Furman Week

[youngterrier]

Looking at the ESPN3 replay. A big third down pass by Furman was made when the QB arguably passed the LOS. On the holding call that held back a TD, it was technically a hold, but of little consequence to the play. So it was arguably a dumb penalty by the OL, and arguably a nit picky penalty by the officials.

Furman benefits from their QB's passing ability, but a lot of mistakes in the passing game came from, arguably, him throwing on the run and not having his feet set. He threw a few balls behind his receiver as they ran quite a few rollouts. Given the strength of our DL and front 7, that was smart playcalling. For instance when they did a drop back pass we had them where we wanted them. Their receivers also dropped a few balls.

So, I think we were lucky because Furman isn't all the way there yet but they are gonna hurt a few teams this year

[mudrat43]

Just slide back into the swamp, WOW! I've seen smaller dinosaur eggs than the one WOF almost laid Saturday (thanks FU coaches). The rule is : go for the tie on the road, and go for the win at home!! They did what every balanced team does to WOF, threw underneath our coverage to wide open receivers. Ran it fairly well also. Never been that dad-blasted frustrated watching that thing in my life. That much bally-hooed defense fell flat for the most part. Take note: Mercer can and will throw the ball. Agreed they didn't have much competition against JU, but the Terriers better be ready in Macon. Take note #2: execution beats talent every time!!!

[Eyes of Old Main]

I knew it was going to be a good night for the Terriers when I saw the purple splash liners in the urinals at Gibbs. By the end of the night, I noticed the floor did not seem as wet as everyone had a proper target.

Tip of the hat, Joe. This gets my vote for post of the season so far.

[Eyes of Old Main]

I am far from an expert on catching penalties, but historically, some games Wofford randomly gets a bunch of holding calls. Usually its on the OL, but this time it was the Backs. I'm sure our coaches teach our guys how to stretch the rules a little, but there's no benefit to getting totally outside of the rules and hurting the team with penalties like last night. I suspect it was a referee driven thing in how they chose to look at what we were doing. Much like the pass interference problems we have encountered against Big South teams.

[SmallTownTerrier]

Not so fast my friend on all the Barney creds... This time last year they played Sparty to the wire, then about beat the Belhops down on the water... Ended up 3-8... They got a way to go... Emotionally charged rival game with an L deflates Barney... 4 wins I would think... Not too impressive in my eyes.

[Ruckus]

Lots going on in the FU locker room last year e.g. Coaches v players, coaches v coaches. Different year, different coaches, different team. I think they will surprise some folks if they stay healthy.
Really like their schemes and effort.
In that respect, we better stop reading our own headlines and start playing at a higher level.

[gofurman]

I,like posting here as most of you guys hate FU but are objective and good guys. Several of you have sent me some nice Private messages etc. my wife went to Wofford

I will call my team out. I am objective. And yet I am Not sure I agree w two posts up (small town terrier) that we win only 4 games this year at FU. I'll come back to check that at year end. I think that's hating a little bit. LOL. I bet we get 5 or 6 wins ... And I think that despite inheriting a 3-8 team. A THREE win team. New coach. his new system. New DC. "Wrong players". Switching from a 4-3 to a 3-4. If we go from 3 wins to 5 wins that's really Impressive considering...

FYI, not a big deal but someone above had it backwards. Not a big deal but you usually play for 2/win on road (plus we were gassed, you have more depth)... Play for OT at home as your crowd helps you etc

. I am super excited for my FU team long term. And that's been a while. And Again , good win. Really. Good luck to you guys !.

[Eyes of Old Main]

I bet we get 5 or 6 wins ...

I bet you do, too. I think a winning record is within reach for Furman if they stay healthy and continue to improve in the new systems. A strong Furman program is good for the SoCon and good for Wofford so I, for one, welcome the new commitment and direction for the Paladins and the renewed challenge all that poses for Wofford in the future.

[youngterrier]

I'm confident Furman will beat (at the least) Elon, VMI, ETSU. They'll be competitive and could beat Colgate, Western, and Mercer. They'll be competitive (at the least) with Samford, Citadel, and Chatt.

They'll win at least 5 games. My money is on 6. If they win 7, pending on who they beat they could be a bubble team for the playoffs (which I don't like, because I would rather not play conference opponents in early rounds of the playoffs)

[fgs44]

Furman fans are rightly proud of their efforts and execution, especially of their young players, and I think they have a bright future ahead. They sure played the conference favorite right down to the last few seconds. I am sure their locker room was in gloom. I also think their coaches are using the game as a teaching moment, and I am not going to be surprised if they do very well for the rest of the season.
I also think that we had a wonderful opportunity to watch our team overcome adversity, and grow again in front of our eyes. That kind of resilience at the end is a opportunity to build confidence, and in my opinion will build momentum when we face adversity in the future. I think yesterday was a great experience for both teams. If we think we are as good, as we think we are, then we will only get better--Just saying

[Terrier NH Dude]

Inside Terrier Football - Furman '17

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99VNGCU18Rs

[mudrat43]

Tell it like it is brother Ruckus! Tell it like it is!!

[19TERRIER19]

Perfect weekend of football for Wofford. Play your conference rival in game 1 with a whole new staff, completely new offense / defense. And to have some adversity hit us and we do what we always do and that's fight hard as hell and came away with a very important win. A conference win. And a win over our rival in a game we didn't play our best.

Perfect storm for Coach Ayers. This will be valuable film and lessons learned. Awesome opportunity for humble pie for our ballyhooed defense to regroup and focus on another stiff test out the gates. I think missing Big Mikel Horton in the interior of the defense changes our look IMO. Will be looking to get the bi Fella back on the field as soon as possible.

Also, thought the young backup center did a very good job by and large. We certainly miss Roo in the interior as well and I think that plays a large part in our consistency. But I loved our diversity and creativity on offense. We are so deep at the running back position. We have speed, agility, wiggle, we have some thumpers too, so we are very mutilple on offense. And I thought coach Lang called a very good game in regards to a better run / pass mix. We also blocked well for the passing game. And it was very refreshing seeing 3rd and longs being handled like normal 3rd and longs. Didn't reverse double flea flick not one time. Feels good to watch the team have real confidence in their ability to just move the ball in multiple ways. Will serve us well going forward.

End of the day. This is the BEST CASE SCENARIO for us. Played a hard fought conference rival, won the game, came away mostly free of injury, and got some great game
Film and teaching lessons that I'll pay major dividends in the long run. Very proud of our boys and their fight and will to win. It's not always gonna be aesthetically pretty.......but a W.....IS A W...and happens to be the 3rd in a row against Furman.

Looking forward to the MERCER GAME....a great opportunity to put the conference in a hole
And we can be up 2-0 early. Let's go get it!!!

[Ruckus]

+1

[youngterrier]

I agree, I liked the third down pass playcalling that wasn't double reverse flea flicker nonsense.

But I absolutely HATE when we pass on second and long. The only acceptable time to pass on that down is second and short IMO. Our second, third and fourth drive stalled because of those sort of play-calls IMO. We were consistently getting yardage running the ball.