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Post by wcugrad95 on Oct 21, 2023 20:39:39 GMT -5
Furman is a very good football team - they have been solid on defense against pretty much everybody, with their weakest part being giving up deep passes. When you can’t run the ball they are going to get pressure by pinning their ears back and having their DBs just keeping our WRs underneath. We had to nickle-and-dime them to gain yards and we couldn’t stop them running it.
No Reid and down a starter on the line is a big deal. Think about Furman playing the game without Roberto and one of their starters. Losing to the #4 team in the country is disappointing given how hyped we were, but should not be something that makes us think the season is over.
FWIW several other ranked teams lost that will help us stay relatively highly ranked (William & Mary, North Dakota, Harvard, and Holy Cross all lost).
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Post by The Cats on Oct 21, 2023 20:40:15 GMT -5
What a different football world we live in from as few as 3 years ago. We are hosting the #4 team in the country and most people even outside of Western’s own fan base think we have every chance to win this game. Even with a loss I’d say we remain in the 10-15 range for many polls. Win the game and we probably vault into the top-5 with a chance at a high playoff seed. Regardless of the outcome today, these are totally different Cats from what the last nearly 40 years have shown. I agree the cautious optimism is the route to take. I felt the same way going into the UTC game because we had seen that movie several times before - a good team who got beat badly by really good teams. This feels a lot different. In my opinion, Bell just kissed off his chance of winning a SoCon Championship this season. When you have two weeks to prepare for Furman & played as poorly as we did, that is coaching. Adam played hard but he is no Reid. Our highly hyped Offensive Line could not keep Furman’s Defensive Line off of Cole. He was pressured the entire game with linebackers stunting against our line. We have only played two good teams in the SoCon & we gave up a total of 79 points. There is no doubt you could be right, and our fate is no longer solely in our hands. We will need help, Chattanooga's help (by beating Furman) to remain in the race for a share of the championship, IF we win out. However, if we win out, we will get an at-large bid to the playoffs, regardless of how the race for the championship turns out. |
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Post by The Cats on Oct 21, 2023 20:57:55 GMT -5
I'll admit that Furman is much better than I thought they were coming into this game. It amazes me how they have the nack, to just do enough, to just win the games. They've crushed no one, but have won every FCS regular season game for the last couple of seasons.
I don't like them any more than I did before today's game, as a matter of fact, I dislike them even more, but you've got to respect what they are doing and how they do it...
I'd love to take them out in the playoffs...
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Post by wcugrad95 on Oct 21, 2023 21:08:46 GMT -5
Agree Jerry - some must have thought we would just walk all over them. They do what they do very well, and are on quite a run against FCS teams. Thinking we are awful and Furman didn’t cause most of that seems a bit naive.
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Post by The Cats on Oct 21, 2023 22:53:07 GMT -5
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Post by wcu77 on Oct 22, 2023 7:18:05 GMT -5
In my opinion, Bell just kissed off his chance of winning a SoCon Championship this season. When you have two weeks to prepare for Furman & played as poorly as we did, that is coaching. Adam played hard but he is no Reid. Our highly hyped Offensive Line could not keep Furman’s Defensive Line off of Cole. He was pressured the entire game with linebackers stunting against our line. We have only played two good teams in the SoCon & we gave up a total of 79 points. Yep Yes, having two weeks to prepare and then playing poorly is very troubling and falls squarely on Bell and the staff for not having them better prepared. Furman exposed the weaknesses on defense and offense and there is a lot of work to be done before Mercer, who has always given us problems, and the rest of the season. I hope they were not letting success go to their heads and will use this loss as motivation to work harder and improve(both coaches and players). |
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Post by troy on Oct 22, 2023 9:06:10 GMT -5
Reid only playing a few plays totally changed the outcome of this game. I know its not safe to rely on one star player but I feel that could have been a completely different match if he was healthy.
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Post by wcatradio75 on Oct 22, 2023 9:20:03 GMT -5
I had a bad feeling about this game, but I didn't want to say anything. A LOT of pressure, and as several pointed out earlier in the week, a few key injuries. Ugh. Go Cats. Big game this coming week with HOMECOMING and Mercer. Let's bounce back in a big way!
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Post by wcatradio75 on Oct 22, 2023 9:27:02 GMT -5
What a different football world we live in from as few as 3 years ago. We are hosting the #4 team in the country and most people even outside of Western’s own fan base think we have every chance to win this game. Even with a loss I’d say we remain in the 10-15 range for many polls. Win the game and we probably vault into the top-5 with a chance at a high playoff seed. Regardless of the outcome today, these are totally different Cats from what the last nearly 40 years have shown. I agree the cautious optimism is the route to take. I felt the same way going into the UTC game because we had seen that movie several times before - a good team who got beat badly by really good teams. This feels a lot different. In my opinion, Bell just kissed off his chance of winning a SoCon Championship this season. When you have two weeks to prepare for Furman & played as poorly as we did, that is coaching. Adam played hard but he is no Reid. Our highly hyped Offensive Line could not keep Furman’s Defensive Line off of Cole. He was pressured the entire game with linebackers stunting against our line. We have only played two good teams in the SoCon & we gave up a total of 79 points. Sorry I didn't see you yesterday. I'll come by your seat on Nov 11. We had 2 key linemen out yesterday, so we need more depth at that position. Adams did pretty well, but Furman had 334 yards rushing to our 84 yards. That really hurt even though our passing was pretty good. Loss of linemen also meant we had sacks and interceptions that we haven't had since Arkansas. |
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Post by cbyland on Oct 22, 2023 10:27:01 GMT -5
Yes, having two weeks to prepare and then playing poorly is very troubling and falls squarely on Bell and the staff for not having them better prepared. Furman exposed the weaknesses on defense and offense and there is a lot of work to be done before Mercer, who has always given us problems, and the rest of the season. I hope they were not letting success go to their heads and will use this loss as motivation to work harder and improve(both coaches and players). The Cats didnt play their best but we still had a chance until late in the 4th quarter without Reid. So, I am not placing total blame on the coaching staff (there are things they probably wished they did better) and a few in game calls they wished they had back but the truth is Furman is as good as their ranking (what 3 or 4) depending on the poll. They are a well oiled veteran team. Next year and definitely in 2 years we will be in that position and I think as long as this team stays mostly intact as well as the coaches, we will be the next dominate team. It is coming I feel it. This year I am happy as long as we make the playoffs and next week will determine how resilient this team is. |
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