It is a unique week 1 matchup, to be sure.Originally Posted by citdog
Wofford has the more talented team and will be the favorite.
Furman will come in with some unique advantages:
1. It is difficult to prepare for a week 1 opponent at any level, as there is some level off guessing and looking at old films. Furman's offensive staff is a compilation of a lot of different offensive philosophies, and there's no game film for the Wofford coaches to dissect (beyond piecing together tape from a number of different universities and a Tennessee High School).
2. Furman had a lot of turnover, but should return a potentially explosive offense with a good bit of speed. PJ Blazejowski is likely the starting signal caller. He's a veteran guy who has had a lot of success against Wofford. He started against them both in 2014 and 2015 and went a combined 29-38 for 520 yards and 5 touchdowns. Wofford, at least to this point, has had a lot of trouble stopping him.
3. Defensively, Furman has several coaches off a Charleston Southern staff that shut Wofford's offense down in the post season. Add to that virtually all of Furman's offensive coaches are veterans of option/run based offenses and can address where and how Wofford may try to make adjustments. Furman has a lot of unanswered questions on defense, but I don't think the Terriers will be surprising them.
4. There's a lot of time to prepare. Its a bizarre week 1 game, but Furman has the advantage of taking as much time as they want to prepare for Wofford. One of the great advantages of an option offense is that it is difficult to prepare for during the season. Seems that advantage is mitigated some when your opponent has ample opportunity to get ready for you.
No question, Wofford will be favored at home. If I were a Terrier fan, there are a lot of other teams I'd rather see out of the gate in week 1 than a new-look Furman team.
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