Furman at Montana

[Affirm]

20,884 was attendance per ESPN for Furman’s game at Montana.
That attendance was more than double the numbers announced by ESPN for both the SDSU quarterfinal win and the NDSU quarterfinal win.
(Don’t yet know about UAlbany Great Danes at Idaho Vandals game attendance. That game doesn’t start until 1 hour 40 minutes from now.)

[apaladin]

Hinton should be a phenomenal player in the future. I am glad Carson Jones got a little game experience this year. I hope the cupboard isn’t bare for next year. We are developing a little “playoff experience”.

The cupboard is not going to be bare.

Guys leave all the time and get replaced. That's part of the sport. The best teams are the ones that make the annual cycle seamless.

Very true but you have to admit losing 16 of 22 starters is a little much.

[Jasper]

Sounds like a plan to me. Let’s tee the friggin ball up and see where that sucker goes. I don’t think what went on last night on national TV is gonna hurt recruitment. As you so aptly pointed out a few weeks ago, last year we went to the “promised land” in baskets and punched one of the big boys right in the mouth. That meant diddly squat for this year so we ain’t ready to dance right now in hoops. Just like you said in the face of the Pom Pom wavers. Let’s play out the schedule and see what happens in Asheville in March. You don’t lose 2 play for pay guys w/o feeling some pain and that will happen in football as well. Let’s see what happens

[FUwolfpacker]

Very true but you have to admit losing 16 of 22 starters is a little much.

That’s only if every single one of the starters actually leave. A good number of them have an extra year I think.

We’re losing a lot, but other teams are as well. Heck WCU has already lost Desmond Reid, Censare Lee, and Andres Keaton to the portal. Those weren’t guys they were planning on losing .

With the portal, it’s so hard to get a good idea what next year will look like. It’s hard to imagine we won’t have growing pains, but it’s not like UTC, WCU, and Mercer return all 22 starters.

[The Jackal]

Hinton should be a phenomenal player in the future. I am glad Carson Jones got a little game experience this year. I hope the cupboard isn’t bare for next year. We are developing a little “playoff experience”.

The cupboard is not going to be bare.

Guys leave all the time and get replaced. That's part of the sport. The best teams are the ones that make the annual cycle seamless.

Very true but you have to admit losing 16 of 22 starters is a little much.

I think that sort of depends. To start, I have no idea who may actually return, but these are musings:

Offense

QB: There will be an open competition, but I assume Jones has the inside track on that job and has played well in relief this season.

RB: This position group was killed by injuries this year. Should return Robinson and Hicks. Smith has a bunch of talent, but recovering from injury. Thomas struggled with injuries all season and still has eligibility. Hall, the likely '24 commit, look really impressive.

WR: Josh Harris should start out one of the top receivers in the SoCon. Ethan Harris has looked good in reserve duty. Ferguson and Hinton are already established players with excellent route running, speed, and hands. Bailor Hughes appears to have eligibility. Jon Holbrook and Jakeith Hamilton were highly regarded recruits that saw some limited action.

TE: TE is a big question mark on eligibility. We know Furman should return at least Brock Chappell, who played a ton as a true freshman. I'm not sure of Pline and Gissinger's status. Both are grad students. I think Pline has played three seasons of football, but was a basketball player before that. Gissinger may still have COVID eligibility.

OL: I don't know Norman's status, but I anticipate we'll loose Toomey, Johanning, Hughes, and Vollmer. We return a lot of the second line guys who played a good bit this season. It wouldn't shock me to see a transfer on the OL.


Defense

CB: Yates and Robinson both have eligibility, so that is potentially two starting caliber guys back. We have a few younger guys, Moson and Ingram among them, who have played a bit.

FS: Lose Ryan. I believe Rhodes still has eligibility should he want to use it. AK Burrell is a talented freshman that already played most of the season on special teams.

SS: Caleb Williams already plays a lot of snaps at SS.

ILB: Dimaggio still has eligibility. McCormick could theoretically apply for a medical redshirt. If Furman could somehow have those two guys anchoring the middle, we'd have a good start.

BAN: Clark and Maier both have eligibility. They're two of the league's better pass rushers already.

SPUR: Anyone's guess here. I suspect this will primarily be one of our CBs. Chizik will be tough to replace.

NG: Xavier Stephens started and should return. There are a couple of potential younger guys, Harrison and Hernandez, that could fill in some snaps. Maybe we see them move Jeremiah Jackson inside like they did to Stephens this year.

DT: Hard to replace Sochovka, but Stansfield has a lot of experience. Need to fill in the depth chart behind him.

DE: Jeremiah Jackson should return. There are some really impressive freshman that should see a lot of time, Stoneking and Bussey.

[gofurman]

Very true but you have to admit losing 16 of 22 starters is a little much.

That’s only if every single one of the starters actually leave. A good number of them have an extra year I think.

We’re losing a lot, but other teams are as well. Heck WCU has already lost Desmond Reid, Censare Lee, and Andres Keaton to the portal. Those weren’t guys they were planning on losing .

With the portal, it’s so hard to get a good idea what next year will look like. It’s hard to imagine we won’t have growing pains, but it’s not like UTC, WCU, and Mercer return all 22 starters.

My 2 cents. Just facts.

I mean you saw what JUST missing three guys does.
Huff and Roberto…. And then Grant Robinson (impressed with him) being out did. I think if even Grant Robinson plays we beat Wofford.

We are really going to need A LOT OF OL AND DL HELP. I hope Norman and maybe one other return on OL. Especially offensive line. Heck I think we beat Wofford and Montana with
Evan jumper added in the mix.

Hope Grant Robinson and Jayquan smith are back and healthy. They have real good SoCon talent. Hope Carson gets better with spring and fall practice at start QB. But mainly I hope we find or have developed some OL. I think jackal above noted we could see a targets for transfer on OL. I sort of hope we do. Like Norman or someone this year. He held down a starting role

I Know great teams reload ( see NDSU) but with our academics it’s really hard for us to pull the uga Ndsu type thing. I do think we will have a drop off next year.

I mean be real. Why were we so high on this year? Because we were very strong last year and RETURNED SO MANY OLDER EXPERIENCED PLAYERS. Well now we DONT return many guys.

Just like someone said. Losing Bothwell and Slawson our basketball isn’t as good yet. Hopefully by February we can win the weekend tournament. But we aren’t the same yet. I suspect football will be like that next year. Younger. Losing key guys. Hope a few surprises stay for one more year. Pline. An OL. Especially OL !!!

Let’s get it. Win another SoCon title or another playoff run in 24 !

[gofurman]

I think we may bring back more than we think ; especially offensively. TE IS deep as are RB. We lose 3 very good O linemen but CH IS high on what behind them. We could have a real D problem however. Our front 7 will be decimated and the D backs lose a lot. The ? Is. Did we build a good 2023 team or did we build a program. If it’s the latter, it’s next man up. Let’s see. Great year. Great fun to be a fan. ALMOST AN HISTORIC EVENT. FU VS NDS AT PALADIN STADIUM. Would that have been friggin great or what? Two of the iconic programs in FCS history head to head in the South. Woulda been somethin.

Yep - bizuns win felt like someone kickin’ FUBeAR when he’s already down. Knew that were gonna, but…..So, so, so, so wanted to face bizuns nation in Paladin Stadium.

Dammit!!

Yes. This HURT. When I saw NDSU won I too went DAMNIT !

That said. I guess we pull for Grizzlies as it makes us look better. DAMN IT

[dornb]

https://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/ ... 782537007/

[The Jackal]

Very true but you have to admit losing 16 of 22 starters is a little much.

That’s only if every single one of the starters actually leave. A good number of them have an extra year I think.

We’re losing a lot, but other teams are as well. Heck WCU has already lost Desmond Reid, Censare Lee, and Andres Keaton to the portal. Those weren’t guys they were planning on losing .

With the portal, it’s so hard to get a good idea what next year will look like. It’s hard to imagine we won’t have growing pains, but it’s not like UTC, WCU, and Mercer return all 22 starters.

My 2 cents. Just facts.

I mean you saw what JUST missing three guys does.
Huff and Roberto…. And then Grant Robinson (impressed with him) being out did. I think if even Grant Robinson plays we beat Wofford.

We are really going to need A LOT OF OL AND DL HELP. I hope Norman and maybe one other return on OL. Especially offensive line. Heck I think we beat Wofford and Montana with
Evan jumper added in the mix.

Hope Grant Robinson and Jayquan smith are back and healthy. They have real good SoCon talent. Hope Carson gets better with spring and fall practice at start QB. But mainly I hope we find or have developed some OL. I think jackal above noted we could see a targets for transfer on OL. I sort of hope we do. Like Norman or someone this year. He held down a starting role

I Know great teams reload ( see NDSU) but with our academics it’s really hard for us to pull the uga Ndsu type thing. I do think we will have a drop off next year.

I mean be real. Why were we so high on this year? Because we were very strong last year and RETURNED SO MANY OLDER EXPERIENCED PLAYERS. Well now we DONT return many guys.

Just like someone said. Losing Bothwell and Slawson our basketball isn’t as good yet. Hopefully by February we can win the weekend tournament. But we aren’t the same yet. I suspect football will be like that next year. Younger. Losing key guys. Hope a few surprises stay for one more year. Pline. An OL. Especially OL !!!

Let’s get it. Win another SoCon title or another playoff run in 24 !

I mean, I think there's a few parts to this.

One is COVID. We are an older and more experienced team in part because so many guys had extra eligibility. That's a phenomena around college football - guys playing 5 or 6 years. So, we'll see that balance out across the sport the next year or two.

Every season there are going to be question marks. Last year, we had no idea who was going to play TE or make up for Ryan Miller's production, for instance.

Several of our experienced players are also grad school transfers. Norman, Cook, Pline, etc. didn't play for Furman last season. I suspect we'll continue to use that graduate transfer rule to our advantage.

Our defense two platoons, so yes, we lose some experienced starters, but we'll have a group of guys returning that played just as many meaningful snaps. Furman whipped Montana's offensive line all night, and a lot of that was done by guys we'll have next year too.

[Dinforlife]

I came down with a weird 6 hour stomach bug yesterday and wasn’t able to post earlier. Or maybe it was my body’s violent reaction to NDSU smashing USD and all that would have entailed….

Anyway, super proud of our guys. That final drive to tie it up was an act of sheer will and guts.

A final fun fact: My phone had gone silent the deeper in the game we got as more and more of my friends went to bed. As our final drive began my phone began to blow up. “What the heck? Who is this?” It was my brother, who lives overseas. He didn’t attend Furman but follows the Dins due to my time as a player. He woke up and pulled up the game first thing in the morning and began to watch and text. Just want our guys to know, we have an international fan base!

[gofurman]

I came down with a weird 6 hour stomach bug yesterday and wasn’t able to post earlier. Or maybe it was my body’s violent reaction to NDSU smashing USD and all that would have entailed….

Anyway, super proud of our guys. That final drive to tie it up was an act of sheer will and guts.

A final fun fact: My phone had gone silent the deeper in the game we got as more and more of my friends went to bed. As our final drive began my phone began to blow up. “What the heck? Who is this?” It was my brother, who lives overseas. He didn’t attend Furman but follows the Dins due to my time as a player. He woke up and pulled up the game first thing in the morning and began to watch and text. Just want our guys to know, we have an international fan base!

AWESOME

[gofurman]

With Huff at 75% gotta wonder what happens if you play Jones a snap or two. Or start him and see what happens.

I wondered about giving Jones one or two series. Especially since huff seemed off AND not willing to run as much. There were a few times I saw running room that Huff usually takes. In that game of tough yards just a five yard run by Huff would’ve been great

[The Jackal]

With Huff at 75% gotta wonder what happens if you play Jones a snap or two. Or start him and see what happens.

I wondered about giving Jones one or two series. Especially since huff seemed off AND not willing to run as much. There were a few times I saw running room that Huff usually takes. In that game of tough yards just a five yard run by Huff would’ve been great

A lot of that had to do with Montana's defense.

[The Jackal]

One of the great plays I've seen Furman hit. What a war this game was.

Watch the middle of the field. Watch Myion Hicks, playing hurt, just step in and pickup a blitzing linebacker. Watch Huff hold on to the last possible moment to throw the ball knowing he was going to get crunched. Huff has their big #99 on his legs and is hit both from the front and back by Grizzly defenders. Still gets a perfect throw off.

Just warriors, man.

[FUDude]

Agree, Huff was everything we could ask for in a QB last Friday night. That post he hit with them playing zero coverage was phenomenal. He held on until the last micro second to throw that ball and bam, big play by a big time player.

I got back home late last night and now see that we were stealing signs during the game and that's why they played bad, it wasn't because we are a good team. Bunch of disrespectful punks on eGriz, thank God the real fans were good people and a pleasure to be around. Never had an experience like last week for a game. Got to see and do things I never imagined on a football trip. Absolutely top notch treatment