Better Reconsider Furman

[SU DOG]

The Paladins have looked absolutely amazing tonight against Michigan State. It is 21-6 MSU with FU driving to start the 4th quarter. This Furman team looks to be for real. xnodx

[SU DOG]

TOUCHDOWN Paladins!!!!!

[Go Lehigh TU owl]

Furman with a pick!!

[Go Lehigh TU owl]

...and Michigan State takes it right back!

[PaladinFan]

I'm not sure there's many teams in the country that would be displeased down 8 on the road to Michigan State, much less an FCS team.

Looks like the Furman defense is serious this season. Playing without our starting CB too.

[GoldandBlack]

Kudos to the Paladins' performance in East Lansing.

There must be some livid MSU fans right now.

[PaladinFan]

Kudos to the Paladins' performance in East Lansing.

There must be some livid MSU fans right now.

I can imagine that is a bit tougher than they were hoping.

Good first effort for Furman. No small task against one of the better teams in the country. After being really bad against the run last season, held a good MSU running attack relatively in check. May bode well for next week against the Citadel.

[Bisonoline]

They fought the good fight.

[citdog]

furman sucks

[GoldandBlack]

furman sucks

Is there an echo in here?

[FUBeAR]

The title of this thread might better be "Better Reconsider the SoCon" - I'm now altering my prior assertion - not just 4; the SoCon should actually have FIVE teams in the Playoffs this Season!

* Furman showed tonight that they can compete with a Top FBS Team.
* Mercer showed last night that if The Citadel is ranked #15 (which is actually too low) in FCS, then the Bears are #16 (or higher).
* The Citadel beat the team that ought to be ranked #16 (or higher) - yeah, I know - Excel would give me a circular reference error message right now, but this ain't a spreadsheet :)
* Wofford demonstrated that they have the talent to overcome the loss of their starting QB and the resiliency to sustain unbelievable focus after the near-death of one of their Players on the sideline, DURING the game, by handily defeating a very-much improved TTU team. Ole Miss is on upset alert, IMO!
* Chatt did as expected+ vs. an inferior opponent - Last year they struggled in their victory over Mars Hill
* Samford destroyed the Mars Hill team which highly-ranked Chatt struggled with last year (see above)
* WCU may very well pull the next FCS over FBS upset of the season today in G'ville, NC (I got a recent 'tip' on that game).

Oh wait...that's 7 Teams....Sorry, you can only pick 5. Need to wait until 2017 for the SoCon to have 6 or 7 Teams selected. I'm OK with that.

[Bisonwinagn]

I think they should all get in and be seeded.

[FUBeAR]

I think they should all get in and be seeded.

Rep Points for you, sir!

[Schism55]

Haha totally man!

[PaladinFan]

Name to remember - Darius Morehead.

Furman started a true freshman at RB. 20 carries for 83 yards. Former track star in Tennessee, but looks like he may be a guy that is going to cause some sleepless nights for SoCon defensive coordinators. Outstanding effort against a really good defense.

[Smitty]

* WCU may very well pull the next FCS over FBS upset of the season today in G'ville, NC (I got a recent 'tip' on that game).


What kind of tip?

[walliver]

I think they should all get in and be seeded.

This would be a great way for the NCAA to get away from regionalization. Fly all the western and northern teams down south for the playoffs. Maybe they can give CSU a #1 seed ... It would be great to see 20,000 Bison fans fighting at the gate over a few hundred tickets.

Seriously, I doubt many of us old-timers had written Furman off. Every SoCon team, other than VMI and ETSU, has a very good shot at the playoffs. Every team not named Mercer still controls its own destiny. Other than The Citadel vs. Mercer and Wofford vs TTU, all of the games this week have been David vs Goliath. Sometimes we're David, sometimes we're Goliath. I generally don't read too much into these games. The App State team that was undefeated in the Big10 lost two SoCon games.xthumbsupx

[TribeNomad1]

Furman looked solid, did not get pushed around.

[UNIFanSince1983]

UNI almost beat #22 Iowa but for two blocked field goals at the end in 2009. We did not make the playoffs that year. So hard to say that a close game against a good FBS team really means you will have an awesome season. Great work by Furman, but in the end it is just another loss.

Right now we still know nothing about the SoCon. The only team that really proved anything was Furman. I mean Wofford did play an FCS OOC game, but TTU is normally really bad. El Cid and Mercer played each other. Both could be good or both could be bad we have no idea yet. Then UTC and Samford did what they should against D2 teams. Nothing surprising out of the SoCon yet, and I would not get too pumped about how great it could be this year quite yet. Need a little more competition against OOC FCS teams to determine.

[longtimemocfan]

UNI almost beat #22 Iowa but for two blocked field goals at the end in 2009. We did not make the playoffs that year. So hard to say that a close game against a good FBS team really means you will have an awesome season. Great work by Furman, but in the end it is just another loss.

Right now we still know nothing about the SoCon. The only team that really proved anything was Furman. I mean Wofford did play an FCS OOC game, but TTU is normally really bad. El Cid and Mercer played each other. Both could be good or both could be bad we have no idea yet. Then UTC and Samford did what they should against D2 teams. Nothing surprising out of the SoCon yet, and I would not get too pumped about how great it could be this year quite yet. Need a little more competition against OOC FCS teams to determine.

I tend to agree with you. You can't read into what a team does their first game of the year too much. Some teams take 2 to 3 games to gain their continuity with each other. A good example to take from is to see how the seasons of Tennessee and App State play out. Is Tennessee that bad and App that good ? Or was a combination of Tennessee over looking a very pumped up emotional App squad. We won't know until the next couple games are played.

[OL FU]

This would be a great way for the NCAA to get away from regionalization. Fly all the western and northern teams down south for the playoffs. Maybe they can give CSU a #1 seed ... It would be great to see 20,000 Bison fans fighting at the gate over a few hundred tickets.

Seriously, I doubt many of us old-timers had written Furman off. Every SoCon team, other than VMI and ETSU, has a very good shot at the playoffs. Every team not named Mercer still controls its own destiny. Other than The Citadel vs. Mercer and Wofford vs TTU, all of the games this week have been David vs Goliath. Sometimes we're David, sometimes we're Goliath. I generally don't read too much into these games. The App State team that was undefeated in the Big10 lost two SoCon games.xthumbsupx

I have kinda stayed away from football predictions, etc this year for two reasons. One work is busy as hell. In the apartment business and it is rocking. (thank you Federal Reserve for those low interest ratesxlolx). Second, I was not real optimistic about this year, not because I didn't think we could be good, but our recent history has not been positive. With that said, this game makes me much more optimistic. However, I never read too much into these games. As I stated on a different thread, the motivations of the two teams are extraordinarily different. I do think it shows that we have the potential to be better than the last two seasons by a lot. That doesn't mean being national power or winning the SoCon, etc. It means being better and, for now, I will take it with the hopes that I am being too cautious.

Next week will tell us a lot more.

[SU DOG]

While I would agree that this game is not a surety for Furman's success, there are a few things that I would be very happy about, if I were a FU fan. Blazejowski at times, had all day to throw, and was very cool running the show. You could also see some gaping holes opened up on the MSU D-line. The Furman O-line held its own nicely, and that group was a question mark. The emergence of a true Fr. RB who is fast and dynamic has to be a Paladin plus. Overall, I do think many question marks about their team were answered for Furman. Enough for me to place them way higher in the SoCon than what I had previously thought - NOT that I am at all happy about it.

[OL FU]

While I would agree that this game is not a surety for Furman's success, there are a few things that I would be very happy about, if I were a FU fan. Blazejowski at times, had all day to throw, and was very cool running the show. You could also see some gaping holes opened up on the MSU D-line. The Furman O-line held its own nicely, and that group was a question mark. The emergence of a true Fr. RB who is fast and dynamic has to be a Paladin plus. Overall, I do think many question marks about their team were answered for Furman. Enough for me to place them way higher in the SoCon than what I had previously thought - NOT that I am at all happy about it.

No disagreement at all. and thanks.


Glad you are not happy about it:p:)

[PantherRob82]

UNI almost beat #22 Iowa but for two blocked field goals at the end in 2009. We did not make the playoffs that year. So hard to say that a close game against a good FBS team really means you will have an awesome season. Great work by Furman, but in the end it is just another loss.


Part of that was that it seemed like they never recovered mentally from that game.

[AshevilleApp2]

I tend to agree with you. You can't read into what a team does their first game of the year too much. Some teams take 2 to 3 games to gain their continuity with each other. A good example to take from is to see how the seasons of Tennessee and App State play out. Is Tennessee that bad and App that good ? Or was a combination of Tennessee over looking a very pumped up emotional App squad. We won't know until the next couple games are played.

I agree completely, and sometimes schedule plays a part in how a team fares as well. This is the first year App is playing an entirely FBS schedule. We could be a better team and have a worse record than last year. A big one will be Miami (ACC) in Boone in a couple of weeks.

Back to FCS folks!

[AshevilleApp2]

And I should also say congratulations to Furman on playing a hell of a game against MSU!

[catamount man]

Kudos to the Paladins on a good showing. Looks like a sleeping giant may be slowing waking back up. Egads! LOL! GO CATS!

[FUBeAR]

I agree completely, and sometimes schedule plays a part in how a team fares as well. This is the first year App is playing an entirely FBS schedule. We could be a better team and have a worse record than last year. A big one will be Miami (ACC) in Boone in a couple of weeks.

Back to FCS folks!

3 sentences of purely FBS (Semi-Pro) drivel in an FCS Discussion Thread. I believe Ursus has implemented some sort of Fine Structure for such heinous aberrations!

[AshevilleApp2]

3 sentences of purely FBS (Semi-Pro) drivel in an FCS Discussion Thread. I believe Ursus has implemented some sort of Fine Structure for such heinous aberrations!

Responding to a post dealing almost totally with the futures of two FBS teams this year. So blow me, for lack of a better word.

[citdog]

I reconsidered furman and again came to the conclusion that

furman sucks

[KPSUL]

UNI almost beat #22 Iowa but for two blocked field goals at the end in 2009. We did not make the playoffs that year. So hard to say that a close game against a good FBS team really means you will have an awesome season. Great work by Furman, but in the end it is just another loss.

Right now we still know nothing about the SoCon. The only team that really proved anything was Furman. I mean Wofford did play an FCS OOC game, but TTU is normally really bad. El Cid and Mercer played each other. Both could be good or both could be bad we have no idea yet. Then UTC and Samford did what they should against D2 teams. Nothing surprising out of the SoCon yet, and I would not get too pumped about how great it could be this year quite yet. Need a little more competition against OOC FCS teams to determine.

We just had the same discussion on the CAA Pick-em thread. In 2010 JMU beat #13 Ranked FBS Virginia Tech and then proceeded to lose 5 conference games and didn't make the playoffs. (Too bad they didn't play in the 2016 SOCON, they would have made it anyway)

- -

[PaladinFan]

We just had the same discussion on the CAA Pick-em thread. In 2010 JMU beat #13 Ranked FBS Virginia Tech and then proceeded to lose 5 conference games and didn't make the playoffs. (Too bad they didn't play in the 2016 SOCON, they would have made it anyway)

- -

Last year Furman lit up the scoreboard against Coastal Carolina and then proceeded to have an abysmal offensive season. Loss is still a loss, even if it is against the Big 10 champs.

One game doesn't mean much. I've said before and will say again that Furman has plenty of talented players. They've struggled with consistency, particularly on offense. Improving consistency has been a focus all preseason. If they get better play out of the offensive line, stop committing stupid errors, and play four quarters of football, I think we could be pretty good.

Now, if Furman goes on the road and puts it on the Citadel in Charleston, it'll be hard to ignore them.

[FUwolfpacker]

While I was encouraged by last night, based on the last few years I'll need to see it consistently. As previously mentioned, we looked great against Coastal last year but that didn't carry over for the rest of the season. Hope to see that same effort against The Citadel. If so, we'll have a shot to win. However, I certainly don't take anything for granted with Furman anymore. I am more encouraged today though than I was before the game yesterday. Would certainly be nice to be competitive week in and week out again. Hopefully this year is the year.

[PaladinNation]

While I was encouraged by last night, based on the last few years I'll need to see it consistently. As previously mentioned, we looked great against Coastal last year but that didn't carry over for the rest of the season. Hope to see that same effort against The Citadel. If so, we'll have a shot to win. However, I certainly don't take anything for granted with Furman anymore. I am more encouraged today though than I was before the game yesterday. Would certainly be nice to be competitive week in and week out again. Hopefully this year is the year.

I'm also in the wait and see camp… but… after one game several things give me hope.

Players didn't give up after getting down 14-0 and 21-6.

Furman more than held its own in the trenches.
The offensive line play is improved and that includes a true freshman at left tackle.

I love Reese Hannon but the keys to this season's offense belong to Blaze.
We have a long missing piece… a dynamic running back, say hello to Darius Morehead.
Furman got excellent tight end play, kudos on some big blocks to Mall.

Lastly, Trey Robinson and Carl Rider are finally healthy and IMO are very underrated.