by youngterrier on Sun Oct 29, 2017 10:38 am
Furman has a really really good offense. They don't make many mistakes. PJ Blazejowski IMO is the biggest reason they are successful and I think they will see a sophomore slump next year when he graduates. Their defense is okay and definitely benefited from the weather and Adams injury yesterday.
But their defense reminds me a lot of the Wofford defenses when we were much more high scoring. They're opportunistic and make big plays (sacks, turnovers), but they get grinded for yardage regularly. They have the worst pass defense in the Socon right now, and they haven't played Samford yet. The one thing that Samford has proven to be able to do is beat teams that run wing-t style play this year (us, Kennesaw, Citadel) and the Citadel is still a quality team.
The key to beating Furman is playing good defense and above average offense, and to be honest I don't think anyone outside of Mercer and us was able to do that to the Dins, and even we are suspect. Western leaned heavily on their run defense but let up 4 yards a carry going into the Furman game. I don't think the Citadel has the offense to run with the paladins (and with Furman having a week to prepare for them I think it's less likely), but I would watch the Samford-Furman game closely.
The key to beating Samford is having an unintimidating offense and a run defense that's kind of weak, making Hatcher want to run the ball more. Furman is the opposite and they'll force Hatcher and Hodges to throw the ball 50 or 60 times against a vulnerable furman secondary.
Study hard, Work Hard, Party Hard, Go Terriers!