NC A&T - Sept. 4

[The Jackal]

No time like the present. Midday Friday and NCA&T posts their game notes: https://static.ncataggies.com/custompag ... h=football

[Jasper]

There appears to be 2 schools of thought on how to evaluate this coming game and season. One wants to throw out the spring season as just another victim of the pandemic and the other sees this season as a return to FUs usual competitive level under normal circumstances. The fan in me wants to believe the later but the investor in me cannot “unsee” the spring disappointment. IF corrections are made and improvements occur, FU should be very good. If the play calling and preparation are what we witnessed in the spring and if the QB play and O line remain the same, then the only rational solution will be frequent visits to the Wicked Weed endzone oasis. I am personally investing in the Dins as soon as the line is released.

I've watched SoCon football long enough that you can pretty much throw out whatever the team did last season.

I've said this multiple times: The spring season was neither nothing, nor was it everything.

Yeah, we went 3-4. We were 3 points from 4-2. Two SoCon losses typically will put you in the conversation with the league title most seasons.

I'm not stressed about it. Plenty on this forum would see a basket of negatives regardless of the spring results. We'll be fine. If we aren't, we'll get them next year.

You are clearly a lot younger than I, Jackal. I don't have enough football seasons left to watch direct handoffs to a back standing right next to the QB who is 7 yards deep and results in a loss. Or the dreaded 8 yard pass on a third and 10, etc. etc. These kids are better than that. I want to see some creativity and misdirection mixed into the 3 yards and cloud of dust mentality. 3 - 4 was terrible in a season in which we were pre season ranked and a few of those 4 were really ugly...Mercer comes to mind. Good for you that you aren't stressed over it. Neither am I actually. Concerned is more like it.

[apaladin]

Excellent post Jasper and I think that sums up the feelings of a lot of us. Hoping for the best and more importantly hoping for something different from the offense tomortow.

[The Jackal]

There appears to be 2 schools of thought on how to evaluate this coming game and season. One wants to throw out the spring season as just another victim of the pandemic and the other sees this season as a return to FUs usual competitive level under normal circumstances. The fan in me wants to believe the later but the investor in me cannot “unsee” the spring disappointment. IF corrections are made and improvements occur, FU should be very good. If the play calling and preparation are what we witnessed in the spring and if the QB play and O line remain the same, then the only rational solution will be frequent visits to the Wicked Weed endzone oasis. I am personally investing in the Dins as soon as the line is released.

I've watched SoCon football long enough that you can pretty much throw out whatever the team did last season.

I've said this multiple times: The spring season was neither nothing, nor was it everything.

Yeah, we went 3-4. We were 3 points from 4-2. Two SoCon losses typically will put you in the conversation with the league title most seasons.

I'm not stressed about it. Plenty on this forum would see a basket of negatives regardless of the spring results. We'll be fine. If we aren't, we'll get them next year.

You are clearly a lot younger than I, Jackal. I don't have enough football seasons left to watch direct handoffs to a back standing right next to the QB who is 7 yards deep and results in a loss. Or the dreaded 8 yard pass on a third and 10, etc. etc. These kids are better than that. I want to see some creativity and misdirection mixed into the 3 yards and cloud of dust mentality. 3 - 4 was terrible in a season in which we were pre season ranked and a few of those 4 were really ugly...Mercer comes to mind. Good for you that you aren't stressed over it. Neither am I actually. Concerned is more like it.

I just look at the national scene, what offenses were doing around the country, the results of our games, and just don't see reason to hit the panic button. We lost four, but probably should have won three of them.

In my view, I want see less sizzle and more steak. Sure, creativity is fine, but we had one of the nation's best offenses in 2017 essentially running fullback dive and play action fakes to the TE. Our focus needs to be back on the basics - move the ball and the ground.

I personally thought in the spring we were trying too hard. It was almost as though we had a bunch of extra time to really cook some stuff up on offense, and just never really managed to execute it well. Don't screw around with all the razzle dazzle until you can run the power, or the trap, or the sweep.

Bottom line, we gotta start moving the ball better on first downs. Our offense just struggled when we were getting stopped for no gain or loss on first downs. Most offenses do.

Look, A&T's going to clog the middle. They list a 4-3 defense and are built to stop the run. They're going bring that Rover down into the box and lineup man to man outside. They are going to play a lot of man defense and cover three and force Sisson to make quick reads and throw the ball on target. That shouldn't surprise any of us, let alone our coaches or players.

This game will be in the hands of our offensive line. They had a rough season in the spring, but they have a chance to show what they've got against one of the nation's toughest defenses.

[MNORM]

Excellent post Jasper and I think that sums up the feelings of a lot of us. Hoping for the best and more importantly hoping for something different from the offense tomortow.

I'd go as far as saying that I'd be fine seeing nothing "different", per se, so long as it's better executed. This offense works when executed effectively. Simply put, we made too many mistakes to win games in the Spring.

[FUBeAR]

[The Jackal]

Furman has the pieces in place for a deep playoff run in 2021
BY PJ MORALES

Read more here: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/sport ... rylink=cpy

https://www.charlotteobserver.com/sport ... 54753.html

[The Jackal]

Dan put together a nice pregame spot before the A&T contest. Give it a listen.

Highlights an interesting stat from the Aggie - a lot is made of their stud running back, but not much mention that they lost most of their other skill players and have to account for about 4,000 yards of offense missing off the 2019 team.

[The Jackal]

Let's go.

[apaladin]

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.

Let’s certainly hope so. In 2 hours we will find out,

[The Jackal]

Good pregame interview with George Quarles.

He harped on a lot of the same stuff that's been bandied about here - need more consistent play up front, be better in passing game, change some of the running back blocking assignments, need the WRs to start making some plays, and get defenses out of 9 men in the box.

He also mentioned that we will probably see Sisson more of a runner. We were unable to exhibit that much in the spring because we had no depth at the position.

[The Jackal]

[The Jackal]

[Furmanoid]

Did we just go 3 and out during a commercial? What happened?

[Furmanoid]

Looks like their stud is gimpy.