NC A&T - Sept. 4

[The Jackal]

I’m sure glad we played all those games even though we were terrible. Imagine if all the weak spots hadn’t been exposed until the NC A&T game. But they were exposed, and very clear corrective action is being taken.

I disagree that we were "terrible," but I agree that the spring gave our coaches plenty to work on.

[The Jackal]

NC A&T ranked top 25 preseason in STATS poll https://ncataggies.com/news/2021/8/9/ag ... -team.aspx

It's not uncommon for A&T to be in the top 25, but I'm a little surprised they are considering they haven't played in 18 months. Furman has no votes, which also surprised me.

Hard to overstate how important it could be for Furman to get a win over a non conference Top 25 team at home. We see every year that these wins matter - even if the top 25 team goes 0-11, the resume still shows a win over a ranked opponent.

[FUBeAR]

NC A&T ranked top 25 preseason in STATS poll https://ncataggies.com/news/2021/8/9/ag ... -team.aspx

It's not uncommon for A&T to be in the top 25, but I'm a little surprised they are considering they haven't played in 18 months. Furman has no votes, which also surprised me.

Hard to overstate how important it could be for Furman to get a win over a non conference Top 25 team at home. We see every year that these wins matter - even if the top 25 team goes 0-11, the resume still shows a win over a ranked opponent.

Yep - a “MUST WIN” for Furman, and for the SoCon, right out of the gate. Get yer feet in the blocks quickly ’Dins!!

[Jasper]

Their band is favored by 3 TDS. We are f——d

[FUBeAR]

Their band is favored by 3 TDS. We are f——d

Dang…you may be right…

[The Jackal]

Here is their last game of 2019 - the celebration bowl against Alcorn State.

I think this will be an interesting game. Two good defensive teams. Two NFL prospects at RB. Both teams with question marks at QB.

[apaladin]

I did a quick count last night going by the seating charts on the FU website and assuming they are correct it looks like about 5,300 seats are spoken for leaving app. 4,500 available. Add 600 students(stretch) and maybe 6k on the FU side. Can’t really tell anything about the visitors side but only about 280 of 700+ parking spaces are spoken for in the south chapel and north chapel lots. I know some FU peeps park in the south chapel lot. Of course some peeps could have just bougt tickets and not parking passes. Hard to get a grip on what attendance will be like. Hoping for a large walkup on gameday on the A&T game. Will be disappointing if we can’t get 10k for this game.

[The Jackal]

Listening to Hendrix's comments on Saturday, he focused again on depth and conditioning.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Furman try and test that by pushing the pace on A&T. Execution and play calling aside, on a hot September day the Paladins may be able to work an advantage due to their conditioning and ability to constantly rotate fresh players on both sides of the ball.

[apaladin]

Listening to Hendrix's comments on Saturday, he focused again on depth and conditioning.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Furman try and test that by pushing the pace on A&T. Execution and play calling aside, on a hot September day the Paladins may be able to work an advantage due to their conditioning and ability to constantly rotate fresh players on both sides of the ball.

According to A&T peeps their pass defense is their biggest weakness.(isn’t it everyones). Unfortunately the passing game is the Paladins most glaring weakness.

[Roundball]

Listening to Hendrix's comments on Saturday, he focused again on depth and conditioning.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Furman try and test that by pushing the pace on A&T. Execution and play calling aside, on a hot September day the Paladins may be able to work an advantage due to their conditioning and ability to constantly rotate fresh players on both sides of the ball.

According to A&T peeps their pass defense is their biggest weakness.(isn’t it everyones). Unfortunately the passing game is the Paladins most glaring weakness.

According to the NCA&T fan forum, apaladin predicts our Paladins will lose by 2 scores. Can you imagine one of our own fans, going on their fan forum, and making a prediction for his own team to lose? https://bluedeathvalley.proboards.com/t ... all?page=4

[The Jackal]

Listening to Hendrix's comments on Saturday, he focused again on depth and conditioning.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Furman try and test that by pushing the pace on A&T. Execution and play calling aside, on a hot September day the Paladins may be able to work an advantage due to their conditioning and ability to constantly rotate fresh players on both sides of the ball.

According to A&T peeps their pass defense is their biggest weakness.(isn’t it everyones). Unfortunately the passing game is the Paladins most glaring weakness.

I've flipped through a few of their games from 2019. They have the same OC, DC, and HC, so I assume that'll be a good bit of what we see.

Here's their comeback against Charleston Southern in 2019. Of note, Furman beat the brakes off this team a few weeks earlier that season.

Defensively, they strike me to be a bit like the Citadel - they like to load up the box and bring a lot of pressure hoping to out number you. Furman, of course, really struggled against the Citadel particularly in the passing game with just an inability to get the ball out.

Will be interested to see Furman probe for matchups in the passing game with Miller and the backs. A&T runs a more traditional looking 4-3 set, and that will usually force a bigger linebacker to matchup on TEs and RBs. Miller's a lot faster than most TEs and the backs are all excellent pass catchers.

Key is just going to be for the QB to recognize what's coming and to get the ball out.

[The Jackal]

Listening to Hendrix's comments on Saturday, he focused again on depth and conditioning.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Furman try and test that by pushing the pace on A&T. Execution and play calling aside, on a hot September day the Paladins may be able to work an advantage due to their conditioning and ability to constantly rotate fresh players on both sides of the ball.

According to A&T peeps their pass defense is their biggest weakness.(isn’t it everyones). Unfortunately the passing game is the Paladins most glaring weakness.

According to the NCA&T fan forum, apaladin predicts our Paladins will lose by 2 scores. Can you imagine one of our own fans, going on their fan forum, and making a prediction for his own team to lose? https://bluedeathvalley.proboards.com/t ... all?page=4

On brand.

[FurmAlum]

apaladin! You should be ashamed of yourself!

I watched some of that 2019 Alcorn-A&T game. This is going to be a tough game. If we have improved enough to beat A&T then we should handle ourselves well in the SoCon.

Pass offense may have been our weakness in Sp 21, but it doesn't have to be in F 22. QB is more experienced and there are some additions at WR. A & T hasn't played since 2019. We should be able to take advantage of that.

I am predicting a FU victory.

[The Jackal]

apaladin! You should be ashamed of yourself!

I watched some of that 2019 Alcorn-A&T game. This is going to be a tough game. If we have improved enough to beat A&T then we should handle ourselves well in the SoCon.

Pass offense may have been our weakness in Sp 21, but it doesn't have to be in F 22. QB is more experienced and there are some additions at WR. A & T hasn't played since 2019. We should be able to take advantage of that.

I am predicting a FU victory.

I'm expecting a team the caliber of which we frequently see in SoCon play. They will be good enough to beat us. We're good enough to beat them too.

[soconjohn]

They have a good rb...but he'll be at least the second best one on the field that night.