2022 Outlook

[FUBeAR]

Jackal does not appear to be uneducated or uninformed. Thanks for the information and opinions.

FUBeAR is both of those. He’s also unwaffling,

Furman Football’s Offense WILL be better in 2022.

[The Jackal]

Jackal does not appear to be uneducated or uninformed. Thanks for the information and opinions.

It's mostly bluster so that those Wofford fans lurking on the board can run back to their forum and talk about how vain we are before we beat them by three touchdowns.

[The Jackal]

Jackal does not appear to be uneducated or uninformed. Thanks for the information and opinions.

FUBeAR is both of those. He’s also unwaffling,

Furman Football’s Offense WILL be better in 2022.

I try to be pragmatic about this.

Football is a team game in three phases. The goal is to score points and keep the other team from scoring.

I don't get too wrapped up in "total" offense or defense. Yes, there is some correlation to scoring and score prevention, but the goal of the game isn't measure in yards, it is measured in points.

As I reflect on last season, some things jump out.

We were 6-5. As a team, we averaged 24.3 ppg and surrendered 23.5 ppg. In SoCon play, it was 25.6 and 24.5. Sounds pretty much like a team that finished slightly above .500.

To me, the question regarding 2022 is can the defense surrender slightly fewer points and the offense score slightly more?

One area where we need to improve defensively is third downs. Furman had a pretty decent defense, but was abysmal at getting off the field on third downs.

In a similar vein, we need to close out football games. We lost to ETSU late in the game after our offense struggled to stay on the field and our defense couldn't get off it.

Against Western Carolina, we scored 42 points and our last 5 drives of the game ended with no points (downs, punt, punt, fumble, missed FG).

You think about those two games and realize that the difference in winning and losing may have come down to one extra yard, one more tackle, one completed pass. That may have been the difference in 6-5 and 8-3.

To get where we want to be, Furman has got to close out football games. That's a team effort. The defense has got to get off the field. The offense has to stay on the field.

Do I think our team has the ability to be better or slightly better in both point creation and point suppression? I do. If we are slightly better in both of those categories, we could be looking at a playoff caliber team.

[FUBeAR]

[gofurman]

Bottom line, to get the respect we believe we deserve, we can’t lose to Western Carolina, need to close out games we are winning, and start beating some of these teams in the post season.

We can’t keep expecting different results when the production is similar every season.

Unfortunately yes. It’s that simple. I do agree with FUBeAR that we shouldn’t get NDSU e every time but we need to win and get to second round several yrs. Need at least another team or two to do same. Then SoCon will gain respect it deserves. Two teams second round. Maybe one to third

[apaladin]

IIRC that ETSU loss was totally on the coaches. We came up a yard short on a terrible 3rd down call on ETSU’s 40. Then we got scared, punted and gained a mere 20 yds in which ETSU erased on their first play. So we gave up a chance to end the game for nothing. After we gave them the ball we played about as soft on defense as I’ve ever seen. ETSU’s drive was a walk in the park with no resistance whatsoever. It was really sickening to witness. That loss was totally on the coaches. I am hoping that the “new” coaching staff does not play “skeered” and plays with swag and confidence, something we have been sorely lacking!

[Affirm]

IIRC that ETSU loss was totally on the coaches. We came up a yard short on a terrible 3rd down call on ETSU’s 40. Then we got scared, punted and gained a mere 20 yds in which ETSU erased on their first play. So we gave up a chance to end the game for nothing. After we gave them the ball we played about as soft on defense as I’ve ever seen. ETSU’s drive was a walk in the park with no resistance whatsoever. It was really sickening to witness. That loss was totally on the coaches. I am hoping that the “new” coaching staff does not play “skeered” and plays with swag and confidence, something we have been sorely lacking!

Sounds familiar, disgustingly. Let us not be caught up in the optimism of August 3rd which tends to cause us to forget things like you have described.

[AstroDin]

Photo #4
I can't tell who this is… my guess is Myion Hicks!
Whoever it is - the dude is ripped!

[AllTimeFU]

Do we expect a scrimmage over the next few weeks in the run-up to the opening game?

[apaladin]

Do we expect a scrimmage over the next few weeks in the run-up to the opening game?

IIRC a scrimmage would be the Saturday before Fanfest which is the 20th. A limited scrimmage for fanfest.

[AllTimeFU]

Thinking ahead to the NG Crusaders game...being that they are division 2, does the game count as a game played and use a game of eligibility for a division 1 player? Thinking about all the freshmen on the team and how that factors into playing time for these newbies.

[The Jackal]

IIRC that ETSU loss was totally on the coaches. We came up a yard short on a terrible 3rd down call on ETSU’s 40. Then we got scared, punted and gained a mere 20 yds in which ETSU erased on their first play. So we gave up a chance to end the game for nothing. After we gave them the ball we played about as soft on defense as I’ve ever seen. ETSU’s drive was a walk in the park with no resistance whatsoever. It was really sickening to witness. That loss was totally on the coaches. I am hoping that the “new” coaching staff does not play “skeered” and plays with swag and confidence, something we have been sorely lacking!

Sounds familiar, disgustingly. Let us not be caught up in the optimism of August 3rd which tends to cause us to forget things like you have described.

Coaches deserve criticism. I didn't love the third down call. I didn't love the throw back pass in the red zone for an interception. Maybe if they had a do over, they'd have done something different.

I feel like I repeat every season, though - "soft zone defense" is something every team in college football runs. It's a justifiable defensive approach, especially at the FCS level.

Furman had the lead with 4 minutes left. ETSU had the ball, but needed 80 yards and a field goal to tie or touchdown to win.

I expect most defenses are going to do what Furman did - try to avoid getting beat by a big play, keep the offense in front of you, tackle, and force the offense to make a lot of plays under pressure and time to score.

Ideally, you hope the offense makes a mistake. You hope they run out the clock without the ability to hit a big play. At worst, you try to limit them to a field goal and fight again in overtime.

[The Jackal]

Thinking ahead to the NG Crusaders game...being that they are division 2, does the game count as a game played and use a game of eligibility for a division 1 player? Thinking about all the freshmen on the team and how that factors into playing time for these newbies.

Game is a game.

NG isn't going to be a pushover.

[The Jackal]

IIRC that ETSU loss was totally on the coaches. We came up a yard short on a terrible 3rd down call on ETSU’s 40. Then we got scared, punted and gained a mere 20 yds in which ETSU erased on their first play. So we gave up a chance to end the game for nothing. After we gave them the ball we played about as soft on defense as I’ve ever seen. ETSU’s drive was a walk in the park with no resistance whatsoever. It was really sickening to witness. That loss was totally on the coaches. I am hoping that the “new” coaching staff does not play “skeered” and plays with swag and confidence, something we have been sorely lacking!

Sounds familiar, disgustingly. Let us not be caught up in the optimism of August 3rd which tends to cause us to forget things like you have described.

Coaches deserve criticism. I didn't love the third down call. I didn't love the throw back pass in the red zone for an interception. Maybe if they had a do over, they'd have done something different.

I feel like I repeat every season, though - "soft zone defense" is something every team in college football runs. It's a justifiable defensive approach, especially at the FCS level.

Furman had the lead with 4 minutes left. ETSU had the ball, but needed 80 yards and a field goal to tie or touchdown to win.

I expect most defenses are going to do what Furman did - try to avoid getting beat by a big play, keep the offense in front of you, tackle, and force the offense to make a lot of plays under pressure and time to score.

Ideally, you hope the offense makes a mistake. You hope they run out the clock without the ability to hit a big play. At worst, you try to limit them to a field goal and fight again in overtime.

Having said that, Furman may do things differently in 2022 with the depth we’ve got at CB. We may go 5 deep at that position.

Maybe on that final drive Furman could defend the pass better with more DBs than we were able to throw at ETSU. You can only do what you can do with who is available.

[The Jackal]

Photo #4
I can't tell who this is… my guess is Myion Hicks!
Whoever it is - the dude is ripped!

Saw that photo. It definitely stood out.

My guess is Kyndel Dean. Can't see the number, but it looks like a WR position group and Dean appears to have a tattoo on his right arm.