Quote Originally Posted by SU DOG View Post
This is a game that is so hard to figure. The contrasting styles make it even more interesting IMO. I posted on our Bulldogs Board that Furman actually reminds me of Bama in their offensive scheme. NO, before somebody goes ballistic, I'm not comparing the 2 teams just the offensive schemes. Think about it, Big powerful RBs who can take it to the house, a mobile QB who can hurt you running or passing and makes good decisions, speed for the occasional option or sweep pitch, vertical pass after lulling you to sleep, and a big TE who you better not forget about. A DC's nightmare for sure. I make no comparisons on the other side of the ball.

Samford on the other hand also presents a DC with a huge challenge. Hodges has such a quick release that a good pass rush still has a problem getting to him. Furman often plays off and attacks after the catch. This works well against the WRs of most teams. Trouble there is that Samford's WRs are extremely athletic and can often make those DBs miss the tackle in the open field. The Samford running game is pretty pathetic, but can't completely be ignored. The short passes to RBs are actually an extended rushing game.

IMO. the BIG weapon for Samford might just be the Samford defense. That unit is playing at a VERY different level now than earlier in the year. They are big, long, fast, and athletic, and with due respect to any other SoCon team, they may just be the BEST in the conference at this time. A big challenge lies ahead in trying to stop those big Furman RBs who will be the best we have seen since Georgia. If Furman can get 3+ per run there, we are probably done. In watching this front 7, however, I'm optimistic that they can do enough to at least slow down that powerful threat.

There are plenty of folks on AGS wo will disagree, but I have watched FCS games from across the country. These two teams - Furman and Samford, IMO, can compete with most all of them. I did not say that either is a NC contender, but they look like teams that can be really competitive. I wish both could go to Playoffs, but realize that probably won't happen.

Prayers for a SAFE trip to all who will be traveling to Homewood, and GO DOGS!!!!!

I think it is 100% fair to compare Furman, at least in terms their *style of play* to Alabama and Georgia this year. At least on offense. Defensively, they aren't quite there yet. All three of those teams use the run game to set up the pass game. They limit possessions and are very efficient on those possessions. Blazejowski is clutch and should be first team all Socon IMO.

When I say we're going to figure out this weekend whether or not Furman is Bama or UGA, I mean we're going to figure out how good Furman performs against a team with its **** together. In UGA's case, they pulverized teams that didn't have their **** together and who couldn't stop their run game, but got kind of flattened by a good team that had it together in Auburn. Meanwhile, the tide is still rolling.

No one worth talking to thinks Furman doesn't have the best offense in the Socon this year, based upon consistency and efficiency. Having said that, Chattanooga, VMI, Citadel and ETSU are not teams that had their **** together on both sides of the ball, while relatively speaking Mercer, Wofford, Western and Samford are. In assessing Furman, I personally put more stock in how they beat Mercer and played Wofford more than anything (and I wish there weren't so many problems with the Western game with the Adams injury and weather) because those are going to be how the playoffs are going to be, not pulverizing teams that can't score 20 consistently (VMI, Citadel, Chattanooga) or who have piss-poor defense (ETSU and Western). There's lots of signs that Furman's not just a team to run it up on so-so competition (look at the Mercer, Wofford, Western and Elon games), but this game is testing the hypothesis most conclusively with no ifs and or buts.

And I'm not saying that to take away from Furman. Every year, it takes until the last week or two of the season to assess the second or third place team in the Socon. I think if the playoffs were perfect meritocracy, Furman would be in the playoffs regardless of the outcome of this weekend. But that's just not how this system works. Wofford hasn't made the playoffs at 7-4 and on years where we were 7-3 or even 8-2 going into the final week (which is basically all of our playoff appearances), the general assessment was "win and you're in, lose and probably not. Furman's in the same position. We know Furman is a good team (as is Samford), but the nature of the game is that if you lose this game, you feed all of the criticisms against your resume.