SoCon John ranking of the DLines in 2019 -

[gofurman]

SoCon John is pretty fair and nice w Furman and he too says "Furman’s defense returns seven starters from a unit that finished the 2018 season ranking 75th in the FCS in total defense (408.5 YPG), 61st in scoring defense (28.2 PPG), 46th in rushing defense (157.8 YPG), 105th in pass defense (250.7 YPG), 31st in sacks (2.7 SPG), and 98th in passing efficiency defense (146.14). Furman obviously struggled against the pass last year against the pass, but excelled as a pass-rushing force, which saw Hope play such a big role as a redshirt freshman last fall"

105th against the pass and that's in a running league ! Ugh.

Seems we always struggle with the pass... and are strong v the run. C'mon coaches - let's get better against the pass !! We can do both

Full article: (It is a good read)

[apaladin]

I thought we were supposed to be good on defense? 6th best DL in the SoCon and we always have the worst pass defense so just how good are we going to be.

[The Jackal]

I thought we were supposed to be good on defense? 6th best DL in the SoCon and we always have the worst pass defense so just how good are we going to be.

This is one man's assessment and is incredibly subjective. I disagree with some of it.

We should be good on defense. In fact, I think we'll be as good on defense as we've been in years.

Look at the "conference only" stats from last year. It isn't fair to compare team statistics across the league as the schedules aren't balanced. In conference play, Furman's scoring defense was 3rd behind UTC and Wofford. We finished 3rd in rushing defense behind Wofford and the Citadel (the two option teams that don't face their own offenses and will almost always lead the league in rush defense).

In all the statistical categories, those are the two you really want to be strong in - rush defense and scoring defense. As I've repeatedly argued, it really doesn't matter how many pass yards we give up as long as the offense isn't scoring. Stop the run - keep teams out of the endzone. We do that well enough.

Going into 2019, we return a lot of talent on defense. We have far more rotational depth than we've had in years and are arguably better at every position.

There are always question marks. We've got to replace Jaylan Reid. We need to replace Aquil Anoor. If we can find a backup NG and a starting safety, then we'll be looking good.

[gofurman]

Jackal, I agree to an extent but as we saw w ETSU, Mercer and Samford (2 of three ending as losses for us; and Mercer came roaring back to make it very close) those pass yards do hurt us. SoConJohn is one of the best writers (knowledge / objective) about the SoCon. Heck, just the fact he can name prior guys from the 90s lets me know he knows way more than most general FCS writers. Anyway, sure, it's one man's opinon - but he is about as informed as they get.

I am sure our LB corp will rank high etc. But we DO (no denying it) have work to do in defending the pass. I agree I would rather lead in scoring D and rushing D as my primary two. But I feel sure the coaches would agree we need to shore up our pass D some.

[The Jackal]

Jackal, I agree to an extent but as we saw w ETSU, Mercer and Samford (2 of three ending as losses for us; and Mercer came roaring back to make it very close) those pass yards do hurt us. SoConJohn is one of the best writers (knowledge / objective) about the SoCon. Heck, just the fact he can name prior guys from the 90s lets me know he knows way more than most general FCS writers. Anyway, sure, it's one man's opinon - but he is about as informed as they get.

I am sure our LB corp will rank high etc. But we DO (no denying it) have work to do in defending the pass. I agree I would rather lead in scoring D and rushing D as my primary two. But I feel sure the coaches would agree we need to shore up our pass D some.

In this world, nothing can be said to be certain except death, taxes, and folks on this forum complaining about pass defense.

While there are statistics that are directly correlated to winning and losing, pass defense is not one of them. I'm not saying pass defense is an irrelevant metric, but it's mostly irrelevant.

VMI, for instance, gave up fewer passing yards (247.6) than Furman per game this year (256.5) in conference play. VMI's defense, though, surrendered 47.0 ppg while Furman gave up 23.6. Which statistic do you think is more correlated to playing better defense?

Of course, we can always get better. Every team can.

As I seemingly do every year, here's the box score from the App State game in 2004: https://furm_ftp.sidearmsports.com/custompages/sports/m-footbl/2004-05/fur1009.htm

Richie Williams went 40-45 for 413 yards with 28 consecutive completions and App State had 23 points (and was losing) with 3:00 left in the game (yes, it would have been nice to have one more stop, but the game plan Furman had largely worked all game). Passing defense stats aren't that important.

[gofurman]

Jackal, I agree to an extent but as we saw w ETSU, Mercer and Samford (2 of three ending as losses for us; and Mercer came roaring back to make it very close) those pass yards do hurt us. SoConJohn is one of the best writers (knowledge / objective) about the SoCon. Heck, just the fact he can name prior guys from the 90s lets me know he knows way more than most general FCS writers. Anyway, sure, it's one man's opinon - but he is about as informed as they get.

I am sure our LB corp will rank high etc. But we DO (no denying it) have work to do in defending the pass. I agree I would rather lead in scoring D and rushing D as my primary two. But I feel sure the coaches would agree we need to shore up our pass D some.

In this world, nothing can be said to be certain except death, taxes, and folks on this forum complaining about pass defense.

While there are statistics that are directly correlated to winning and losing, pass defense is not one of them. I'm not saying pass defense is an irrelevant metric, but it's mostly irrelevant.

VMI, for instance, gave up fewer passing yards (247.6) than Furman per game this year (256.5) in conference play. VMI's defense, though, surrendered 47.0 ppg while Furman gave up 23.6. Which statistic do you think is more correlated to playing better defense?

Of course, we can always get better. Every team can.

As I seemingly do every year, here's the box score from the App State game in 2004: https://furm_ftp.sidearmsports.com/custompages/sports/m-footbl/2004-05/fur1009.htm

Richie Williams went 40-45 for 413 yards with 28 consecutive completions and App State had 23 points (and was losing) with 3:00 left in the game (yes, it would have been nice to have one more stop, but the game plan Furman had largely worked all game). Passing defense stats aren't that important.

I have seen you quote that App State game. We lost.

I get it man. And I agree with you more the most part./ Scoring D is most important.. Then I will take run D - esp in our league. But yards between the 20s DO MATTER for our opposition - they lead to FGs and worse field position for our offense to start should we stop the opposition. You often say "yards between the 20s don't matter" - that's not true for the reasons I just laid out. SoCon teams can make a 37 yard FG.

No harsh argument.. but their is a coorelation between our 2 SoCon losses in 2018 and pass D - ETSU and Samford .. It ain't coincidence.

Longer term it's been a thing for me since our Pass D was CLEARLY the factor in playoffs vs UMass etc. in the late 90s early 2000s:

Playoff Record I am referring to:
1999 First Round Massachusetts L 23–30 OT
2000 First Round Hofstra L 24–31
2001 National title appearance !!!
2002 First Round Villanova L 38–45

Two of those games I swear the radio broadcast was on repeat "5 yard completion.. 7 yard completion.. 5 yard completion"...

So there is some merit to what we say about pass D.

*That said, i LOVED watching our run D vs Wofford and Citadel !!!!!!!!!!!

[The Jackal]

I never said yards between the 20s don't matter. They do, but pass defense is often closely tied to the game situation. It is often a game strategy simply not to play tight pass coverage. Notably, it is almost never a sound strategy to allow teams to run the ball.

In my opinion, a lot of what looks like a "pass coverage" problem is either (1) by design or (2) a tackling problem.

[gofurman]

I never said yards between the 20s don't matter. They do, but pass defense is often closely tied to the game situation. It is often a game strategy simply not to play tight pass coverage. Notably, it is almost never a sound strategy to allow teams to run the ball.

In my opinion, a lot of what looks like a "pass coverage" problem is either (1) by design or (2) a tackling problem.

Agree that sometimes pass coverage "problems" are certainly by design or tackling issues. To show a time I loved our pass D ... our opponent had like a 3rd and 25 and we put 6 guys 25 yards back on the exact line need for the first down. Innovative and it worked.