SoCon/FCS Week 4

[The Jackal]

Samford's big name QB has already thrown as many picks in 4 games as he did in 13 games last season. 5 of his 8 passing TDs came against Shorter.

[Furman Sports Report]

Not a good look for WCU. Up 70-21 they threw a 17 yd TD pass with 4 seconds left. Don’t care who is playing you should be taking a knee then. Talking about rubbing it in.

That is definitely a head scratcher. My opinion… Kerwin Bell wants to move on from the Wee as fast as he can. Turn them from bottom dweller to contender and find a bigger gig.

Honestly, WCU trounced Samford and pollsters still had the Bulldogs ranked ahead of WCU. I don't even think WCU broke into the top 25 after beating a decent EKU team the next week.

Kerwin Bell may just be thinking that if the pollsters won't move WCU up by beating teams, he may have to annihilate them to get their attention.

For the record, they did. They were 23rd this week following last Saturday's win at EKU. They were 19th last week in my poll for whatever that's worth.

[Affirm]

After 9/16 games, Sagarin had Furman as the #14 FCS team, after
SD St
ND St
Mont St
ID
SIU Carbondale
Sac St
Weber St
Mont
NIU
NDak
UIW
YSU
and UC Davis.
Then Sagarin had Furman as #134 in all Division I. #14 among the FCS teams.
Now, after the 9/24/2023 games, Sagarin has
SD St
ND St
Mont St
Idaho
Southern Illinois University Carbondale
Sacramento St
**** Furman **** as the #7 team in FCS and the #115 team in all Division 1 (by the way, CU #22, USC #30)
UNI
Some of the other SoCons are WCU #19, Chatt #26, Mercer # 46, Samford # 29, ETC. We have to continue to prove ourselves on the field.

[wcugrad95]

Going back to some of the WCU comments, I was not a fan of throwing the ball at the end of the game and I said as much on threads on AGS and the Western board. But tonight on Kerwin Bell's coaches show he addressed it and said his job was to get the team ready. That true FR QB is two plays away from having to play meaningful minutes (our 2nd string QB is a transfer from Harvard who broke his foot and our 3rd stringer may have a scholarship now but he was a walk-on) and he needed some reps of not just handing the ball off. Bell said he talked to the new CSU coach (they are good friends) and according to Bell their was no ill-will from the Buc's head man. Two weeks ago we could have easily scored against Samford at the end and we took a knee.

I stil am not a fan, but feel at least somewhat better about the "why" after hearing his explanation. Last post that is a WCU defense until we play you guys in a few weeks. I'll keep it to more SOCON general stuff until then

[The Jackal]

Going back to some of the WCU comments, I was not a fan of throwing the ball at the end of the game and I said as much on threads on AGS and the Western board. But tonight on Kerwin Bell's coaches show he addressed it and said his job was to get the team ready. That true FR QB is two plays away from having to play meaningful minutes (our 2nd string QB is a transfer from Harvard who broke his foot and our 3rd stringer may have a scholarship now but he was a walk-on) and he needed some reps of not just handing the ball off. Bell said he talked to the new CSU coach (they are good friends) and according to Bell their was no ill-will from the Buc's head man. Two weeks ago we could have easily scored against Samford at the end and we took a knee.

I stil am not a fan, but feel at least somewhat better about the "why" after hearing his explanation. Last post that is a WCU defense until we play you guys in a few weeks. I'll keep it to more SOCON general stuff until then

It's a difference in philosophy, I guess.

Furman put their backups in at about 6:30 of the 4th. Virtually every play was a hand off to what I guess is our 6th or 7th string running back. Backup QB Carson Jones attempted two short passes. Nothing Furman did was towards the end zone.

During his tenure, Clay Hendrix tends to prefer getting the game in hand and then getting out of there.

[wcugrad95]

I agree. Didn't say I was happy with it, just said he had at least some kind of plausible explanation. Western thought we were deep at QB when Dean transferred in for his graduate year. Now we are not nearly as deep with his injury.

One of the comments I made about the play I quoted my high school coach to "act like you had been there before" vs running up scores, or acting like catching a 5-yard pass or tackling a guy 8 yards downfield is some major accomplishment, or wagging your finger on defense like you did something when you got burned but the other guy missed the pass. Those last 3 seem to be running rampant across the football universe at all schools. But I am also a lot more old school than a lot of today's world so maybe I just don't get it.

[FUBeAR]

FUBeAR goes by the old..."Hey, it's our job to stop them." If you can run up the score on FUBeAR's Team, that's FUBeAR's fault...so, in most cases, FBDGAF what the other Team does if FUBeAR's Team is gettin' their butts whipped. You don't wanna get your butt whipped...STOP 'EM.

BUT...when the play clock is showing more than the game clock and you are up by half a hundred...

* 2nd and 18 at CSU20 Dickens,Taron rush middle for 3 yards to the CSU17[RUNNING PLAY - THE CLOCK IS RUNNING DOWN. IT IS NOT STOPPED SO 1 MORE PLAY DID NOT HAVE TO BE RUN TO END THE GAME]
* 3rd and 15 at CSU17 Dickens,Taron pass complete for 17 yards to the CSU00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 00:04

...and you throw the ball, into the endzone, FUBeAR just might have to cross the field and whip your a$$ right there in front of the University President, your sister wife, and her 1st cousin, your other mistress. That's some South Georgia / North Florida redneck BS...and that's all it is despite any words to the contrary.

So...let's turn that 'needed to get my 3rd string QB ready' BS on its head...literally. FUBeAR has had D-Linemen that he's played with and who played for FUBeAR that now reside as 'guests' of various States or the Federal Gov't...and if you pulled that BS in that situation, they very well might have decided the proper response would be to pick up that 175 pound QB and pile drive his head into the turf repeatedly...until the Police stopped them....Refs, Coaches, and other Players ain't gonna get it done...would take the Taser...and hopefully that would do it. Now, how ready to play is QB3 with his severe concussion and cracked vertebrae...or worse?

Stupid crap. Karma is a beeeee-yatch!!!

[FurmAlum]

FUBeAR calls a spade a spade.

Regarding the polls. I like Sam Herder's ballot. He has Furman #5, WCU #9, and W & M #10. Then I look at STATS and see W & M #5. What BS! Furman #7 and WCU #17. Chatty and Mercer not even ranked. More BS.

Coaches Poll even worse W & M #4, Furman #7, and WCU #21, Chatty #22.

Should be more clarity after WCU/Chatty game.

Regarding some posts about the SoCon being so bad. It's just the 4 bottom teams. The other 5 IMO are very good and are grossly underrated.

I still don't see why W & M and Holy Cross should be ranked above Furman. They have patsy CAA and Patriot League schedules and patsy FBS games. Idaho I can understand, maybe.

[apaladin]

Totally agree with Bear, total BS explanation about the last TD. Like throwing one pass is the difference in being ready and not being ready. Laughable.

[Affirm]

FUBeAR calls a spade a spade.

Regarding the polls. I like Sam Herder's ballot. He has Furman #5, WCU #9, and W & M #10. Then I look at STATS and see W & M #5. What BS! Furman #7 and WCU #17. Chatty and Mercer not even ranked. More BS.

Coaches Poll even worse W & M #4, Furman #7, and WCU #21, Chatty #22.

Should be more clarity after WCU/Chatty game.

Regarding some posts about the SoCon being so bad. It's just the 4 bottom teams. The other 5 IMO are very good and are grossly underrated.

I still don't see why W & M and Holy Cross should be ranked above Furman. They have patsy CAA and Patriot League schedules and patsy FBS games. Idaho I can understand, maybe.

Regarding Holy Cross and W&M, Sagarin currently has them #12 and #18, respectively, among FCS teams. Fortunately at least as of this eeek, Sagarin has Furman as #7 among FCS teams. If only we could stay that high. It is a rare place for us to be, unfortunately; even though that has not always been the case. We’ve got to prove on the field that we can stay there. Lose one or more SoCon games and we will go down, down, down, and we will then be fortunate to finish in the top 25.

[AllTimeFU]

https://www.ncaa.com/news/football/arti ... season?amp
Stan Becton | NCAA.com | September 25, 2023
Why Week 4's wild weekend in the FCS will have a lasting impact on these conferences' postseason hopes

Notable Results

No. 7 Furman def. No. 21 Mercer 38-14
Chattanooga def. No. 17 Samford 47-24
Western Carolina def. Charleston Southern 77-21
The SoCon's hopes of getting three teams to the FCS playoffs for the first time since 2017 took another hit in Week 4. While Furman continues to look like one of the best teams in the FCS, the rest of the conference hasn't lived up to the hype.

Western Carolina continues to look like the second-best team in the conference after dominating Charleston Southern and its win over Eastern Kentucky gained more value after the Colonels knocked off then-No. 20 Southeast Missouri State in Week 4. However, Western Carolina's own ranked win against Samford continues to lose luster week after week.

Preseason top-10 team Samford lost its third straight game and its second FCS game by 23 points after Chattanooga routed the Bulldogs at home. While a ranked win boosts Chattanooga's playoff hopes, a season-opening nonconference loss to a North Alabama team that's 2-3 against FCS opponents does not. Chattanooga's nonconference mishap combined with Mercer's blowout loss leaves little room for error down the stretch for the SoCon if it hopes for a third at-large bid.

[FUBeAR]

Why Week 4's wild weekend in the FCS will have a lasting impact on these conferences' postseason hopes

Notable Results

No. 7 Furman def. No. 21 Mercer 38-14
Chattanooga def. No. 17 Samford 47-24
Western Carolina def. Charleston Southern 77-21
The SoCon's hopes of getting three teams to the FCS playoffs for the first time since 2017 took another hit in Week 4. While Furman continues to look like one of the best teams in the FCS, the rest of the conference hasn't lived up to the hype.

Western Carolina continues to look like the second-best team in the conference after dominating Charleston Southern and its win over Eastern Kentucky gained more value after the Colonels knocked off then-No. 20 Southeast Missouri State in Week 4. However, Western Carolina's own ranked win against Samford continues to lose luster week after week.

Preseason top-10 team Samford lost its third straight game and its second FCS game by 23 points after Chattanooga routed the Bulldogs at home. While a ranked win boosts Chattanooga's playoff hopes, a season-opening nonconference loss to a North Alabama team that's 2-3 against FCS opponents does not. Chattanooga's nonconference mishap combined with Mercer's blowout loss leaves little room for error down the stretch for the SoCon if it hopes for a third at-large bid.

https://www.ncaa.com/news/football/arti ... season?amp

This is - STAN BECTON | NCAA.COM | SEPTEMBER 25, 2023 - we should give him proper credit for his writing.

BTW - he really sux!

"combined with Mercer's blowout loss" - Tell us you didn't watch the game without telling us you didn't watch the game.

[The Jackal]

I don't know how to say this any other way than just saying it, but Mercer's got to go beat somebody.

Excluding the odd 2020 fall/spring season, the Bears have sort of hovered around that 7 win mark under Cronic. Good enough to be respectable. Not good enough to really go anywhere.

Looking at their past few seasons, Mercer has lost their last 5 games against ranked FCS teams. The last win over a ranked FCS opponent was a 4 point win over #22 Chattanooga in 2021.

At some point, Mercer's gotta start winning those games to really vault themselves into the national conversation. They should probably have at least two more shots to get resume-boosting wins over a ranked opponent in 2023.