apaladin wrote: ↑Mon Oct 09, 2023 2:24 am
The Jackal wrote: ↑Sun Oct 08, 2023 8:22 am
My two cents:
1. We didn't look great, but I'm not one to try and extrapolate a lot of meaning to that. Even Furman's greatest teams have had a dud game. Fortunately, we were able to win this one and the issue never really was in doubt. Furman was never in any real threat of losing the game, everyone just thinks it should have looked more dominant than an otherwise comfortable win.
2. I am not going to complain if I never see Furman run a reverse again.
3. We lacked some killer instinct in the game. Up 28-7 and midway through the third quarter Furman had over 300 yard of offense to Citadel's 99. We had an excellent opportunity to end it there and just didn't drop the axe.
4. I suspect we didn't open up much of the playbook in this one.
5. I'm still waiting for some sort of vertical passing game from Furman. I know its more complicated than this, but it feels like we let defenses pack in tight against us. Almost as though we invite them to do it. Maybe in the second half of the season and as we enter this critical stretch of games, we'll start forcing teams to defend the deep third of the field.
Jackal, #5 should all be in capital letters. Don’t understand the lack of a vertical passing game. We seem to have the talent, so why are we not using it or even attempting to use it?
Hard to say. I do think there are a few things to be aware of, though.
To start, it is a truism that "downfield passes" are riskier. They have a far less percentage chance of being caught and a much higher percentage chance of ending in a negative outcome (interception, sack, whatever).
The numbers on this are a little interesting. Furman averages 6.72 yards per passing attempt. Samford, one of the nation's prolific passing offenses, averages 7.36. Samford, of course, has over 100 more attempts, but, on average, the Bulldogs attempt passes that are about half a yard further than Furman does.
Furman has two receptions this season over 40 yards - Kindle Dean's catch against USC and Ben Ferguson's long grab against Tennessee Tech. Of note, Dean's catch was thrown by Joshua Harris, not Tyler Huff. Huff is throwing for about 10 yards further per game than he was last season, which is not shocking considering the clock rules have shortened games and possessions.
All that is to say that Furman in 2023 is essentially doing what they were doing in 2022 passing-game wise.
Additionally, I wouldn't read too deeply into what we saw against the Citadel. Furman didn't really need to show all of their playbook coming off a bye week against an inferior team. I could be well wrong, but I imagine we're keeping some powder dry for Samford and Western.
