Steel sharpens steel. It's a problem in practice when both sides of the ball are average at best. There's no real gauge for development and adjustment until you face an opponent.
We better not look past Furman.
- Thread starter Southern Fried Chicken
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Steel sharpens steel. It's a problem in practice when both sides of the ball are average at best. There's no real gauge for development and adjustment until you face an opponent.
Just don't see how this is a trap game. That happens when you're on a winning streak. We're looking for our 1st win of the season and we're playing at home.
I believe we're going to unload our frustration of last weekend directly on Furman. We should be able to block them and Rattler & Co will have a day to shine.
If Juice Wells is not going to play again, who are we going to throw the ball to? Doty? Legette was great, but that was the best game of his time in a Gamecock uniform. Expecting a repeat of that? We expecting to go out and win with that. Who is going to run the ball? Non-existent OL. No pass rush. We just need a win whether it be 10-7 or 70-7. I don't think we are good enough right now to be talking about unleashing frustration on anyone.
Im saying we are a 3-4 win team. We have bad OL, DL, and literally no RB. The infamous injury bugs that apparently swarm Columbia SC are back.
Top 10 FCS teams truly arent much different than mid level/lower level FBS. This could be a dogfight
Everyone knows Furman lost to Clemson. I don't think anyone needed me (or you) explaining the obvious or the box score. LOL.
Furman also played a lot of their backups in that game last year in the 2nd half. Even still, they muddied up the game in the 2nd half and held them to 7 points. Not bad- - and as I said, they won't be intimidated (or impressed) coming to Williams Brice.
and they are more experienced this year.
On 2 different radio stations today, more than one Gamecock fan called in suggesting the Furman game came at a great time and should give us a good chance to run up some points. In both cases, other callers mentioned it seemed like some fans were overlooking them.
Just feels like Rattler is too talented for us not to at least get to 6 wins.
But we may be in serious trouble next year.
Way too early to know what type of team this is this year.
I fully expect this will be a different team in 3-4 weeks than it is today. Whether that is good or bad remains to be seen.
I think there are some pretty obvious holes on this team including a lack of quality depth at some key positions. If we are unable to cover that up, it could be a pretty rough year. But, we very well might be able to cover up for some of it depending on who steps up, who is able to return from current injury, etc.
I fully expect this will be a different team in 3-4 weeks than it is today. Whether that is good or bad remains to be seen.
I think there are some pretty obvious holes on this team including a lack of quality depth at some key positions. If we are unable to cover that up, it could be a pretty rough year. But, we very well might be able to cover up for some of it depending on who steps up, who is able to return from current injury, etc.
If Furman played their 2nd team in the 2nd half, it's because they knew the game was over after 30 minutes.
Make a prediction then Dave. Are you going with the Paladins?
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I'd have more concerns this week if we were playing a weaker P5 school. IMO, we're going to big brother Furman this week with our size. The OL will be able to block. Our finesse backs will be able to run. Our receivers will be able to create separation. And our defense will contain them. Unlike last weekend, we'll look like we know what we're doing. USC - 45 Furman - 20.
Size, maybe, but Furmans DEs are all
270ish, DTs 280-290, their OL are all in the 290-300 range. 335 vs 260 is a size difference that’s relevant. We wont be much bigger than them. It appears our DL is basically the same size as theirs. Our OL is a little heavier than theirs at OT but not by much.
We will need to stop their RB Dominic Roberto, a 230 lb star, on the Walter Payton Award watch list, 1st team All SoCon, and a 2024 NFL Draft prospect. His draft ranking is higher than all our RBs.
nfldraftdiamonds.com
2024 NFL Draft Prospect Interview: Dominic Roberto, RB, Furman University
Dominic Roberto the star running back from Furman University recently sat down with Evan Willsmore of NFL Draft Diamonds.
nfldraftdiamonds.com
Also an issue along with that star RB….their transfer QB last year set a Furman QB school record for rushing, over 800 yards, and threw for 2200 yds and 15 TDs, and is/was 2nd team All SoCon. So a dual threat. And we know how we do vs dual threat QBs.
We'll see what happens. We lost to a Top 20 team last week and had opportunities throughout the game to change the outcome.
Furman is a very good team within their division. However, there's layers to the game and the competition you play matters a lot. If we were playing Vandy, it would give me more pause.
I just see us firing on all cylinders this week in our 1st game at home. Might be one of the few times it happens this year.
Thats true. UNC might end up being a top 10 team. The next 3 weeks will tell the truth, we play a great FCS team that we should beat, the #1 team UGA, and a mid tier SEC Miss St that should be a toss up.
But Vandy….man they got smoked 23-3 last year by a team in the same conference as Furman, vs East Tennessee. Furman would probably beat Vandy right now. There are indeed layers but sometimes the layers overlap.
**Actually Sagarin, pretty reliable, has Vandy ranked 109, Furman ranked 120. So they are very close
Muschamp looked really good after two seasons. Season three, he lost to a UNC team we should have beat. Things kept getting worse from that point on.
I see a big difference in mentality between Beamer and Muschamp on gameday. Beamer wants to win the game and has the team playing aggressively win or lose. Muschamp was hyper-focused on his chess moves in an attempt not to lose.
You when watch Beamer in post-game press conferences, you can feel the pain of the loss. It was palpable after UNC.
Muschamp never had this vibe. He was most interested in maintaining his paycheck. He came across like CEO of a corporation that wasn't being managed very well.
You're definitely confusing his hatred of being held accountable with an aversion to losing.
Muschamp hated losing. Beamer hates being criticized.
Could be. Let's leave the discussion to the field then. Beamer takes chances Muschamp would never consider.
We had a pretty good season last year because of managed risk taking vs. managing a clock.
I would be very surprised if that happened. Broken assignments and -2 yards total rushing for a game are all the coaches are thinking about this week. I expect to see significant changes.
If for some reason that does happen, I would expect to see those finesse RBs in the flat creating opportunities with our speed and strength advantage.
I hope so but are we faster for sure? And missed assignments are one thing, but UNCs DL was just physically ripping through double teams. I mean 90% of NFL D linemen wouldn’t just rip thru a double team by starting SEC linemen.
Maybe I'm wrong. Just believe we're overthinking this one. If we had this Furman team sandwiched between UF and CU at the end of an average or below average season, I would be worried about player motivation and looking forward to the Palmetto Bowl.
The odds of us losing to a Furman team searching for our 1st win of the season at home is another story. I can't imagine anyone is focused on playing UGA at Sanford next week. They are concerned with winning this game and not starting the season 0-3.
Right now Muschamp is a game ahead of Beamer in the standings. Let's see how that shakes out.
Player development was a real thing under Spurrier. Muschamp inherited most of the talent he rode in those first two seasons - Deebo, Moore, Allen-Williams, Holloman, King, Lammons, Lewis, etc.
Furman has always seemed better coached and More disciplined, Scary game after that Saturday debacle..
I just can't go there.
It's likely every starting player on the field for Furman this weekend would have chewed their left arm off to play for a P5 team - especially one in the SEC.
Furman plays one or two P5 teams each season. As far as I can see, they haven't won a single game against those teams this century.
We lost to a ranked team last week and were in the game in the 4th quarter even though we had absolutely no blocking or run game.
This isn't baseball where you can run into a shutdown pitcher in the zone.
This isn't basketball where you can run into a hot shooting team in the zone.
Football has too many moving parts and too many players. The law of averages typically prevails over 60 minutes regardless if a single player or two is lighting it up.
When P5 teams lose to a Furman or Citadel, it's typically because there are off-the-field issues and/or players have given up on the team.
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I played FCS and what I saw was most FCS guys were late bloomers, or could have played FBS if not for grades/family situations, as well as others who just fell through the cracks for various reasons (played unnatural positions in HS, injuries in HS, etc) and all these types get to FCS, make friends, get a girlfriend, start their degree and instead of trying to transfer up they stay. Not saying most would’ve transferred in and made it, but many would, look at last year with Atkins and Juice. The best DE in America is Vearse at FSU, he was an FCS transfer (late bloomer, 210 lbs in HS).
The gap isnt as big as people think. The 85 vs 63 scholarship makes depth an issue. And if every FBS player is say 5% better, over 22 starters that starts making a difference. Its not like playing a D3 or NAIA team, FCS is still D1 and the top 10-20 ranked ones are on par with FBS teams
Hopefully it wont matter Saturday
We want to win and win by a lot.
I think some (not all) people are talking up furman so that a win Saturday looks more impressive than it really is. Or they think we are that bad, and want excuses for a close win.
Heck, maybe some really believe it.
Now I'm confused too.
I heard of a guy named Harbor being a freak athlete….. might want to accelerate his development. Xavier, him, Brown and Knox could be really good. Barring injury, X is going to be a beast this year. Is Juice possibly out for the year?
Good info. I have no doubt they'll have better players at certain positions. I just believe it will be a "sum is greater than its parts" scenario over the 60 minutes. If you keep multiplying 5% together, it adds up.
Furman has been very competitive in their division. Yet, they are approximately 0-30 versus the P5 schools over the same time period.
The idea that we would lose to them after our performances against these Top 20/10 schools over the past few games just seems like a reach. We have lost some talent from last season. However, there were silver linings in last week's performance and we stayed in the game for the most part. Losing to Furman on Saturday would be a setback of epic proportion, IMO - especially given it's the second game of the season and at home.
We stayed in the game, but I just don't think UNC is that good. Good QB, but I didn't see much else that I didn't see in a team like Georgia Tech. I think Duke is more physical than them and could definitely see them beating UNC. I hope we turn it around. However, we looked awfully thin with Lloyd and Bell no longer around, the loss of several Offensive Linemen, and Juice Wells not playing. Just goes to saw what a team can be reduced to with some injuries, some key losses, and defections.
You are definitely right. My son is playing Corner at a D2 right now and he played against several D1 commitments at receiver last year and locked them down. He is 6'0", 160 lbs. and runs a 4.5 and I tell him all the time that those kids are not better than you. They are just more physically developed right now and you didn't run fast enough to make them overlook the 160 lbs.
