Uninspiring Football

[Paladin91]

As a Furman alum who sat through a lot of wonderful games in the late 80s as a student, it was painful to watch the massacre that took place on the football field today. Our performance on both sides of the ball was terrible. We can't tackle - I realize it was wet, but throwing your body at an offensive player is not tackling. Does the team not practice tackling. Getting juked - can't tell you how many times our defensive players got juked - again do guys not see this in practice? Team speed - we are abysmally slow; watching AP run all over us was embarrassing. It literally was like watching us play against a top FBS program. We should not see such a difference at this level - is this a bigger recruiting issue?

Offensive playcalling - since Drew Cronic left, the playcalling has really gone down the crapper. We used to have some element of an aggressive offense - now it's just plain vanilla. A nd keep in mind that Cronic did what he did without the RB corps we have now. I remember sitting on the sideline at the Samford game two years ago with Drew's dad who was telling me Drew's challenge was finding some speed at the time o run the sweep - Morehead was injured. BTW, Cronic is now in the 3rd round of the Div 2 playoffs - that should tell you enough. Right now, our offense is beyond predictable. AP completely shut down our option offense.

Passing game - Grainger has some nice passing games early in the season, but we really regressed. I'm not sure if Grainger or Sisson are the answer. Maybe Shiflet deserves another look, or heck, maybe even Hardin. Something needs to give here. Check the transfer portal - Martin and Forcier both turned out to be excellent QB's - should consider this option. In fact, we probably should consider transfers at other key positions lacking speed -

Keep in mind that aside from Gordon, none of our WR's were much help to our young QB's this year. Aside from Bell, we have no speed at the WR position, nor much size. This needs to be a priority recruiting area. I will give a shoutout to TE Ryan Miller - he actually played his tail off today. Finding a nice transfer WR should be a priority.

[purplehorse]

There are so many teams that have so many transfers. Yep Ingle Martin and Chris Forcier changed the history of Furman football for a short while.

[apaladin]

Paladin91, Agree with everything you say. In these days you have to be able to throw the football. We are deficient in all areas of the passing game. Throwing, catching, protection. We do none of thesewell. We finally threw over the middle once today and it went for 25 yards. Didn't see it again and rarely saw it all year. What was the total receptions from our TE's? Maybe 10? When we are playing a decent team it seems every play is a struggle. We never are creative like Cronic used to be. I really think we thought we could just go up there and hand the ball off and we would be fine. We used to keep teams off balance but not anymore because we have no passing game and no creative play calling. The defense never showed up after halftime. That 70 yard screen pass was ridiculous, he was in the middle of 6 or 7 Paladins and no one laid a hand on him. It was like everyone was waiting on someone else to do something. Someone said it was just one game but it wasn't. We were 2-3 in our last 5 FCS games and were dominated in those 3 losses. The first CCH's first 2 seasons, we started slow and finished strong because we had a sense of urgency. Just the opposite this year. Of course having a veteran QB helps a lot. I have no idea who will be the leader of the team next year but we need for someone to step up.

[Paladin91]

Paladin91, Agree with everything you say. In these days you have to be able to throw the football. We are deficient in all areas of the passing game. Throwing, catching, protection. We do none of thesewell. We finally threw over the middle once today and it went for 25 yards. Didn't see it again and rarely saw it all year. What was the total receptions from our TE's? Maybe 10? When we are playing a decent team it seems every play is a struggle. We never are creative like Cronic used to be. I really think we thought we could just go up there and hand the ball off and we would be fine. We used to keep teams off balance but not anymore because we have no passing game and no creative play calling. The defense never showed up after halftime. That 70 yard screen pass was ridiculous, he was in the middle of 6 or 7 Paladins and no one laid a hand on him. It was like everyone was waiting on someone else to do something. Someone said it was just one game but it wasn't. We were 2-3 in our last 5 FCS games and were dominated in those 3 losses. The first CCH's first 2 seasons, we started slow and finished strong because we had a sense of urgency. Just the opposite this year. Of course having a veteran QB helps a lot. I have no idea who will be the leader of the team next year but we need for someone to step up.

All your points are valid. That screen pass killed us. And when was the last time we've thrown an effective screen pass like that? Very few throws to the TE this year, but MIller has showed repeatedly that he can catch the ball - just very few targets. My biggest problem is that aside from Gordon, WR production has been poor. If we're only going to target one WR all game, then maybe you put a 6'3, 240 blocker in at the other receiver position and push some guys downfield on running plays.

Our pace on offense is too slow - we have no rythm. When CCH first came here, his comment was that we were going to run more of a fast-paced hurry up offensive. Well...that lasted one season and was 100% due to Cronic. I think our current playcalling is the worst that it's been - I'm surprised more people don't complain about it. There is zero innovation. I'm also not sold on our O-line - they've played horrible against tougher competition. As much as I want to see the positives, days like today make you wonder what direction the team is headed in.

[The Jackal]

Paladin91, Agree with everything you say. In these days you have to be able to throw the football. We are deficient in all areas of the passing game. Throwing, catching, protection. We do none of thesewell. We finally threw over the middle once today and it went for 25 yards. Didn't see it again and rarely saw it all year. What was the total receptions from our TE's? Maybe 10? When we are playing a decent team it seems every play is a struggle. We never are creative like Cronic used to be. I really think we thought we could just go up there and hand the ball off and we would be fine. We used to keep teams off balance but not anymore because we have no passing game and no creative play calling. The defense never showed up after halftime. That 70 yard screen pass was ridiculous, he was in the middle of 6 or 7 Paladins and no one laid a hand on him. It was like everyone was waiting on someone else to do something. Someone said it was just one game but it wasn't. We were 2-3 in our last 5 FCS games and were dominated in those 3 losses. The first CCH's first 2 seasons, we started slow and finished strong because we had a sense of urgency. Just the opposite this year. Of course having a veteran QB helps a lot. I have no idea who will be the leader of the team next year but we need for someone to step up.

All your points are valid. That screen pass killed us. And when was the last time we've thrown an effective screen pass like that? Very few throws to the TE this year, but MIller has showed repeatedly that he can catch the ball - just very few targets. My biggest problem is that aside from Gordon, WR production has been poor. If we're only going to target one WR all game, then maybe you put a 6'3, 240 blocker in at the other receiver position and push some guys downfield on running plays.

Our pace on offense is too slow - we have no rythm. When CCH first came here, his comment was that we were going to run more of a fast-paced hurry up offensive. Well...that lasted one season and was 100% due to Cronic. I think our current playcalling is the worst that it's been - I'm surprised more people don't complain about it. There is zero innovation. I'm also not sold on our O-line - they've played horrible against tougher competition. As much as I want to see the positives, days like today make you wonder what direction the team is headed in.

Continuing to wish Drew Cronic was the OC isn't useful. He was the OC. He took another job.

There are plenty of positions where recruiting is still key. I'd love to see us recruit some TEs and let Miller play WR. We were hurt at WR by Bell's prolonged absence, Shiflett's injury, and Burnett's departure. Those are three guys that would have played a lot for us this year.

I don't have an issue with the offense other than it lacked consistency. I think a lot of that was execution and probably had a good bit to do with the number of freshmen we play on that side of the ball. It's not really the OC's fault.

[Paladin91]

Paladin91, Agree with everything you say. In these days you have to be able to throw the football. We are deficient in all areas of the passing game. Throwing, catching, protection. We do none of thesewell. We finally threw over the middle once today and it went for 25 yards. Didn't see it again and rarely saw it all year. What was the total receptions from our TE's? Maybe 10? When we are playing a decent team it seems every play is a struggle. We never are creative like Cronic used to be. I really think we thought we could just go up there and hand the ball off and we would be fine. We used to keep teams off balance but not anymore because we have no passing game and no creative play calling. The defense never showed up after halftime. That 70 yard screen pass was ridiculous, he was in the middle of 6 or 7 Paladins and no one laid a hand on him. It was like everyone was waiting on someone else to do something. Someone said it was just one game but it wasn't. We were 2-3 in our last 5 FCS games and were dominated in those 3 losses. The first CCH's first 2 seasons, we started slow and finished strong because we had a sense of urgency. Just the opposite this year. Of course having a veteran QB helps a lot. I have no idea who will be the leader of the team next year but we need for someone to step up.

All your points are valid. That screen pass killed us. And when was the last time we've thrown an effective screen pass like that? Very few throws to the TE this year, but MIller has showed repeatedly that he can catch the ball - just very few targets. My biggest problem is that aside from Gordon, WR production has been poor. If we're only going to target one WR all game, then maybe you put a 6'3, 240 blocker in at the other receiver position and push some guys downfield on running plays.

Our pace on offense is too slow - we have no rythm. When CCH first came here, his comment was that we were going to run more of a fast-paced hurry up offensive. Well...that lasted one season and was 100% due to Cronic. I think our current playcalling is the worst that it's been - I'm surprised more people don't complain about it. There is zero innovation. I'm also not sold on our O-line - they've played horrible against tougher competition. As much as I want to see the positives, days like today make you wonder what direction the team is headed in.

Continuing to wish Drew Cronic was the OC isn't useful. He was the OC. He took another job.

There are plenty of positions where recruiting is still key. I'd love to see us recruit some TEs and let Miller play WR. We were hurt at WR by Bell's prolonged absence, Shiflett's injury, and Burnett's departure. Those are three guys that would have played a lot for us this year.

I don't have an issue with the offense other than it lacked consistency. I think a lot of that was execution and probably had a good bit to do with the number of freshmen we play on that side of the ball. It's not really the OC's fault.

How can you not say it's the OC's fault - he is in charge of the offense. Granted you can't control some of the inconsistency from redshirt freshmen QBs, but the playcalling by the OC has been poor in big games. Calls on the goalline at Wofford and AP's 7-yd line make you scratching your head. Sorry, the poor playcalling in both those situations are on the OC.

[youwouldno]

It's not really anyone's fault apparently, it's just the will of the universe that Furman not score TDs against quality FCS opponents.

[apaladin]

This may come as a shock to many of you but I was not expecting to win today. The reason is I had lost confidence in this team and I think the team is the same way. They play with no confidence. With that said I wasn't expecting to be completely dominated either. The way we lost was tough but the way Villanova lost would prolly be harder to get over. They blew a 31-14 halftime lead and then came back to take the lead with 4 minutes left. They then proceeded to miss the extra point leaving them a six point lead. It took SELa 2 minutes to go down and score and take a one point lead. With under a minute left Villanova scored what looked like the winning TD but was called for a bogus offensive pass interference. SE la threw for over 500 yes. Just goes to show you what a passing offense can do for you.

[The Jackal]

Paladin91, Agree with everything you say. In these days you have to be able to throw the football. We are deficient in all areas of the passing game. Throwing, catching, protection. We do none of thesewell. We finally threw over the middle once today and it went for 25 yards. Didn't see it again and rarely saw it all year. What was the total receptions from our TE's? Maybe 10? When we are playing a decent team it seems every play is a struggle. We never are creative like Cronic used to be. I really think we thought we could just go up there and hand the ball off and we would be fine. We used to keep teams off balance but not anymore because we have no passing game and no creative play calling. The defense never showed up after halftime. That 70 yard screen pass was ridiculous, he was in the middle of 6 or 7 Paladins and no one laid a hand on him. It was like everyone was waiting on someone else to do something. Someone said it was just one game but it wasn't. We were 2-3 in our last 5 FCS games and were dominated in those 3 losses. The first CCH's first 2 seasons, we started slow and finished strong because we had a sense of urgency. Just the opposite this year. Of course having a veteran QB helps a lot. I have no idea who will be the leader of the team next year but we need for someone to step up.

All your points are valid. That screen pass killed us. And when was the last time we've thrown an effective screen pass like that? Very few throws to the TE this year, but MIller has showed repeatedly that he can catch the ball - just very few targets. My biggest problem is that aside from Gordon, WR production has been poor. If we're only going to target one WR all game, then maybe you put a 6'3, 240 blocker in at the other receiver position and push some guys downfield on running plays.

Our pace on offense is too slow - we have no rythm. When CCH first came here, his comment was that we were going to run more of a fast-paced hurry up offensive. Well...that lasted one season and was 100% due to Cronic. I think our current playcalling is the worst that it's been - I'm surprised more people don't complain about it. There is zero innovation. I'm also not sold on our O-line - they've played horrible against tougher competition. As much as I want to see the positives, days like today make you wonder what direction the team is headed in.

Continuing to wish Drew Cronic was the OC isn't useful. He was the OC. He took another job.

There are plenty of positions where recruiting is still key. I'd love to see us recruit some TEs and let Miller play WR. We were hurt at WR by Bell's prolonged absence, Shiflett's injury, and Burnett's departure. Those are three guys that would have played a lot for us this year.

I don't have an issue with the offense other than it lacked consistency. I think a lot of that was execution and probably had a good bit to do with the number of freshmen we play on that side of the ball. It's not really the OC's fault.

How can you not say it's the OC's fault - he is in charge of the offense. Granted you can't control some of the inconsistency from redshirt freshmen QBs, but the playcalling by the OC has been poor in big games. Calls on the goalline at Wofford and AP's 7-yd line make you scratching your head. Sorry, the poor playcalling in both those situations are on the OC.

What did you want them to run on the goal line against Wofford?

Furman was on the two, had the nation's best red zone offense, and gave it to arguably the league's best running back. Did you want some sort of double reverse pass? Would that have been "creative" enough for you?

Coaches have to call plays and players have to execute them. There's plenty of criticism to go around, but fans tend to over emphasize play calling and under emphasize execution.

[Paladin91]

Paladin91, Agree with everything you say. In these days you have to be able to throw the football. We are deficient in all areas of the passing game. Throwing, catching, protection. We do none of thesewell. We finally threw over the middle once today and it went for 25 yards. Didn't see it again and rarely saw it all year. What was the total receptions from our TE's? Maybe 10? When we are playing a decent team it seems every play is a struggle. We never are creative like Cronic used to be. I really think we thought we could just go up there and hand the ball off and we would be fine. We used to keep teams off balance but not anymore because we have no passing game and no creative play calling. The defense never showed up after halftime. That 70 yard screen pass was ridiculous, he was in the middle of 6 or 7 Paladins and no one laid a hand on him. It was like everyone was waiting on someone else to do something. Someone said it was just one game but it wasn't. We were 2-3 in our last 5 FCS games and were dominated in those 3 losses. The first CCH's first 2 seasons, we started slow and finished strong because we had a sense of urgency. Just the opposite this year. Of course having a veteran QB helps a lot. I have no idea who will be the leader of the team next year but we need for someone to step up.

All your points are valid. That screen pass killed us. And when was the last time we've thrown an effective screen pass like that? Very few throws to the TE this year, but MIller has showed repeatedly that he can catch the ball - just very few targets. My biggest problem is that aside from Gordon, WR production has been poor. If we're only going to target one WR all game, then maybe you put a 6'3, 240 blocker in at the other receiver position and push some guys downfield on running plays.

Our pace on offense is too slow - we have no rythm. When CCH first came here, his comment was that we were going to run more of a fast-paced hurry up offensive. Well...that lasted one season and was 100% due to Cronic. I think our current playcalling is the worst that it's been - I'm surprised more people don't complain about it. There is zero innovation. I'm also not sold on our O-line - they've played horrible against tougher competition. As much as I want to see the positives, days like today make you wonder what direction the team is headed in.

Continuing to wish Drew Cronic was the OC isn't useful. He was the OC. He took another job.

There are plenty of positions where recruiting is still key. I'd love to see us recruit some TEs and let Miller play WR. We were hurt at WR by Bell's prolonged absence, Shiflett's injury, and Burnett's departure. Those are three guys that would have played a lot for us this year.

I don't have an issue with the offense other than it lacked consistency. I think a lot of that was execution and probably had a good bit to do with the number of freshmen we play on that side of the ball. It's not really the OC's fault.

How can you not say it's the OC's fault - he is in charge of the offense. Granted you can't control some of the inconsistency from redshirt freshmen QBs, but the playcalling by the OC has been poor in big games. Calls on the goalline at Wofford and AP's 7-yd line make you scratching your head. Sorry, the poor playcalling in both those situations are on the OC.

What did you want them to run on the goal line against Wofford?

Furman was on the two, had the nation's best red zone offense, and gave it to arguably the league's best running back. Did you want some sort of double reverse pass? Would that have been "creative" enough for you?

Coaches have to call plays and players have to execute them. There's plenty of criticism to go around, but fans tend to over emphasize play calling and under emphasize execution.

Our O-line was clearly getting blown off the line by Wofford's D, so running it up the middle four straight times was a trivial option at best. One play should have at least involved taking the ball out wide where there is more space to get in the endzone - QB option or naked bootleg. Watkins and Wynn have plenty of speed to get to the outside. It isn't rocket science.

[Jasper]

How about a little pop to the TE over the middle - like APU did to us yesterday?

[Paladin91]

How about a little pop to the TE over the middle - like APU did to us yesterday?

That would have been a fine option as well. But why do that when you can run it up the middle unsuccessfully multiple times in a row.

[gofurman]

Paladin91, Agree with everything you say. In these days you have to be able to throw the football. We are deficient in all areas of the passing game. Throwing, catching, protection. We do none of thesewell. We finally threw over the middle once today and it went for 25 yards. Didn't see it again and rarely saw it all year. What was the total receptions from our TE's? Maybe 10? When we are playing a decent team it seems every play is a struggle. We never are creative like Cronic used to be. I really think we thought we could just go up there and hand the ball off and we would be fine. We used to keep teams off balance but not anymore because we have no passing game and no creative play calling. The defense never showed up after halftime. That 70 yard screen pass was ridiculous, he was in the middle of 6 or 7 Paladins and no one laid a hand on him. It was like everyone was waiting on someone else to do something. Someone said it was just one game but it wasn't. We were 2-3 in our last 5 FCS games and were dominated in those 3 losses. The first CCH's first 2 seasons, we started slow and finished strong because we had a sense of urgency. Just the opposite this year. Of course having a veteran QB helps a lot. I have no idea who will be the leader of the team next year but we need for someone to step up.

All your points are valid. That screen pass killed us. And when was the last time we've thrown an effective screen pass like that? Very few throws to the TE this year, but MIller has showed repeatedly that he can catch the ball - just very few targets. My biggest problem is that aside from Gordon, WR production has been poor. If we're only going to target one WR all game, then maybe you put a 6'3, 240 blocker in at the other receiver position and push some guys downfield on running plays.

Our pace on offense is too slow - we have no rythm. When CCH first came here, his comment was that we were going to run more of a fast-paced hurry up offensive. Well...that lasted one season and was 100% due to Cronic. I think our current playcalling is the worst that it's been - I'm surprised more people don't complain about it. There is zero innovation. I'm also not sold on our O-line - they've played horrible against tougher competition. As much as I want to see the positives, days like today make you wonder what direction the team is headed in.

Continuing to wish Drew Cronic was the OC isn't useful. He was the OC. He took another job.

There are plenty of positions where recruiting is still key. I'd love to see us recruit some TEs and let Miller play WR. We were hurt at WR by Bell's prolonged absence, Shiflett's injury, and Burnett's departure. Those are three guys that would have played a lot for us this year.

I don't have an issue with the offense other than it lacked consistency. I think a lot of that was execution and probably had a good bit to do with the number of freshmen we play on that side of the ball. It's not really the OC's fault.

How can you not say it's the OC's fault - he is in charge of the offense. Granted you can't control some of the inconsistency from redshirt freshmen QBs, but the playcalling by the OC has been poor in big games. Calls on the goalline at Wofford and AP's 7-yd line make you scratching your head. Sorry, the poor playcalling in both those situations are on the OC.

What did you want them to run on the goal line against Wofford?

Furman was on the two, had the nation's best red zone offense, and gave it to arguably the league's best running back. Did you want some sort of double reverse pass? Would that have been "creative" enough for you?

Coaches have to call plays and players have to execute them. There's plenty of criticism to go around, but fans tend to over emphasize play calling and under emphasize execution.

Our O-line was clearly getting blown off the line by Wofford's D, so running it up the middle four straight times was a trivial option at best. One play should have at least involved taking the ball out wide where there is more space to get in the endzone - QB option or naked bootleg. Watkins and Wynn have plenty of speed to get to the outside. It isn't rocket science.

Yep. When up the middle isn’t working at least try the outside once. Woff did. They ran Untouched to endzone

[The Jackal]

How about a little pop to the TE over the middle - like APU did to us yesterday?

Like the fade to a 6'4 receiver in the end zone? We did that.

Good throw, Grainger was in fine position, and the Wofford DB got away with bear hugging him while he jumped for the ball.

[Jasper]

No I don’t mean that at all. It is a totally different call. Something like the quick pop over the middle that APU scored on yesterday. That is a much easier pass and it worked. The one you are referring to is much more difficult and did not work. I am also referring to the QB keeper around end against a stacked middle that Wofford called on the goal line that also is low risk and worked very well. There was no need to call a tricky fade pass to a target that had not lined up as a receiver as a college player to the best of my knowledge. And I agree that he was interfered with but what we believe is not relevant. It’s what the officials saw that is. The play did not work