The Jackal wrote: ↑Thu Dec 22, 2022 6:44 am
gofurman wrote: ↑Thu Dec 22, 2022 2:41 am
AstroDin wrote: ↑Wed Dec 21, 2022 7:24 am
Wolfpacker… thanks for starting this thread.
This class on paper is really interesting. There are some highly recruited players. Some players appear under the radar. This is an uneducated address—I think Furman's past several years recruiting classes' success has allowed Furman to take a few players that appear under the radar. Digging deeper, you can see on film why Furman has offered.
One player not to sleep on… just made first-team Washington Post All-Met at WR.
GoFu, should be happy with this player, he's a 4:45 guy:
Astro knows me
And he is right.
SPEED baby, SPEED.
lanky FAST Receivers - honestly UIW should be playing in the National Title game with those WRs and Cooper making people miss tackles at RB ...
SPEED KILLS. As shown by Western in our 4th quarter etc - it is what makes them a scary team even when we have more talent than them overall.
Let's get another duo out there like Ike West and Brian Bratton. J Harris is a good one !
Odd that you'd push for lanky receivers and reference Bratton and West, neither of whom were tall.
Western Carolina had some speed at receiver, and they were watching the FCS playoffs from their couch.
Neither of the two teams playing for the national title are spread out, speedy offenses. NDSU and SDSU are among the worst passing offenses in the country.
What do they do well? Run the ball, play defense.
Yes, but NDSU is not as good as UIW. Most of their fans admit such on AGS etc. They were dominated and lucky to win over UIW.
I agree that NDSU is great. USUALLY - not quite so much this year. Well, they are still great though I expect they will lose the title game.
And I yes, I would prefer lanky AND fast receivers but mostly that they are FAST. Arguably our worst three quarters of defense? The 4th quarter of Western Carolina and the first half vs UIW - coincidence? I think not. FREAKY FAST Receivers. That's the common thread.
Sure, Western was sitting at home during the FCS playoffs - but not because of their WRs.. you are being selective. They can't run.. or stop the run ... or do much of anything else ..
I am simply saying what we could add to our team would be speed at WR. Objectively, that 2004 team was our best in 25 years. Maybe ever ! Ingle, Felton, Bratton, West, a great OL etc etc
And I agree that you can win with RUN RUN RUN the ball and defense. I would love nothing more than to replicate AFA (bowl game that Air Force dominated in) and throw the ball only 7 or 8 times ... that would be awesome. So many times I have said I am not here to be 'entertained' but rather to watch us win.. and win in a dominant fashion !
But we are NOT GOOD ENOUGH AT THAT. Did you watch us play UIW? I am sure you did. Then did you watch Sac State play offense vs UIW the next week? WOW, WHAT A DIFFERENCE. SAC STATE - now they could run the ball. we , well, we could run the ball but not at that level. Sac State torched UIW with Scatteboo right and Scateboo left run run screen screen... On the other hand, what a great second half of defense we played vs UIW.
I recall feeling if we had Sac State offense or ... Sac Sate had our defense that would have been the perfect team to beat UIW. Sac State (nor UIW) could play defense vs each other... which made me feel even worse about our offense. Our OL and running game (etc etc) just couldn't move vs UIW. Now Our D (vs Elon and UIW) was great for all 4 quarters v Elon and the second half v UIW.
Our O was pretty strong v Elon (though we only had 14 pts after 3 qtrs I think? But our O left us out to dry v UIW. In reality our O had 3 points in the first half v UIW.
And, let me apologize. Perhaps I should have said I hope we can get "
WRs who can SEPARATE - speed is the main thing" Bratton and West were a dynamic duo who could separate with speed. We haven't had as good a WR duo since. Once we hit the elite teams I just don't see our WRs getting the separation that some other teams do. To your point about Western Carolina,
I would CERTAINLY rather have our team than theirs... But if we could have one or two of their WRs on our team we might still be playing in the playoffs. That's all I meant.