Mercer - Sep. 23

[gofurman]

One concern is it’s not just 1 coaching and 2 talent. It’s also 3 matchups.

And Mercer has a strength where we have a weakness. Captain obvious. The speedster deep ball WRs vs our coverage. Obvious but true. TTU just didn’t have great talent. KSU wanted to run at our strength (as did we at theirs). Mercer wants to run the ball too - GLAD to see that ! But has probably the best FCS duo WR we have seen yet. More at WR than TTU and KSU.

That aid, glad to see Mercer vs UNA (. Scholly FCS ) had 70 plays and 53 were runs ! 53 out of 70. Nice!! And they got 170 yards on the 53 rush attempts. So 3+ yards per carry. Not scary. If we can keep them about 3 yards per carry that bodes well. Might allow some pass rush

UNA was able to rush 36 times for 150+. Over 4 yards per carry. Not bad

[AstroDin]

I have a few thoughts as the Furman two-deep is starting to gel.

Johanning is a very athletic, physical guard, and a very intense dude. The way Hughes has been performing at center, I had a hunch Jake would slide over to his natural position. I'm looking for Furman's physicality to go up a notch from the oline this week.

No doubt Mercer has two studs at WR. But, when I look at this week's Furman's receiver depth chart and layer over it what I witnessed on the field against KSU. I'm impressed with Furman's diversity and skill set at WR.

WR 1 — J Harris (we know what we have) E Harris (made some big plays at KSU)
WR 2 — Dean (twitchy with length) Shiflett (great blocker, dependable receiver, deceiving speed)
WR 3 — Anderson, Ferguson, Hinton (these three are turning into a dynamic trio)

When you look at the receiving stats for the season so far:
Ferguson is number 1 at 47 yards per game (20.14 ypc)
Hinton is number 4 at 32.33 yards per game (10.78 ypc)
Anderson, shockingly, has only one catch so far this season.

One more note: Bailor Hughes is quietly getting more PT, adding more depth to our WR Corps.

The last thing to add about Furman's passing attack is that our running backs are an underrated weapon.
Roberto has proven to be an excellent receiver, and now we're seeing the skill of Jayquan Smith.

[apaladin]

GF-coache are smarter than we are, well mostly. Believe me, you will not see Mercer throw less that 20 times vs. FU. Look for 35-40 passes like everyone does/should throw at FU.

[HKB60]

It has been confirmed that Jacob Johanning has been cleared to play in the Mercer game! The OL will be in top form and ready to run all over the Bears!!

[Davemeister]

I hope gofurman is skeered of Mercer.

[The Jackal]

A couple of other thoughts:

In Kennesaw, Furman saw a team that I think shares a lot of similarities with Mercer. The Owls and Bears both have shorter/stockier linemen on average, tight offensive splits, big running backs, dynamic receivers that line up all over the field, a lot of misdirection and play action, etc. KSU even runs a similar base 4-2-5 defense.

I am going to look for Furman to exploit some mismatches.

Mercer is not a great tackling team one-on-one and will give up a lot of size to Furman at the second level. Last season Furman had a lot of success once our ball carrier broke that initial wave of the defense. Their linebackers and defensive backs just had a tough time getting down Furman runners in the open field.

Furman's offensive approach to the Mercer game last year was really a master class by Roper. The Bears really weren't able to eliminate anything Furman did offensively, and in the second half you started to see those big chunk plays as the defense started to wear down.

I think we'll move the ball on them. Furman just needs to avoid this becoming a shootout.

[FurmanATT]

Mercer is #Paladins first SoCon test. -- MD
https://wellpilgrim.wordpress.com/2023/ ... confident/

[Jasper]

Glad to see Brock Chappel (41) move up the depth chart at TE for the Mercer game. This 6'5' 240 lb. freshman is going to be a really good one. Runs with the ball after catch like a classic tight end. Hope he breaks out against Mercer.

[gofurman]

I hope gofurman is skeered of Mercer.

I am skeered ! I am. Seriously

[FUBeAR]

Runs with the ball after catch like a classic tight end.

So he trips over the turf monster?

[Jasper]

Possibly. Not sure what you mean by that but stuff happens. Are tight ends the object of a “ turf monsters” evil intent ?

[apaladin]

This is an example why I think you will see Mercer throw more than usual Saturday, look for 35+ attempts.
KSU vs. D2 threw 19 times
KSU vs. UTC threw 16 times(they were behind the whole game)
KSU vs. FU threw 32 times. Almost as many as the their first 2 games combined. 32 vs 35. Coaches watch film.

[Roundball]

Tyler Huff putting his NIL $ to good use. WYFF had a good video segment on our game against Mercer.
https://x.com/MarcWYFFNews4/status/1704 ... 27044?s=20

[FUBeAR]

8 MPH winds out of the NW (so…blowing from corner of home side / locker room end) with gusts up to 21 MPH forecast for game time Saturday. (Also sunny and low 80’s (up from high 60’s forecast earlier this week.))

Does that level of winds/gusts help / hurt either Team more / less than the other Team? If so, why or why not?

Discuss (show your work).

[Purple rain]

and the DINS....are playing in good OLE Paladin Stadium......HOME GAME!