Furman??

[GreatAppSt]

How many players did FU lose to graduation? And how many more graduated and are not returning to play their remaing eligability? I feel a bubble may burst this season Ingle or not. Come on FU'ers inquiring minds want to know?

[Ronbo]

How many players did FU lose to graduation? And how many more graduated and are not returning to play their remaing eligability? I feel a bubble may burst this season Ingle or not. Come on FU'ers inquiring minds want to know?

Don't know about lettermen not returning for their Senior year but Furman has 11 returning starters and 50 returning lettermen. That's good depth of experience back but quite a few starters lost.

[fuEMO]

I don't think any bubble will burst and I have never thought of APP, FU, GSU as bubble teams.

You have to remember that due to injuries in 04 Furman played alot of freshmen, first year and red-shirt. And Furman has 13 starters returning not 11, 6 on offense and 6 on defense.

Every team has trouble spots and Furman has a few, the D-Line will be larger and more athletic but inexperienced and depth will have to come from a couple of highly touted incoming freshmen. The other spot is wide receiver but this will be deceptive. Ike and Bratton are gone but Stepp, Brigham, Stone, Sprague and McKie and SFA transfer Inman will provide a diverse group of targets for Ingle. IMO surprises will be Inman, Brigham and Stepp. A big surprise could be incoming freshman RJ Webb that want him to redshirt but he has the potential to shakeup the WR depth chart.

FU will be strong at Linebacker, OL, DB, RB and QB. I just don't see this as a down year. This OL will be the best in recent years and a balanced offense will mean trouble for defenses as the young DL gets it legs.

[OL FU]

Sorry GreatAppSt, you had better wait for another year. I agree with what has been said plus that young defense has 2 returning All-Americans on it. Entire offensive backfield returns.

[GreatAppSt]

Only six returning on offense and six on defense? How most polls pick FU #2 I'll never understand.

[Ronbo]

Oh sorry, I went to the Furman web site and it said 11 starters lost and I assumed that was from the 22 offense/defense.

If we count kickers then Montana has 15 starters back. 5 Offense/8 Defense/2 Kickers.

[eaglefan452]

Only six returning on offense and six on defense? How most polls pick FU #2 I'll never understand.

I guess sometimes it all depends on who the 6 on each side are that return.

[WCU LawCat]

One thing about Furman is that when the recruiting classes are announced you can pretty much count on them being on campus. Fuman does not lose recruits usually. Its easier to see them being able to reload. An already good backfield returns everyone. A strong defense only has one question mark. Furman always has a handful of Wr's that can step in to take over. If the pass game fails they can always count on the Run game to be pretty good and the defense to win the game.

[GreatAppSt]

I'm still not buying the hype. :)

[veritech137]

Last year, Furman had 7 different players earn SoCon player-of-the-week honors who will play again this year. And in addition to those 7, they also have the Freshman of the year, Thacker, returning.

[GreatAppSt]

Yeah, it always seemed the smaller the school and the closer you are to Spartanburg the POTW awards multiplied. Wofford had a pile of player awards from the home SoCon office last season. Look what it got em. Oh wait Danny's not the Sheriff anymore. :rolleyes:

[OL FU]

Seems pretty clear that this thread was not intended for an understanding of the "Hype".

[veritech137]

Yeah, it always seemed the smaller the school and the closer you are to Spartanburg the POTW awards multiplied. Wofford had a pile of player awards from the home SoCon office last season. Look what it got em. Oh wait Danny's not the Sheriff anymore. :rolleyes:

A pile? Wofford only had 3 POW awards TOTAL last season. App State had 7 TOTAL, and 5 of em were between Richie and Davon. I guess Boone relocated to Gaffney, SC and App reduced enrollment by 15,000 by your reasoning.

[GreatAppSt]

Seems pretty clear that this thread was not intended for an understanding of the "Hype".


As always time will tell.

[GreatAppSt]

A pile? Wofford only had 3 POW awards TOTAL last season. App State had 7 TOTAL, and 5 of em were between Richie and Davon. I guess Boone relocated to Gaffney, SC and App reduced enrollment by 15,000 by your reasoning.

Point is there should have been zero for Woffie. I remember laughing with a potw award after they beat VMI 19-18 :rolleyes:

[Eagle_77]

I saw the title of this thread and got excited to get a better insight into a great Furman team. I have now learned that this is a useless post. This post should have been started on the smack board.

[FU97]

xlolx Maybe:
STARTERS RETURNING: 13
Offense (6): Patrick Covington (OG), Jerome Felton (FB), Brian Laggis (OG), Ingle Martin (QB), Brandon Mays (TB), Corey Stewart (C).
2004 Rushing Offense: ............................................... 226.2 (3/15)
2004 Passing Offense: ................................................ 228.8 (2/35)
2004 Passing Efficiency Offense: ................................. 151.9 (3/8)
2004 Total Offense: .................................................. .... 454.9 (2/7)
2004 Scoring Offense: .................................................. 34.5 (2/15)
Defense (6): Wesley Bray (DT), Maurice Duncan (CB), William Freeman (LB), Gary Nelson (LB), Roy Ravenell (DE), Andrew Thacker (SS).
2004 Rushing Defense: .............................................. 134.5 (3/35)
2004 Passing Defense: ............................................... 199.7 (5/60)
2004 Passing Efficiency Defense: ............................ 115.80 (2/45)
2004 Total Defense: .................................................. .. 334.2 (4/44)
2004 Scoring Defense .................................................. .. 16.6 (1/8)
(Southern Conference Rank/National Rank)
Specialists (1): Scott Beckler (PK).

LETTERMEN RETURNING: 50
REDSHIRTS, TRANSFERS, WALK-ONS: 21

Its not just Mays that returns in the backfield. We get our other top two RBs back as well in Gipson and Carter. At least one of the "new" starters on the OL has starting expereince as an injury replacement.

The biggest hole for Furman will be at DL. We have a great player in Ravenell back, but he'll be the most experience player. We will have to rely on some true and redshirt freshmen to play a lot there.

Also, while he wasn't the starter at the end of the year, our other safety Riley was a starter at the begining of the year. He got hurt vs Pitts and never made it back (other than a cameo vs UTC when he got hurt again). Blocker also filled in for 3-4 games at FS while Newton was out hurt after the Pitt game. Definitely have starter experience coming back at quite a few positions though they "official" starter isn't back.

[OL FU]

I saw the title of this thread and got excited to get a better insight into a great Furman team. I have now learned that this is a useless post. This post should have been started on the smack board.

Yep, my point exactly. Tell me the loss of West and Bratton reduces the long threat so that defenses can concentrate on the run and short pass. But don't tell me you don't believe the hype. I haven't really heard Furman people "hype" Furman. I think we will be good, but I too have questions until the ball is on the tee Sept 1.

[GreatAppSt]

I saw the title of this thread and got excited to get a better insight into a great Furman team. I have now learned that this is a useless post. This post should have been started on the smack board.

Not trying for smack at all. I was hoping for some insight myself. I realize that FU has a solid core returning but almost Half the team O and D are untested. Top ten okay, ranked in the elite at #2 Just raises my eyebrows IMHO.

[Eagle_77]

I don’t think it’s the fact of you questioning their ranking or hype its how you have gone about doing it. Give good reasons as to why you don’t buy into the ranking. As far as holes go I don’t know of one team in the nation that doesn’t have a hole to fill from last years teams. This is why I believe they deserve the ranking:

1. The players that are returning are great players. QB & RB's are very strong.

2. Furman has holes to fill on both OL and DL that just so happens to be were they are strong almost every year. When I think of Furman I think of consistent talent at DL, OL, and Linebacker.

3. Yes they lost some talent at WR but its not like they were going out and winning games with 350+ passing yards. This is a well balanced team that gets more out of their passing game by knowing when to pass more so than just going out and slinging the ball.

With all this being said I know what its like to go out on a limb and say you don’t believe they are what everyone is making them out to be. Last year when Furman got Ingle Martin nearly everyone, even people outside of Furman, where basically giving Martin the Payton. I didn’t buy into that and posted on here that I didn’t and WHY. Its not that I didn’t buy into his talent it was that UF and FU are totally different programs at different levels and I didn’t feel he would come in and run away with it. Turns out I was right. He struggled a little in the beginning. This year however I believe he has to be one of the favorites going into the season because he has had time to adjust and we saw what he can do with a strong finish to last season.

So just tell us a little more as to why you dont buy into this team and we will have something to actually discuss and debate.

[OL FU]

Good Points Eagle 77, I thought I posted something similar but must have missed the submit button.

I think if GreatAppSt reads his responses then he will understand why it sounded like smack. and if that doesn't convince him, if Eagle 77 says its smacking those purple pansies then by god it's smack.

Now to the serious point, Furman is not without questions and some of them are critical to the success of the team. We have heard a lot of different suggestions. Me, I am concerned about pass coverage which of course plays into the hands of App. I do think we are basically the same team, plus or minus, as 2004 with respect to skill, albeit maybe in different places. I feel very comfortable with Furman rated somewhere in the 6-10 range. I actually voted Furman at 4. While I don't feel badly about the vote, I was anything but certain.

[EagleCrusade]

I have never known of a Furman team to be over-hyped, honestly.

[blueballs]

Furman will be very strong in 2005, will very likely be unbeaten heading into Statesboro in November, and will be a major national player. There isn't a team in the country that doesn't have some questions heading into the season. Furman has an established program with an established coach who I've been critical of but seems to be growing and improving.

Everybody seems to forget Furman was a missed chip shot kick from sending JMU home last year. They in most likelyhood should have won the NC. They also played through a ton of adversity last year and that adversity caused some kids to have to step up who will come through in a big way this year.

There is not much question in my mind that the winner of the GSU/FU game at Paulson in Nov. will be a national seed and SoCon champ.

[OL FU]

Everybody seems to forget Furman was a missed chip shot kick from sending JMU home last year. .

Or as Mr C. likes to remind me, a fumble on the one-yard line away from the same outcome.


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