MERCER

[gofurman]

I think we have more talent so if they beat us AGAIN we have to concede we are getting out coached.

Nope - 3 primary components - Athletic Talent, Execution, and Coaching - that are all actually intertwined/ interrelated. If you want to get technical - Officiating and, hate to say it, Luck (that spheroid is still oblong…yes?), are 2 other components which can determine the outcome of a single Football game.

Also, even if your proposition was sufficiently accurate, one would have to accept your premise that Furman has more talent than Mercer in order to arrive at the conclusion you are suggesting … IF Mercer happens to win this single Football game.

FUBeAR. I don’t disagree however I would say that execution and coaching are intertwined. (As you noted). So that puts us back at talent and coaching. Good coaches get their players to execute well. Yes there is some luck/officiating and one game does not a pattern make .. however two games would be the hint of a pattern. Anyway I suspect Furman wins if we can find any semblance of offense.

Another inaccurate premise when applied to the outcome of a single game. Even great Coaches do not always get their Players to execute well. Sure, St. Vincent won 105 games, but 41 of the games he Coached did not end up in the Win column. I doubt he had better Players that failed to execute properly in each of those 41 games. Coach Saban’s Teams have failed to win 66 games he Coached. Sometimes Players fail to execute because they are 18-22 years old and allow themselves to become distracted between the last walk-thru on Friday & kickoff on Saturday. Nope - the 3 completely intertwined primary components of winning a Football game are always intertwined; 1 cannot be separated & dismissed claiming it’s ’covered’ by 1 or both of the other 2.

Head Coaches have multi-year contracts for good reason. Barring a complete meltdown of a program, the body of work over those years determines the quality of the Head Coach & his/her suitability for leading that program at that time.

FUBeAR, wholeheartedly, rejects your conclusion that IF Mercer beats Furman on Saturday, that proves (thus we must “concede”) that the Furman Coaching Staff was/is getting/has been getting out-coached. IF it happens, it will only prove 1 thing (assuming Officiating & Luck is ‘a wash’); that Mercer was a better Football Team than Furman on that day via some intertwined combination of Athletic Talent, Execution, and Coaching.

Your premise is utterly subjective and your conclusion is ludicrous.

Keep preaching, Bear.

Good grief. How soon we forget.

I AM THE PREACHER OF LONG TERM. Not bear. For years I preached how I would rather lose one game to X FBS school by 1 point - say 30 to 29 - because of statiStical oddities (7 fumbles that ALL were recovered by the other team?). Because that would point to a great year overall. How soon we forget.

I SHOUTED that for years. EFFING YEARS.

Would far rather lose to Gamecocks (name your FBS team ) with -7 turnovers (weird turnovers we can correct easily) and lose by one point than win with a game they hike over the punters head 7 times. That latter case won’t hold up. The former? We’ve got a team!!!

Maybe I shouldn’t have said the one game /two game Mercer v FU thing but damn y’all have short memories. I yelled for years about being willing to lose if it showed a better team. I am way more about the long term than 99% of people here. I wish we coulda lost to NC State by one point with us having fumbled 7 times. Having dominated NC State on los. I would love it. Now later in FCS - esp playoffs - you have to WIN but a team that dominates NC State on LOS will be just fine. More than fine, Great actually.

Sorry but that was my special rant for years (like INJURIS and the sort) and anyone who has forgotten that needs to do more Brain games/crossword puzzles. FUBeAR don’t you be taking my thing. Lol.

These days I’ll keep injuris and maybe a guess the score. Think I’ll start one now..

[The Jackal]

Not many offensive highlights, but I like what Furman is doing here.

"Tackle over" formation (our RT is lined up on the other side of the formation). As Hendrix suggested they might, Noah Henderson is in the game playing Miller's typical H-back/TE spot and is in line on the right side. NC State, as they did all night, has a posse of defenders stacked in the box.

Bell in motion shows zone coverage. Furman puts pressure on the CB to cover both the FB and WR in the flat. Here again, you see Furman making the modification that they are sending the FB into the route opposite the play action (they did this well against A&T). That holds that backside pursuit that killed us so frequently last season.

Shiflett get his head around quick, sees they put the CB in a bind, and puts the ball right on the money.

[The Jackal]

This play right here is what I think will make or break Furman's season. Our priority offensively has to be to get Wynn and Roberto some running room. Has to be.

Nothing complex here, but you see what sort of problem Roberto becomes if he can break the initial line of defenders. You also saw Furman at least twice try to throw him the ball on screens. He's got some Jerome Felton qualities when he gets a little elbow room - quick feet, physical runner, low pad level, and punishes tacklers.

Tip of the hat here to Johanning. You can see how aggressive NCSU's defensive front is. Johanning neutralizes his man, and then is able to chip the linebacker just enough to spring Roberto. Also excellent block by RT, who pulls and gets his head across the DE.

[The Jackal]

I don't hate this. Not a huge fan of running a 5 yard route when you need 10, but Wynn was open with some space. He runs a little slant/out, beats his defender, but the NCSU linebacker just gets his mitt on it.

I don't love our LT disengaging with the defender that gets into the backfield. You've got the RB providing extra blocking to the sprint side. There's no defender even outside the OT. So, we end up with two blockers looking for someone to block, and a guy we had double teamed getting pressure on the QB.

[The Jackal]

Beautiful "catch" by WR.

[The Jackal]

Beautiful throw.

[The Jackal]

Mercer's coming off a bye week, but I'm not sure that's any great advantage. I've seen teams look great coming out of a bye. I've seen them look terrible. It seems sort of a wash at this point.

Both teams have been outmatched by FBS opponents.

I suppose one advantage for Furman is they're probably a bit more battle tested at this point. Mercer played one team it completely outclassed, and then another team that outclassed them. To this point, they really have not had to play a four quarter football game with something on the line - both of those games were essentially decided by the half.

Personally, I'd rather come into this game 2-1 with wins over stingy FCS opponents than be 1-1 with an early bye week having not played a team that matched up with us well.

[FUBeAR]

Mercer's coming off a bye week, but I'm not sure that's any great advantage. I've seen teams look great coming out of a bye. I've seen them look terrible. It seems sort of a wash at this point.

Both teams have been outmatched by FBS opponents.

I suppose one advantage for Furman is they're probably a bit more battle tested at this point. Mercer played one team it completely outclassed, and then another team that outclassed them. To this point, they really have not had to play a four quarter football game with something on the line - both of those games were essentially decided by the half.

Personally, I'd rather come into this game 2-1 with wins over stingy FCS opponents than be 1-1 with an early bye week having not played a team that matched up with us well.

…and at home in a PACKED Paladin Stadium.

BTW - was in Maconga this past weekend celebrating FUBeAR Jr’s B’Day & confirmed w/an unnamed Sr. Mercer Athletics Official that Mercer plans to bring their band, bus loads of students (may even be coming up Friday night & Downtown Orange-ing up GreenVegas), and have a strong pre-registration turnout for their Alumni Tailgate.

Sure hope PS is 1980’s packed with 2020’s style of Fan Experience (including adequate resources to keep concession lines reasonable)!!!

[apaladin]

Both teams have been outmatched by FBS opponents.

Mercer was outmached by the number one team in the country and defending national champions and Furman was outmatched by unranked, meidiocre NC State. Statistically Mercer played ‘Bama much better thsn FU played NC St. so its not the same. Huge difference.

[The Jackal]

Both teams have been outmatched by FBS opponents.

Mercer was outmached by the number one team in the country and defending national champions and Furman was outmatched by unranked, meidiocre NC State. Statistically Mercer played ‘Bama much better thsn FU played NC St. so its not the same. Huge difference.

Lighten up, man.

[Affirm]

Mercer's coming off a bye week, but I'm not sure that's any great advantage. I've seen teams look great coming out of a bye. I've seen them look terrible. It seems sort of a wash at this point.

Both teams have been outmatched by FBS opponents.

I suppose one advantage for Furman is they're probably a bit more battle tested at this point. Mercer played one team it completely outclassed, and then another team that outclassed them. To this point, they really have not had to play a four quarter football game with something on the line - both of those games were essentially decided by the half.

Personally, I'd rather come into this game 2-1 with wins over stingy FCS opponents than be 1-1 with an early bye week having not played a team that matched up with us well.

…and at home in a PACKED Paladin Stadium.

BTW - was in Maconga this past weekend celebrating FUBeAR Jr’s B’Day & confirmed w/an unnamed Sr. Mercer Athletics Official that Mercer plans to bring their band, bus loads of students (may even be coming up Friday night & Downtown Orange-ing up GreenVegas), and have a strong pre-registration turnout for their Alumni Tailgate.

Sure hope PS is 1980’s packed with 2020’s style of Fan Experience (including adequate resources to keep concession lines reasonable)!!!

Orange-ing up is never needed in downtown Greenville and environs. There is more than enough all the time, and it’s not Mercer, Tennessee, or any other Halloween teams. And I realize it will be too orangey on Furman’s campus Saturday, unfortunately.

[FUBeAR]

Mercer's coming off a bye week, but I'm not sure that's any great advantage. I've seen teams look great coming out of a bye. I've seen them look terrible. It seems sort of a wash at this point.

Both teams have been outmatched by FBS opponents.

I suppose one advantage for Furman is they're probably a bit more battle tested at this point. Mercer played one team it completely outclassed, and then another team that outclassed them. To this point, they really have not had to play a four quarter football game with something on the line - both of those games were essentially decided by the half.

Personally, I'd rather come into this game 2-1 with wins over stingy FCS opponents than be 1-1 with an early bye week having not played a team that matched up with us well.

…and at home in a PACKED Paladin Stadium.

BTW - was in Maconga this past weekend celebrating FUBeAR Jr’s B’Day & confirmed w/an unnamed Sr. Mercer Athletics Official that Mercer plans to bring their band, bus loads of students (may even be coming up Friday night & Downtown Orange-ing up GreenVegas), and have a strong pre-registration turnout for their Alumni Tailgate.

Sure hope PS is 1980’s packed with 2020’s style of Fan Experience (including adequate resources to keep concession lines reasonable)!!!

Orange-ing up is never needed in downtown Greenville and environs. There is more than enough all the time, and it’s not Mercer, Tennessee, or any other Halloween teams. And I realize it will be too orangey on Furman’s campus Saturday, unfortunately.

Yeah - forgot about that. As a side note, if I’m not mistaken, I believe the Mercer Orange & the Clemson Orange may be the same RGB … nope just checked … CU is 245, 102, 0 & MU is 247, 104, 0 … pretty dang close.

[The Jackal]

FWIW - I liked Mercer's orange pants against Alabama.

I probably missed it, but I don't recall seeing them wear white on orange before.

[FUBeAR]

FWIW - I liked Mercer's orange pants against Alabama.

I probably missed it, but I don't recall seeing them wear white on orange before.

If you don’t count the used practice pants that UTenn gave them in 2012, they have not previously had Orange pants - black, white, and gray only…so no White on Orange previously. Wonder if they’ll do All Orange for a Home game in the future. They also used to have white & Black helmets…haven’t see their Black helmets in a while. Might not have those any more.

[The Jackal]

FWIW - I liked Mercer's orange pants against Alabama.

I probably missed it, but I don't recall seeing them wear white on orange before.

If you don’t count the used practice pants that UTenn gave them in 2012, they have not previously had Orange pants - black, white, and gray only…so no White on Orange previously. Wonder if they’ll do All Orange for a Home game in the future. They also used to have white & Black helmets…haven’t see their Black helmets in a while. Might not have those any more.

I think it highlights a color scheme no other team has. White/white/white seems like it’s trying a bit too hard to replicate the classic look of another SOCon team (now most SoCon teams)