FURMAN FOOTBALL WEEKLY: THE CHATTANOOGA GAME

[Paul C]

*We will NEVER be able to out-talent Western? Then we aren't winning any national titles ever again. Just depressing. Wish I could have witnessed the 80s.

I wish you had witnessed the 80's too because then you wouldn't post stupid sh1t like this


just kidding, but seriously....we were out weighed, out speeded, out talented in a lot of our games in that era but we won because we played with heart, technique and flawless execution.

Jeff Blankenship. the 1-AA DPOY and one of the best D players in the history of Furman ran a 4.92 40 for the NFL scouts....just an example

[FUBeAR]

*We will NEVER be able to out-talent Western? Then we aren't winning any national titles ever again. Just depressing. Wish I could have witnessed the 80s.

I wish you had witnessed the 80's too because then you wouldn't post stupid sh1t like this


just kidding, but seriously....we were out weighed, out speeded, out talented in a lot of our games in that era but we won because we played with heart, technique and flawless execution.

Jeff Blankenship. the 1-AA DPOY and one of the best D players in the history of Furman ran a 4.92 40 for the NFL scouts....just an example

FUBeAR can confirm.

The ONLY Team we ever out-athleted in those salad days was Davidson…and FUBeAR makes that FU >DC athlete-wise claim with more hubris than certainty.

[gofurman]

*We will NEVER be able to out-talent Western? Then we aren't winning any national titles ever again. Just depressing. Wish I could have witnessed the 80s.

I wish you had witnessed the 80's too because then you wouldn't post stupid sh1t like this


just kidding, but seriously....we were out weighed, out speeded, out talented in a lot of our games in that era but we won because we played with heart, technique and flawless execution.

Jeff Blankenship. the 1-AA DPOY and one of the best D players in the history of Furman ran a 4.92 40 for the NFL scouts....just an example

1) I saw 2001... I saw last year.. I saw 2004 and 2005 (possibly our most talented teams those last two) . And to that point of 2004 and 2005 TALENT HELPS - those teams were instantly in the running for the title the minute they stepped on the field. But NIL and transfer portal has killed the Ingle Martin clause....

Also, and this is key, our academic restrictions have gotten' MUCH MUCH MUCH harder than in the 80s so we aren't as talented as then. So you can say we weren't talented then but we are less talented now. Our coach told me at a silent auction that we couldn't get the 80s talent when he was there in the 2000s.. and it has just gotten harder. Add in the Dakotas etc I don't think we can ever win it all again. That's just real, ... our talent is inversely related our academics and our academics just keep getting harder. Literally a coach of ours told me "we can't get 80s talent now". And ya'll are admitting even then we weren't the most talented team.


***DONT curse at me Paul, that's just RUDE. I have enough crap in my life that I don't need it here too.

[FUBeAR]

Balderdash (not a curse word, btw).

If 8 blind zebras don’t swallow their whistles on 2 Returns in Missoula, we got a not-better-than-the-Griz bizuns Team comin’ into Paladin Stadium the following week with FU having at least a 51% chance (more like 80% IFBO) of whippin’ their butts, and chartering a flight to Frisco.

No FCS Team was gonna beat that SDSU Team that won it last year, but that FU Team was better than this years’ bunnies, bison, or bobbie cats.

[gofurman]

Balderdash (not a curse word, btw).

If 8 blind zebras don’t swallow their whistles on 2 Returns in Missoula, we got a not-better-than-the-Griz bizuns Team comin’ into Paladin Stadium the following week with FU having at least a 51% chance (more like 80% IFBO) of whippin’ their butts, and chartering a flight to Frisco.

No FCS Team was gonna beat that SDSU Team that won it last year, but that FU Team was better than this years’ bunnies, bison, or bobbie cats.

FUBeAR, “Balderdash.” I like it. And I agree w everything you and Paul said. I HOPE. Little frustrating day at work

AGREE that last year we coulda made the title game !!! And that them SDSU peoples was pretty much unbeatable. Crap on these Dakotas. If not for them we would legit be top 10 a lot more often. Instead it’s more top 15-20. JMU got it once otherwise it’s always NDSU or SDSU. peeves me off. At least they don’t seem to cheat. Just less FBS P4, G5 and FCS to compete with up there. I mean what - Minnesota? Wisconsin is a strong program. But if there were literally just two more good G5 programs in those states or on the border it would change everything. Like if just Boise State were within 100-200 miles it would hurt the Dakotas a goood bit

I just love our Furman football and want us to be champions !!! Hard for me to hear “we can’t have the talent etc”. Glad to know I’ve seen what CCH can do.

[AstroDin]

GoFu… you're not new here, nor being a fan.
It should go without saying that Furman has different recruiting standards regarding admissions than I'm pretty sure any school in the SoCon, including Wofford. I believe this is a factor in what CCH means about the overall talent level of, say, WCU, ETSU, Chatty, and Furman. Those schools can offer some players that Furman can't even get on campus for a visit due to admissions/academics.

Paul makes an excellent point about Jeff; you could say the same for Will Bouton or, more recently, Jake Johanning. Jake came to Furman with zero stars; his only other offer was Wofford. CCH saw something in Jake, and it proved to be correct. I would take Jake Johannings every day. This is where you can't measure 'talent'.

I wouldn't be so black-and-white about CCH's talent comment. There is a nuance to it.

[Paul C]

It’s not all about talent. Faster players get out of position faster than slow ones. We always won with heart, technique and execution. I’d argue a bigger negative effect on us than the academic rigor have been the restrictions on practice time.

[gofurman]

GoFu… you're not new here, nor being a fan.
It should go without saying that Furman has different recruiting standards regarding admissions than I'm pretty sure any school in the SoCon, including Wofford. I believe this is a factor in what CCH means about the overall talent level of, say, WCU, ETSU, Chatty, and Furman. Those schools can offer some players that Furman can't even get on campus for a visit due to admissions/academics.

Paul makes an excellent point about Jeff; you could say the same for Will Bouton or, more recently, Jake Johanning. Jake came to Furman with zero stars; his only other offer was Wofford. CCH saw something in Jake, and it proved to be correct. I would take Jake Johannings every day. This is where you can't measure 'talent'.

I wouldn't be so black-and-white about CCH's talent comment. There is a nuance to it.

True. Though Will Bouton made it to the last trials for the NFL. That’s TALENT. Jake Johanning is currently with the Raiders ! That’s pure TALENT. Not just heart. Both. Examples reflect athletic talent. Chas Fox. Felton. Most of our best teams had DUDES. Ernest Gibson. Stanford Jennings. Dakota dozier.

I’ll share. Dotted line at work is me to Gene Patrick Turner. Was on 88 Title team. In Kuwait now and I work with him. He’s had some interesting comments. LIVES and BREATHES FURMAN FOOTBALL. For now I’ll wait until I get permission to share.

But basically yeah, you have to be top 10 type talent / experience to win it all. I mean look at this year with experience / talent. I say talent not as an insult. But as strength etc from weightlifting etc. You can’t just make up for that ….

I mean Dallas Goedert etc and 4 All Americas ? whadda ya know SDSU is winning titles. Two NFL-type QBs in Wentz and Trey Lance… NDSU is winning all the time. Al the titles. Furman isn’t winning the NCAA basketball tourney. We aren’t.

You need to be in top 5-10 talent / experience pool to play for titles.

Also to the point of speed can be abused (upthuread). Well Clemson is faster than us - and more talented .. and we have NEVER beaten them. Now I get that’s a little ridiculous of an example … I do. But like the whoopin USC put on us two years ago etc. The more the talent discrepancy the more our chances diminish.

We have to be somewhere close in talent if we REALY want to play for a title. . And the Johnannings and TEs may prove that we are ! Need numerous all-conference players

[FUBeAR]

GoFu… you're not new here, nor being a fan.
It should go without saying that Furman has different recruiting standards regarding admissions than I'm pretty sure any school in the SoCon, including Wofford. I believe this is a factor in what CCH means about the overall talent level of, say, WCU, ETSU, Chatty, and Furman. Those schools can offer some players that Furman can't even get on campus for a visit due to admissions/academics.

Paul makes an excellent point about Jeff; you could say the same for Will Bouton or, more recently, Jake Johanning. Jake came to Furman with zero stars; his only other offer was Wofford. CCH saw something in Jake, and it proved to be correct. I would take Jake Johannings every day. This is where you can't measure 'talent'.

I wouldn't be so black-and-white about CCH's talent comment. There is a nuance to it.

True. Though Will Bouton made it to the last trials for the NFL. That’s TALENT. Jake Johanning is currently with the Raiders ! That’s pure TALENT. Not just heart. Both. Examples reflect athletic talent. Chas Fox. Felton. Most of our best teams had DUDES. Ernest Gibson. Stanford Jennings. Dakota dozier.

I’ll share. Dotted line at work is me to Gene Patrick Turner. Was on 88 Title team. In Kuwait now and I work with him. He’s had some interesting comments. LIVES and BREATHES FURMAN FOOTBALL. For now I’ll wait until I get permission to share.

But basically yeah, you have to be top 10 type talent / experience to win it all. I mean look at this year with experience / talent. I say talent not as an insult. But as strength etc from weightlifting etc. You can’t just make up for that ….

I mean Dallas Goedert etc and 4 All Americas ? whadda ya know SDSU is winning titles. Two NFL-type QBs in Wentz and Trey Lance… NDSU is winning all the time. Al the titles. Furman isn’t winning the NCAA basketball tourney. We aren’t.

You need to be in top 5-10 talent / experience pool to play for titles.

Also to the point of speed can be abused (upthuread). Well Clemson is faster than us - and more talented .. and we have NEVER beaten them. Now I get that’s a little ridiculous of an example … I do. But like the whoopin USC put on us two years ago etc. The more the talent discrepancy the more our chances diminish.

We have to be somewhere close in talent if we REALY want to play for a title. . And the Johnannings and TEs may prove that we are ! Need numerous all-conference players

Ernest Gibson was a walk-on at Furman AND the hardest worker FUBeAR has ever seen. Through his ultra-hard work in the weight room, on the practice field, and on the track, he, while fully absorbing the outstanding Coaching of a future NCAA Coach of the Year, DEVELOPED into an NFL quality Player during his tenure at Furman.

Chas Fox am a pure horror show as a Freshman. He brought 1 skill with him to Furman. He was really fast. As, undoubtedly, the fastest HS SR among the total of 96 Sr’s in the state of SDak, his speed had taught him numerous BAD habits that made him worse at his position at the time (RB) than almost any RB on the Team, including the 8th Team walk-on that probably ran a 5.4 40 yard dash. Chas was a 10-15 yard loss waiting to be unleashed every time he touched the ball…if he didn’t fumble. But Chas was also a very, very hard worker and Furman’s Coaches were smart enough to change his position and then Coach the heck out of him. With great Coaching optimizing his talents, guiding him patiently into developing at a position he had never played, and a ton of his own hard work, Chas DEVELOPED into an NFL quality Player during his tenure at Furman.

Stanford Jennings was NFL-ready from Day1. It’s a good thing for Furman that only Furman’s and The Citadel’s Coaches (mostly ex-Furman guys) were smart enough to recognize that. He had no other D1 offers.

Can’t speak with absolute knowledge about Felton & Dozier, but would be surprised if their DEVELOPMENT at Furman didn’t have similar tones. We need to recruit the absolute best Players that we can get in and project as being able to succeed academically and then develop the heck out of them, while fostering a situation that will help to retain them. We ain’t gettin’ NFL-ready talent, unless everyone else fails to recognize it…which rarely happens in 2024, as it, on occasion, did in 1980.

[gofurman]

GoFu… you're not new here, nor being a fan.
It should go without saying that Furman has different recruiting standards regarding admissions than I'm pretty sure any school in the SoCon, including Wofford. I believe this is a factor in what CCH means about the overall talent level of, say, WCU, ETSU, Chatty, and Furman. Those schools can offer some players that Furman can't even get on campus for a visit due to admissions/academics.

Paul makes an excellent point about Jeff; you could say the same for Will Bouton or, more recently, Jake Johanning. Jake came to Furman with zero stars; his only other offer was Wofford. CCH saw something in Jake, and it proved to be correct. I would take Jake Johannings every day. This is where you can't measure 'talent'.

I wouldn't be so black-and-white about CCH's talent comment. There is a nuance to it.

True. Though Will Bouton made it to the last trials for the NFL. That’s TALENT. Jake Johanning is currently with the Raiders ! That’s pure TALENT. Not just heart. Both. Examples reflect athletic talent. Chas Fox. Felton. Most of our best teams had DUDES. Ernest Gibson. Stanford Jennings. Dakota dozier.

I’ll share. Dotted line at work is me to Gene Patrick Turner. Was on 88 Title team. In Kuwait now and I work with him. He’s had some interesting comments. LIVES and BREATHES FURMAN FOOTBALL. For now I’ll wait until I get permission to share.

But basically yeah, you have to be top 10 type talent / experience to win it all. I mean look at this year with experience / talent. I say talent not as an insult. But as strength etc from weightlifting etc. You can’t just make up for that ….

I mean Dallas Goedert etc and 4 All Americas ? whadda ya know SDSU is winning titles. Two NFL-type QBs in Wentz and Trey Lance… NDSU is winning all the time. Al the titles. Furman isn’t winning the NCAA basketball tourney. We aren’t.

You need to be in top 5-10 talent / experience pool to play for titles.

Also to the point of speed can be abused (upthuread). Well Clemson is faster than us - and more talented .. and we have NEVER beaten them. Now I get that’s a little ridiculous of an example … I do. But like the whoopin USC put on us two years ago etc. The more the talent discrepancy the more our chances diminish.

We have to be somewhere close in talent if we REALY want to play for a title. . And the Johnannings and TEs may prove that we are ! Need numerous all-conference players

Ernest Gibson was a walk-on at Furman AND the hardest worker FUBeAR has ever seen. Through his ultra-hard work in the weight room, on the practice field, and on the track, he, while fully absorbing the outstanding Coaching of a future NCAA Coach of the Year, DEVELOPED into an NFL quality Player during his tenure at Furman.

Chas Fox am a pure horror show as a Freshman. He brought 1 skill with him to Furman. He was really fast. As, undoubtedly, the fastest HS SR among the total of 96 Sr’s in the state of SDak, his speed had taught him numerous BAD habits that made him worse at his position at the time (RB) than almost any RB on the Team, including the 8th Team walk-on that probably ran a 5.4 40 yard dash. Chas was a 10-15 yard loss waiting to be unleashed every time he touched the ball…if he didn’t fumble. But Chas was also a very, very hard worker and Furman’s Coaches were smart enough to change his position and then Coach the heck out of him. With great Coaching optimizing his talents, guiding him patiently into developing at a position he had never played, and a ton of his own hard work, Chas DEVELOPED into an NFL quality Player during his tenure at Furman.

Stanford Jennings was NFL-ready from Day1. It’s a good thing for Furman that only Furman’s and The Citadel’s Coaches (mostly ex-Furman guys) were smart enough to recognize that. He had no other D1 offers.

Can’t speak with absolute knowledge about Felton & Dozier, but would be surprised if their DEVELOPMENT at Furman didn’t have similar tones. We need to recruit the absolute best Players that we can get in and project as being able to succeed academically and then develop the heck out of them, while fostering a situation that will help to retain them. We ain’t gettin’ NFL-ready talent, unless everyone else fails to recognize it…which rarely happens in 2024, as it, on occasion, did in 1980.

Yes. Agree. I’m aware 2024 HUDL makes it tougher. In the 80s and 90s there wasn’t so much HUDL media etc. Though UTC was the only D1 offer for dang Terrell Owens - whatever year that was.

As for Chas Fox, SPEED KILLS. Always recruit SPEED. Our coaches can figure out how to use it. Like Jayson Foster at GSU.

But see this is yet another example of how it’s harder on Furman these days and why I wonder how we can compete. Stanford Jennings would blow up on video these days and get 30 offers vs only Citadel and Furman. In all likelihood he would be at Clemson or something similar these days. . That’s just truth. The interwebs don’t allow for guys to slip through the cracks - or at least not as much - like they did pre-interwebs.

[Paul C]

Or if he did come to Furman because he was somehow overlooked, he’d end up in the portal chasing NIL $…..

[gofurman]

Or if he did come to Furman because he was somehow overlooked, he’d end up in the portal chasing NIL $…..

Paul, I 100% AGREE WITH THIS !!!!! Dang portal is killing things. Hate it. Makes mid-major basketball just like a farm system for the big boys. Soon as a guy gets good the P5 buy him.

Thus my wonder will it even the playing field for the NDSU and SDSU in football ? Won’t the Dallas Goedert guys and Terrell Owens get bought ? Won’t Cooper Kupp get purchased as a junior ? Thus leveling the playing field by taking at least the total freaks

Thoughts by anyone here

[apaladin]

We are more different than most of the other schools in the So Con. We can rarely take a transfer. NOT a grad transfer because we sometimes pick one of those guys up. Our academics are different than other schools. Other So Con schools can get them in much easier than we can. Sure, they may lose them but they have the chance to pick up some new ones, hardly the case at Furman.

This excuse is getting a little old really.

[PaladinGooner]

Watched a little of the epic tuesday night matfchup between MTSU/KENNESAW ST Must have bern 1500 in attendance.
It was said that MTSU has 60 newcomers and KSU has 49 newcomers. The state of college football

The best part is that out of 134 FBS schools, KSU is ranked 134 and MTSU 125.