Harris wins QB Job??

[gofurman]

I didn't realize that HR attends Clempson and drives back and forth to attend practice at FU. I also didn't know that FU was the only D1 school to offer him a scholarship.

Same here AP. I just saw that article... Apparently we were the only D1 offer Harris got - that's not my favorite thing to read but I hope he is good and successful. More to the point, I had no idea Harris is actually now going to school at Clemson full-time and playing football for us. That has to be somewhat rare. What it does allow is for Furman to recruit students to play football who want to be engineers

I almost did that same 3/2 program when I attended FU but decided on accounting as a major - at the time the engineering option was 3 FU and then 2 at GTech.

[gman]

Here is the story. https://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/ ... 950918002/

[AstroDin]

I could care less if Harris had another full-scholarship offer… Harris in limited play has shown he has talent and size.

What sticks in my memory about Harris is last season during a pre-season scrimmage Harris led the B team down the field for the first score of the scrimmage. He made some great plays but what impressed me was his toughness and vocal leadership.

I think we'll see both Roberts and Lincoln play.

One note Furman Football posted on Twitter yesterday the position group photos. I thought wrongly that Hamp Sisson was a smaller framed QB looking at the photo that's not true.

[The Jackal]

I could care less if Harris had another full-scholarship offer… Harris in limited play has shown he has talent and size.

What sticks in my memory about Harris is last season during a pre-season scrimmage Harris led the B team down the field for the first score of the scrimmage. He made some great plays but what impressed me was his toughness and vocal leadership.

I think we'll see both Roberts and Lincoln play.

One note Furman Football posted on Twitter yesterday the position group photos. I thought wrongly that Hamp Sisson was a smaller framed QB looking at the photo that's not true.

I think we've talked about Roberts for several years as a talented backup. Starting a 5th year senior hasn't really worked out for us in recent past (Dakota Derrick, Cody Worley), but Roberts also had the somewhat unique distinction of being lodged behind two talented starters on the depth chart most of his career.

The good news is that our offense should be adaptable to whichever guy is at QB. There's no requirement that a player be a certain body type or have a specific skill set.

[FUBeAR]

Here is the story. https://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/ ... 950918002/

Very cool.

I, too, was a Clemson student in my final year of eligibility playing for the ‘Dins, but I didn’t have to make the drive because my classes were at Furman, at night (Clemson at Furman MBA Program). Although we didn’t play Clemson that year, we did beat South Carolina...which pleased MANY Tigers fans to no end. Reckon if I could apply to receive an Honorary Varsity Football Lettermen’s Jacket from Clemson for that accomplishment while a student there? I’ll ask ‘em about that the next time their Alumni peeps call me looking for a donation.

Nah...screw ‘em. Wouldn’t even want it! Besides, I already have more than enough Orange in my wardrobe.

[gofurman]

I could care less if Harris had another full-scholarship offer… Harris in limited play has shown he has talent and size.

What sticks in my memory about Harris is last season during a pre-season scrimmage Harris led the B team down the field for the first score of the scrimmage. He made some great plays but what impressed me was his toughness and vocal leadership.

I think we'll see both Roberts and Lincoln play.

One note Furman Football posted on Twitter yesterday the position group photos. I thought wrongly that Hamp Sisson was a smaller framed QB looking at the photo that's not true.

Since you 'could care less' I assume you care a lot ? The phrase is actually "I COULDN'T care less." JK with ya man.. Always good to get "edumicated" - I certainly need some edumication myself ! Also, that's a very common mistake in the English language.. similar to how people often say with regards to sports "I hope we don't loose !". Guess they want to play tight?

[The Jackal]

Furman posted this 4 yard run against Mercer on a 4th down play today. Another good example of why the offense is difficult to defend.

Game scenario: 4th down and short in Mercer territory. Dirks just had three straight carries against a stingy Mercer run defense. At that spot on the field, its too far for a FG try.

Furman has 3 WRs (McCarter, Armstrong, and Deluca), 1 TE (Walker), and 1 RB on the field (Dirks). Mercer has to not only respect Dirks and Blazejowski's ability run between the tackles, but also to recognize that there are four capable pass catchers on the field.

Furman comes out in a "tackle over" or "overload" formation. Furman flips their RG (Bush) to LG, slides the RT to RG, and now has 3 OL left of the center.

Somewhat unique to Furman, two of the WRs (Armstrong and DeLuca) come in to play the wingback. So, you have two WRs lined up essentially as RBs. So, Furman has taken a 3 receiver personnel and made it a 3 back personnel. They've also overloaded one side of the defense.

You can see that on the snap, there are more purple jerseys in the box to the left side of the formation than white jerseys. Mercer has to respect the pass because of the personnel. Who leaves slot receivers inside to block linebackers and DEs? Furman does. Paladins don't need much, but they are able to combo block the DE and get to the next level to block the LB (who is responsible for the gap we are running through). Don't have to block them long, just long enough for Dirks to get a head of steam and find a crease.

If you were drawing this up in the school yard, you see a lot of variety as well. Walker gets to the second level to block the defensive back, who isn't looking at him. His eyes are fixated on Dirks. You want to know how Furman scored so many times on wide open passes to the TE? That's how. Furman can come right back with the same look, fake the handoff, roll out, and Walker would likely be standing by himself having tea in the endzone.

You can also see the strong safety crash hard inside on the snap. If this were an option play (it isn't), the defense just lost their outside contain and Furman could reel off a big gain outside. No Mercer defender appears to be responsible for either the QB or the pitch man. Everyone is sucked inside.

[FUBeAR]

GREAT JOB by OLman Reed Kroeber!

Excellent job by Dirks of stepping around the ‘trash’ (that Mercer’s NG did a pretty good job of creating against a double-team), finding the ‘soft spot,’ and then attacking it ‘right now’ completely behind his pads!

Very poor technique by Mercer’s p/s LB. Gotta try to take on Reed’s block with pads square to the LOS....particularly on 4th & short.

“Little things,” like using proper technique on every play, win & lose ball games. This game was a great example of that.

[The Jackal]

GREAT JOB by OLman Reed Kroeber!

Excellent job by Dirks of stepping around the ‘trash’ (that Mercer’s NG did a pretty good job of creating against a double-team), finding the ‘soft spot,’ and then attacking it ‘right now’ completely behind his pads!

Very poor technique by Mercer’s p/s LB. Gotta try to take on Reed’s block with pads square to the LOS....particularly on 4th & short.

“Little things,” like using proper technique on every play, win & lose ball games. This game was a great example of that.

I agree that the LG/LT (Kroeber?) probably makes the play. He gets to the next level and beats the LB to the spot. The RG/RT (Godwin?) nearly mucks the whole thing up by driving his defender into the pile.

To be honest, DeLuca on that play probably typifies this new era of Furman football. He's listed as a 6'0 175 lbs slot receiver (a walkon, I believe). On a short yardage 4th down play in a critical situation, Furman lines him up in the backfield and has him block Mercer's All SoCon OLB LeMarkus Bailey. That isn't a crack back block or a situation where Bailey doesn't see him coming. He lines directly in front of him and is solely responsible for blocking arguably Mercer's best tackler.

Not the world's greatest block, but it didn't need to be.

[FUBeAR]

The RG/RT (Godwin?) nearly mucks the whole thing up by driving his defender into the pile.

That dude is doing just fine.

I’d grade him a “2,” maybe a “3” on that play because he got Penn off his feet. (Coach Caldwell would give him a “2,” unless it was sluggo...then it might have been a “4.”) His job on that play is a backside scoop block...primarily to prevent inside penetration, which is exactly what he does. He comes off the ball quick, low, and hard. He gains ground with his 1st step, a dying art. He gets his head inside the DE, who, I believe is lined up in a 2i...heck, he may even be in a 1Tec on the C...and he keeps his feet moving to ‘roothog’ him off the LOS...or at least flatten him down the LOS, and he rolls him over the trash pile created by Bush and Mercer’s NG, Kithcart.

Jalen Penn is a quick cat & that stuff sure ain’t easy. Most of these Fat-Boy OLmen I see couldn’t even hope to get it done. They would adjust the scheme so the C would block back...doubling on Penn and just leave the b/s LB unblocked...who would have probably met Dirks at the LOS...and no 1st down. I see now that it wasn’t a double-team on the NG, so Bush did a nice job stalemating him solo...also freeing up the C to go to the b/s LB.

Incidentally, I would imagine both the C & the b/s OG probably had the option to call a fold block on that play. If the C felt Penn was too tight on him that he couldn’t get thru & up to the LB, he could have called for a fold by the RG...where the C does block back & the OG scoots tightly around the C’s rear-end up on the LB. Or, if the OG, felt he couldn’t make the Scoop because the DLman was just too far inside, he could have called for a fold. At sluggo’s demand, all of our fold calls had to be food-related. One OLman would say “ham” & the other would say “eggs” acknowledging the call. Grits/gravy, pork/beans, steak/potatoes, and strawberries/cream were popular choices, but any food combo would work...and no time to get stumped when your linemate throws a curveball. If he says “Liver,” you better be able to come back with “Onions,” PDQ...or the play might get blown up! This also helped to get the minds of the fat boys on the DL to a-wanderin’. One outstanding bellhop DLman once let us have quite a colorful earful mid-game about his personal displeasure with our constantly talking about food pre-snap. You can ONLY do these kinds of things with Athletic & Intelligent OLinemen & excellent Coaching. Seems the ‘Dins possess all of those assets at present.

Excellent scheme. Excellent execution!

[Jasper]

The RG/RT (Godwin?) nearly mucks the whole thing up by driving his defender into the pile.

That dude is doing just fine.

I’d grade him a “2,” maybe a “3” on that play because he got Penn off his feet. (Coach Caldwell would give him a “2,” unless it was sluggo...then it might have been a “4.”) His job on that play is a backside scoop block...primarily to prevent inside penetration, which is exactly what he does. He comes off the ball quick, low, and hard. He gains ground with his 1st step, a dying art. He gets his head inside the DE, who, I believe is lined up in a 2i...heck, he may even be in a 1Tec on the C...and he keeps his feet moving to ‘roothog’ him off the LOS...or at least flatten him down the LOS, and he rolls him over the trash pile created by Bush and Mercer’s NG, Kithcart.

Jalen Penn is a quick cat & that stuff sure ain’t easy. Most of these Fat-Boy OLmen I see couldn’t even hope to get it done. They would adjust the scheme so the C would block back...doubling on Penn and just leave the b/s LB unblocked...who would have probably met Dirks at the LOS...and no 1st down. I see now that it wasn’t a double-team on the NG, so Bush did a nice job stalemating him solo...also freeing up the C to go to the b/s LB.

Incidentally, I would imagine both the C & the b/s OG probably had the option to call a fold block on that play. If the C felt Penn was too tight on him that he couldn’t get thru & up to the LB, he could have called for a fold by the RG...where the C does block back & the OG scoots tightly around the C’s rear-end up on the LB. Or, if the OG, felt he couldn’t make the Scoop because the DLman was just too far inside, he could have called for a fold. At sluggo’s demand, all of our fold calls had to be food-related. One OLman would say “ham” & the other would say “eggs” acknowledging the call. Grits/gravy, pork/beans, steak/potatoes, and strawberries/cream were popular choices, but any food combo would work...and no time to get stumped when your linemate throws a curveball. If he says “Liver,” you better be able to come back with “Onions,” PDQ...or the play might get blown up! This also helped to get the minds of the fat boys on the DL to a-wanderin’. One outstanding bellhop DLman once let us have quite a colorful earful mid-game about his personal displeasure with our constantly talking about food pre-snap. You can ONLY do these kinds of things with Athletic & Intelligent OLinemen & excellent Coaching. Seems the ‘Dins possess all of those assets at present.

Excellent scheme. Excellent execution!

Geeez. I was just about to say all that but you beat me to it, BeAR. Maybe next time I'll get off the ball faster.

[Flagman]

In true UFFP tradition, this thread has gone way off-topic.

[The Jackal]

In true UFFP tradition, this thread has gone way off-topic.

This thread had a topic?

[stonemd]

Back on topic
Article on Roberts was in this morning's USA Today - front page sport section. Playing QB against the school you go to is a good story.

[fufanatic]

Back on topic
Article on Roberts was in this morning's USA Today - front page sport section. Playing QB against the school you go to is a good story.

I'm sure there aren't a ton, but this is definitely one of the benefits of the local paper having a direct link to a national publication. That story now has some legs in papers/websites all over the country instead of just the one in Greenville.