Thoughts on Furman v Wofford

[gofurman]

I'll add some random chatter…

The angst over losing Drew Cronic's offensive playcalling… I'll take what I saw today hands down. Last season in the playoff matchup I felt like we tried to run up the middle way too much. Today, we were surgical. HBC mentioned Furman had running backs that could catch the ball… Wynn and Morehead were matchup nightmares for the Terriers, night and day from the last time we played them. Combined the running backs had 6 receptions for 117 yards and 2 touchdowns.

T Gordon played a whale of a game too, no touchdowns but his six receptions were critical. What impressed me the most was the accuracy of Roberts and his ball handling, I thought he made several great fakes with the ball.

One more thought on the offense… Ryan Miller is going to be a player, he has a similar skill set of Schumpert.

Proud of the defense too, McKoy, Perryman, Willis, Washington all had a great game. HBC made the comment at halftime and at the end of the game - he told the players Wofford will continue to block after the whistle and block, push you in the back, and they can't react. Which is hard to not do in the moment.

I saw this in a tweet - until today - no player on the current Wofford roster had lost to Furman.

I think as the OL continues to improve, we will see more up the middle running. Against Wofford, if you try to put the ball between the tackles, you are running straight into the strength of their defense. I think that you will see a flexible arrangement were we can game plan differently depending on the opponent.

right. Wofford may be the best in the conference at defending between the tackles - thus our struggles in last year's playoff game (I am aware Dirks was out). But Miles Brown and Mikel Horton are two STUDS in the middle for Wofford DL. As you said, Astro, you got a little frustrated watching us run right at them last year. I realize up the middle was our strength last year on O. It was their strength on D. And they won that playoff game 28-10. Granted they had Horton and Brown. Today Horton was out. Still, you saw how we struglled to get one yard in the middle with the FB or the QB dive - it took 2 and sometimes 3 attempts. We would get 2nd and 1 or 2nd and 2 ... and then getting the first became an adventure when we tried to get those last two yards up the middle... So over the total gameplan we went outside more than last year. And that was smart. Our OL is young on the inside and that is WOff DL strength. WOff struglled with our perimeter runs and throws to the RBs coming out of the backfield. Better gameplan.

agree that i hope vs other teams we will be able to probe the middle w some Dirks runs ... hope Kroeber is ok !

That said I want to tip my hat to our DEFENSE. That was the way to stop the option !

[The Jackal]

Furman also has different personnel. We are a much faster team overall than last year's group. We have got a three man rotation at RB that keeps speed on the field at all times.

[Paul C]

I'll add some random chatter…

The angst over losing Drew Cronic's offensive playcalling… I'll take what I saw today hands down. Last season in the playoff matchup I felt like we tried to run up the middle way too much. Today, we were surgical. HBC mentioned Furman had running backs that could catch the ball… Wynn and Morehead were matchup nightmares for the Terriers, night and day from the last time we played them. Combined the running backs had 6 receptions for 117 yards and 2 touchdowns.

T Gordon played a whale of a game too, no touchdowns but his six receptions were critical. What impressed me the most was the accuracy of Roberts and his ball handling, I thought he made several great fakes with the ball.

One more thought on the offense… Ryan Miller is going to be a player, he has a similar skill set of Schumpert.

Proud of the defense too, McKoy, Perryman, Willis, Washington all had a great game. HBC made the comment at halftime and at the end of the game - he told the players Wofford will continue to block after the whistle and block, push you in the back, and they can't react. Which is hard to not do in the moment.

I saw this in a tweet - until today - no player on the current Wofford roster had lost to Furman.

I think as the OL continues to improve, we will see more up the middle running. Against Wofford, if you try to put the ball between the tackles, you are running straight into the strength of their defense. I think that you will see a flexible arrangement were we can game plan differently depending on the opponent.

right. Wofford may be the best in the conference at defending between the tackles - thus our struggles in last year's playoff game (I am aware Dirks was out). But Miles Brown and Mikel Horton are two STUDS in the middle for Wofford DL. As you said, Astro, you got a little frustrated watching us run right at them last year. I realize up the middle was our strength last year on O. It was their strength on D. And they won that playoff game 28-10. Granted they had Horton and Brown. Today Horton was out. Still, you saw how we struglled to get one yard in the middle with the FB or the QB dive - it took 2 and sometimes 3 attempts. We would get 2nd and 1 or 2nd and 2 ... and then getting the first became an adventure when we tried to get those last two yards up the middle... So over the total gameplan we went outside more than last year. And that was smart. Our OL is young on the inside and that is WOff DL strength. WOff struglled with our perimeter runs and throws to the RBs coming out of the backfield. Better gameplan.

agree that i hope vs other teams we will be able to probe the middle w some Dirks runs ... hope Kroeber is ok !

That said I want to tip my hat to our DEFENSE. That was the way to stop the option !

GF I know you must be terribly disappointed with the poor performance of the Wofford defense today, as we torched them for 34 points despite the numerous “studs” they have on that side of the ball.

[The Jackal]

I don't know how Wofford players had experienced college football this season, but I know today they experienced it differently.

[JohnW]

Talking about running inside, we had successful inside plays today just mostly with Wynn. Frankly we had as much trouble with Western's line as we did with Wofford's. Either they laid a tremendous egg today, or they are monstrously overrated. Concerning the play calling it was good today, but that does not erase seven yards on five possessions and blowing a 21 point lead to ETSU, or almost repeating that against Western. I am glad progress is being made, that the OL is getting better and we were able to finish this week. However, to suggest there wasn't a problem previously is just wrong. September counts.

[FUBeAR]

I saw this in a tweet - until today - no player on the current Wofford roster had lost to Furman.

Correction: EVERY Player on the current Wofford roster, who had an opportunity to play for Furman (if there actually are any), lost to Furman the day he decided to go to Wofford instead.

[gofurman]

I'll add some random chatter…

The angst over losing Drew Cronic's offensive playcalling… I'll take what I saw today hands down. Last season in the playoff matchup I felt like we tried to run up the middle way too much. Today, we were surgical. HBC mentioned Furman had running backs that could catch the ball… Wynn and Morehead were matchup nightmares for the Terriers, night and day from the last time we played them. Combined the running backs had 6 receptions for 117 yards and 2 touchdowns.

T Gordon played a whale of a game too, no touchdowns but his six receptions were critical. What impressed me the most was the accuracy of Roberts and his ball handling, I thought he made several great fakes with the ball.

One more thought on the offense… Ryan Miller is going to be a player, he has a similar skill set of Schumpert.

Proud of the defense too, McKoy, Perryman, Willis, Washington all had a great game. HBC made the comment at halftime and at the end of the game - he told the players Wofford will continue to block after the whistle and block, push you in the back, and they can't react. Which is hard to not do in the moment.

I saw this in a tweet - until today - no player on the current Wofford roster had lost to Furman.

I think as the OL continues to improve, we will see more up the middle running. Against Wofford, if you try to put the ball between the tackles, you are running straight into the strength of their defense. I think that you will see a flexible arrangement were we can game plan differently depending on the opponent.

right. Wofford may be the best in the conference at defending between the tackles - thus our struggles in last year's playoff game (I am aware Dirks was out). But Miles Brown and Mikel Horton are two STUDS in the middle for Wofford DL. As you said, Astro, you got a little frustrated watching us run right at them last year. I realize up the middle was our strength last year on O. It was their strength on D. And they won that playoff game 28-10. Granted they had Horton and Brown. Today Horton was out. Still, you saw how we struglled to get one yard in the middle with the FB or the QB dive - it took 2 and sometimes 3 attempts. We would get 2nd and 1 or 2nd and 2 ... and then getting the first became an adventure when we tried to get those last two yards up the middle... So over the total gameplan we went outside more than last year. And that was smart. Our OL is young on the inside and that is WOff DL strength. WOff struglled with our perimeter runs and throws to the RBs coming out of the backfield. Better gameplan.

agree that i hope vs other teams we will be able to probe the middle w some Dirks runs ... hope Kroeber is ok !

That said I want to tip my hat to our DEFENSE. That was the way to stop the option !

GF I know you must be terribly disappointed with the poor performance of the Wofford defense today, as we torched them for 34 points despite the numerous “studs” they have on that side of the ball.

Touche' - well played. No one is happier than me.

Side note- We were the benefactors of one of those guys thinking he is 'too good' and heading on down to Georgia Tech - Malik RIvera transferred UP from Wofford and is now starting for Georgia Tech as a DB and intercepted Duke today. Crazy. Not sure if that's an effort to prove you can play in NFL or what ... Citadel DB did that same thing a year or two ago and transferred UP to Miami (Delaney?).

[lawdog]

Actually Malik graduated from Wofford with a triple major and is using his last year of eligibility on athletic scholarship at Ga Tech to earn a graduate degree.

[gofurman]

Actually Malik graduated from Wofford with a triple major and is using his last year of eligibility on athletic scholarship at Ga Tech to earn a graduate degree.

Cool - I like to have the real information. Sounds like a smart dude !

[The Jackal]

I just thought this was interesting.

Almost the exact same play. Beat the same Wofford linebacker twice for big yardage.

It looks like the only substantive difference is that on the Morehead TD, we ran with a fullback who stepped in to block. On Wynn's catch, both backs were tailbacks (Morehead and Wynn), with a slightly different formation, and Roberts carried out the load option fake.

[FUBeAR]

Actually Malik graduated from Wofford with a triple major and is using his last year of eligibility on athletic scholarship at Ga Tech to earn a graduate degree.

That's truly great for him, an accomplishment that merits respect and accolades from all...and he was/is certainly an excellent Player. That said, I don't see how that makes any of this...

"Side note- We were the benefactors of one of those guys thinking he is 'too good' and heading on down to Georgia Tech - Malik RIvera transferred UP from Wofford and is now starting for Georgia Tech as a DB and intercepted Duke today. Crazy. Not sure if that's an effort to prove you can play in NFL or what ... Citadel DB did that same thing a year or two ago and transferred UP to Miami (Delaney?)."

...untrue or inaccurate.

OK...after re-reading, I do see how using the word "transferred" misrepresents the situation if speaking from an academic perspective. But, within the context of a discussion about Football (which is the context here), Rivera did 'transfer' from Wofford's Football Team to Georgia Tech's Football Team.

BTW - Delaney also graduated from The Citadel and was doing the Grad Transfer 'thing' during his final year of NCAA eligibility at Miami.

[DeepPurple]

One part of the running game in between B gaps, A gaps, is it sets up our outside run game. It does keep the defense in check, having to defend and be accountable for the inside game.
That was fun to watch and see how far this bunch has come since the Elon game. There was a lot of excitement with this bunch, post game.
We are getting better.
Go FU!

[The Jackal]

One part of the running game in between B gaps, A gaps, is it sets up our outside run game. It does keep the defense in check, having to defend and be accountable for the inside game.
That was fun to watch and see how far this bunch has come since the Elon game. There was a lot of excitement with this bunch, post game.
We are getting better.
Go FU!

Among the things that jumped out at me, our line play was chief among them.

Our defensive line stalemated the Wofford offense. The Terrier OL got very little push, couldn't convert short yardage, and Furman had defenders in the backfield all afternoon.

Also, our offensive line played incredibly well. Wofford has a big, physical defensive front that really didn't do much.

Huge improvement there.

[fufanatic]

If that was the #4 team in the nation then we are the New England Patriots. Hope they fall hard. Sure wish we could get a do-over on that 4th quarter in Johnson City.

At the end of the day, I will always be excited about a conference championship and playoff appearance, but it's still very obvious to me where the SoCon ranks among other FCS football conferences, and it's not at the top. I'm hoping that Furman can be the standard bearer in the coming years and compete for relevance nationally, but I'm also hopeful that schools like ETSU can keep getting better. The Bucs were very good nationally in the late 90s and early 2000s before they stupidly dropped football. I'm curious to see what happens to Wofford as it gets farther and farther away from the Ayers' years. I can't imagine a scenario where some of the other teams in the conference can maintain any sort of national consistency. Chattanooga lost its coach a few years ago right when it was looking strong nationally, same with The Citadel. Still not buying Samford as a consistent program, or WCU. VMI just no. Can Mercer take the next step?

Last FCS champion from SoCon: App State - 2007
Only FCS champion that's still in SoCon: Furman - 1988
Last national runner-up from SoCon: Furman - 2001
Last Semifinal team from SoCon: Georgia Southern - 2012
Last Semifinal team that's still in SoCon: Furman - 2005

Sense a pattern?

Wofford and Chattanooga were very close to semifinal appearances in 2016 and 2014, respectively, but that's it in the post-GSU/APP SoCon, and both of those coaches are gone.