Jasper wrote: ↑Sun Sep 15, 2019 4:45 pm
JohnW wrote: ↑Sun Sep 15, 2019 3:20 pm
My usual reaction to a P5 game, even in the good years, has been don't get embarrassed, stay healthy, every other game on the schedule is more important. So I should feel great about yesterday's performance, but the truth is I don't. I am disappointed we did not win that game. This is odd because prior to the game, with the inherent disadvantages, our poor defensive showing, and Bud Foster having two weeks of tape to prepare for our offense, I felt we had little chance of winning. However, after seeing the teams line up and play, that was a game we should have won. We did not make plays we are capable of making and we made mistakes we don't normally make. We were not overwhelmed by superior talent, not awed by the "big time" atmosphere, certainly not out coached, we didn't play as well as we can, and that's why we lost. Period. If I saw it the players and coaches know it. They can do better and I fully expect they will. Mercer might be in trouble.
Excellent observations, JohnW. It was a game that we could have and likely should have won. We were not outplayed, outcoached, out physicaled, outclasses or any other "out". I hate to be hokie…. but I think we did not BELIEVE we were going to win and that is a big element in sports. That might be true of our players as well as our coaches. It is a very human reaction when going against a supposedly superior foe. I liken it to golf when a mid handicap ( say 15) golfer shoots 37 on the front nine and then plays the back in 49. He doesn't BELIEVE he is capable of scoring in the 70's so he doesn't. He blows up on the back and winds up with an 86; a score with which he is "comfortable". It happens all the time - trust me I know from experience. In this case, I don't think we were totally comfortable beating the mighty Va Tech of TV fame and so we did not. (with a big assist from the refs). This 2019 version of the Furman Paladins is in fact a very good football team that is capable of running the table for the balance of this season and making some real noise in the playoffs. But they have GOT TO BELIEVE. And when they do get to that point of belief, the opposing team will know and feel that attitude just as much. Football is said to be a very basic game of blocking and tackling but there are intangibles in every sport and that is what we need to develop to win. Believe - get tough - finish the damned job.
I certainly believe mindset or more exactly confidence is a large part of any endeavor. It's true at this stage of the rebuild, unlike Furman teams of the past, there is not a huge reservoir of big wins for this group to draw on. Your reply made me think about an interview with the Clemson QB before the 1989 game. They asked him what he thought about Furman and this will not be exact but he said they are a lot like us, they expect to win. That mentality comes from belief in the program and that belief, with execution leading to success. I'm confident that's where we're heading and a win last week or Saturday would have been an important milestone on that road. Now before people get the idea I think this is a huge setback let me say I believe this game can still be a positive. It's all in how they respond. I hope they're not blaming the loss on anything the refs did, that's our job. I hope they are mad at the blocks they missed, the TOs made, the passes dropped, the tackles missed, not doing to the best of their ability things they're coached to do. If they were surprised at going head-to-head with VPI, I hope they now realize they have the team and the scheme to have a really special season.
