waiting.

Chizik would often break straight backwards on the snap of the ball and cover the deepest part of the field - ostensibly to cut off the deep crossing route.

I think we did a bang up job in coverage minus surrounding a deep throw on a double move on the first drive. Samford's leading receiver was held 30+ yards off his average and really struggled to do any damage in the passing game. His damage came in the running game.

Incidentally, we better clean up the little reverse toss defense. Samford beat us with that twice. I'm pretty sure we'll see it again Saturday.

[The Cats]

Has Western done that much this season to go up the rankings so fast, or is that mainly because of the amount of points they're scoring

WCU has been playing very well. They have also benefited from the following...

1) Head Coach with a 'name' who was an SEC and Pro Football 'feel good' story and has Natl Champ 'chops' @ D2
2) Flashy Scores - vs. ChuckSouth, CIT, and Chatt (just ignore Chatt's half-a-hundred)
3) Flashy Stats - Reid particularly and Gonzales as well
4) Flashy Games - Their contests with EKU and Chatt are 'hot'
5) Schedule - People, for some reason, think unranked 3-3 EKU is a GREAT win...and the win over now-ranked Chatt helps
6) This is a BIG one - The performance of Furman, particularly (this year AND last year), and also Samford (last year) have enabled a SoCon Team that is doing well to ascend in the rankings at a much more rapid rate than Furman, Samford, and ETSU before them were able to ascend.
7) The Catamounts are doing a VERY NICE job hyping themselves. In today's world that matters and this is not a knock, at all. FU is good at it (now), and WCU is doing very, very well in publicizing their recent success

I know it wasn't done on purpose, but you completely forgot (the then raked #7/8) Samford score, first game of the conference season (you know that team that was raked along side of Furman to win the SoCon preseason), as I recall it was 30-7, refresh your self by looking up the stats of that game.

I know you didn't mean to leave out such an important piece of information like that. But a nice list otherwise...

-your least favorite, non-resident, Catamount poster

[FUBeAR]

Has Western done that much this season to go up the rankings so fast, or is that mainly because of the amount of points they're scoring

WCU has been playing very well. They have also benefited from the following...

1) Head Coach with a 'name' who was an SEC and Pro Football 'feel good' story and has Natl Champ 'chops' @ D2
2) Flashy Scores - vs. ChuckSouth, CIT, and Chatt (just ignore Chatt's half-a-hundred)
3) Flashy Stats - Reid particularly and Gonzales as well
4) Flashy Games - Their contests with EKU and Chatt are 'hot'
5) Schedule - People, for some reason, think unranked 3-3 EKU is a GREAT win...and the win over now-ranked Chatt helps
6) This is a BIG one - The performance of Furman, particularly (this year AND last year), and also Samford (last year) have enabled a SoCon Team that is doing well to ascend in the rankings at a much more rapid rate than Furman, Samford, and ETSU before them were able to ascend.
7) The Catamounts are doing a VERY NICE job hyping themselves. In today's world that matters and this is not a knock, at all. FU is good at it (now), and WCU is doing very, very well in publicizing their recent success

you completely forgot (the then raked #7/8) Samford score

No - the crux of KingPaladin's query relates to WCU's RAPID RISE in the rankings.

FUBeAR's list above is responding to THAT question.

WCU's win over Samford absolutely put WCU on the radar. But, it did not even get WCU ranked...

1) STATS Perform - Samford dropped from #8 to #18 and WCU did not enter the rankings until the following week, after the EKU win (see #4 & #5 on FUBeAR's list), coming in at #23

2) Coaches - Samford dropped from #7 to #17 and, again, WCU did not enter the rankings until the following week, after the EKU win (see #4 & #5 on FUBeAR's list), coming in at #21


....so, it's hard to say that the win over Samford had much, if anything, to do with WCU 'going up the rankings so fast' since voters didn't view it as being significant enough to rank WCU after that win.

Instead, voters, as we can see above, just moved Samford down rapidly, effectively declaring them a 'paper tiger.' And with the extreme turnover in Samford's roster from 2022 to 2023, it's hard to argue against that point. At that early stage of the season, THIS Samford Team, with only 2-3 Starters returning on Defense, only had a D2 Win on their resume before losing to WCU in a game that included a 5 hour weather delay. And, Samford's subsequent performance, losing 3 of 5 following the loss to WCU, hasn't done anything to bolster the value of the WCU win over them in terms of being much of a ranking 'asset' for WCU.


So, no, FUBeAR did not 'completely forget' WCU's win over Samford or the score of that win. He just doesn't see that win, or the score of that win, as being a significant factor in WCU's rapid rise in the rankings, as compared to the languishing below the Top 10 / Top 15 that ETSU (2021), Furman (2022), and Samford (2022) experienced despite winning game after game in those prior seasons.

Thanks for weighing in with your thoughts though. Always fun to knowledgeably discuss SoCon Football.

[FU Hoopla]

Get ready boys, its time for an old school big SoCon showdown Saturday