Southern Conference 2021 Predictions and Power Rankings - Week 4

[BlackNGoldR3v0lut10n]

I was 5-2 after yesterday's games. Western showed some fight while Wofford, not so much. Conference play begins for a good chunk of the rest of the Southern Conference so, without further ado, my power rankings are as follows:

1) East Tennessee State - Still undefeated after swatting the Hornets
2) Samford - Starts out conference play with a win
3) Furman - got mauled by a pack of wolves
4) VMI - won a close one against a team that hasn't played in two years
5) NottaQuitta - damn near stuffed some Kenturkeys
6) Mercer - resting up for the Lamb Bowl coming up
7) A Citadel - finally gets their first win of the season
8) Wofford - got hammered at home
9) Western Carolina - something tells me they won't be winless for long

This Week's Games
Wofford @ VMI - Keydets roll in their conference opener
Mercer @ Furman - Paladins defend their turf to win the Lamb Bowl
East Tennessee State @ Samford (Game of the Week) - Bucs win their first conference game on the road
Western Carolina @ Gardner-Webb - Catamounts finally get their first win

[The Cats]

Wofford @ VMI
Mercer @ Furman
East Tennessee State @ Samford
Western Carolina @ Gardner-Webb


SoCon Power Ranking (https://catamountsportsblog.blogspot.com/2021/09/2021-socon-football-power-rankings_20.html)

[Mocs123]

I was 5-2 after yesterday's games. Western showed some fight while Wofford, not so much. Conference play begins for a good chunk of the rest of the Southern Conference so, without further ado, my power rankings are as follows:

1) East Tennessee State - Still undefeated after swatting the Hornets
2) Samford - Starts out conference play with a win
3) Furman - got mauled by a pack of wolves
4) VMI - won a close one against a team that hasn't played in two years
5) NottaQuitta - damn near stuffed some Kenturkeys
6) Mercer - resting up for the Lamb Bowl coming up
7) A Citadel - finally gets their first win of the season
8) Wofford - got hammered at home
9) Western Carolina - something tells me they won't be winless for long

This Week's Games
Wofford @ VMI - Keydets roll in their conference opener
Mercer @ Furman - Paladins defend their turf to win the Lamb Bowl
East Tennessee State @ Samford (Game of the Week) - Bucs win their first conference game on the road
Western Carolina @ Gardner-Webb - Catamounts finally get their first win


Interesting power rankings. Chattanooga loses by 5 to an SEC team getting top 25 votes and you put them #5. Furman gets throttled by an ACC team and you have them #3. Of course most interesting is Samford you have at #2 who gotten taken to the wire by the team you have #9 and lost last week to an average OVC team. No anti-Moc bias there for sure.

[Smitty]

Interesting power rankings. Chattanooga loses by 5 to an SEC team getting top 25 votes and you put them #5. Furman gets throttled by an ACC team and you have them #3. Of course most interesting is Samford you have at #2 who gotten taken to the wire by the team you have #9 and lost last week to an average OVC team. No anti-Moc bias there for sure.

I don't know I like the fact that he has #7 who got a win over a division 2 north Greenville is currently sitting above #8 who actually has a win against a FCS opponent.

[HootyHoo]

I have a prediction. The SOCON champ’s season will end in Kennesaw,GA. It is inevitable.

[FUBeAR]

I have a prediction. The SOCON champ’s season will end in Kennesaw,GA. It is inevitable.
Did your Daddy, Reinhardt, let you start using the internet again?

[ElCid]

Did your Daddy, Reinhardt, let you start using the internet again?

And I am fairly certain he spelled Monmouth wrong.

[bonarae]

VMI
Furman
ETSU
WCU

[PaladinNation]

Very interesting matchups for week four…
I'll be hitting my app during the Furman game to check the score of ETSU/Samford (talk about two contrasting styles of football).

[HootyHoo]

Did your Daddy, Reinhardt, let you start using the internet again?

Reinhardt always plays us like we’re the Green Bay Packers. It’s their super bowl. Whatever. We just wiped the floor with Wofford. Why don’t you mention that game?

[Mocs123]

In the spring I felt like Conklin lost his team. Perhaps they're still done. I don't think Wofford is nearly as good now as they were under Ayers.

[FUBeAR]

Reinhardt always plays us like we’re the Green Bay Packers. It’s their super bowl. Whatever. We just wiped the floor with Wofford. Why don’t you mention that game?
Because qualifying for about 8th place in FUBeAR’s SoCon rankings seems hardly worth mentioning.

Who ya picking in that Reinhardt vs. Bethel matchup this week? That should be much more interesting to you than a fortunate win over a SoCon taildragger that has only won 2 out of their last 11 scheduled games.

[HootyHoo]

Because qualifying for about 8th place in FUBeAR’s SoCon rankings seems hardly worth mentioning.

Who ya picking in that Reinhardt vs. Bethel matchup this week? That should be much more interesting to you than a fortunate win over a SoCon taildragger that has only won 2 out of their last 11 scheduled games.

I love how the SOCON has to have Reinhardt fight their battles since you guys obviously can’t beat the Owls when it matters. 3-0 vs Socon teams in the Postseason. Furman can’t keep ducking the Owls forever.

[caribbeanhen]

I love how the SOCON has to have Reinhardt fight their battles since you guys obviously can’t beat the Owls when it matters. 3-0 vs Socon teams in the Postseason. Furman can’t keep ducking the Owls forever.

Welcome back Hooty,

I can only assume Kennesaw State has won a recent football game

[gofurman]

Interesting power rankings. Chattanooga loses by 5 to an SEC team getting top 25 votes and you put them #5. Furman gets throttled by an ACC team and you have them #3. Of course most interesting is Samford you have at #2 who gotten taken to the wire by the team you have #9 and lost last week to an average OVC team. No anti-Moc bias there for sure.

personally I think NC State 'could' win the ACC. They may not but they are a top 25 team and top 3 in the ACC w Clemson and UNC - State is for real

[gofurman]

Reinhardt always plays us like we’re the Green Bay Packers. It’s their super bowl. Whatever. We just wiped the floor with Wofford. Why don’t you mention that game?

I will. They both count equally. and the current thinking is Wofford is stinkin' to high heaven right now.. but only time will tell on that

[HootyHoo]

Welcome back Hooty,

I can only assume Kennesaw State has won a recent football game

Good to be back. And yes, The Owls dominated their favorite punching bag wofford this weekend. It is also true that wofford is probably no good but what else is new?

[FUBeAR]

Prediculations later in the week.

Power Rankings (WEEK4)
1a) Furman - no shame in FBS beatdown
1b) Mercer - won the off week
3) Chatt - SEC loss better than ETSU’s SEC win. If a healthy Riddle was @ QB, they beat UK by 2 scores. O still 1D.
4) ETSU - gonna give ‘em their due, but very fluffy schedule leaves FUBeAR wondering
5) Samford - showed some character in Cullowhee
6) WCU - still settling in; better, but not good enough…yet
7) VMI - barely beating a lower-tier Ivy that hasn’t played a game in 2 years doesn’t impress
8) Wofford - If CIT had beaten a D1, the Teary-ers would be getting their noses rubbed in the mess they made Sat.
9) CIT - better than another loss…slightly. D looks dreadful.

[The Cats]

I have a prediction. The SOCON champ’s season will end in Kennesaw,GA. It is inevitable.

https://th.bing.com/th/id/R.71d5b8d41384ae008df88ff3f4f943d8?rik=Nh%2f085Q74 dDXfw&pid=ImgRaw&r=0

[BlackNGoldR3v0lut10n]

I have a prediction. The SOCON champ’s season will end in Kennesaw,GA. It is inevitable.

But if it is against us, I am going to leave this here.

https://www.espn.com/college-football/game/_/gameId/400871422

20-17.

[BlackNGoldR3v0lut10n]

Interesting power rankings. Chattanooga loses by 5 to an SEC team getting top 25 votes and you put them #5. Furman gets throttled by an ACC team and you have them #3. Of course most interesting is Samford you have at #2 who gotten taken to the wire by the team you have #9 and lost last week to an average OVC team. No anti-Moc bias there for sure.

Had Chattanooga got it done in Lexington, two things would have happened:

1) Chattanooga easily becomes #2, no question
2) Kenturkey and Mizzou (who lost to aforementioned Kenturkey a week earlier) gets moved to the "No Way in Hell Big Brother Will Lose to Them" group instead of the "Could Go Either Way but Big Brother Wins" group.

[Reign of Terrier]

Wofford is bad, Conklin has probably lost the locker room, and it's up to him reverse those trends.

I don't think he'll be the coach in 2023. Maybe he eeks out a playoff run this year. If he does that, he'll take the first DC FBS job that he can get. Maybe he doesn't ride the ship and repeats mediocrity next year. If he does that, his loss of the locker room and his open courting of other positions will have him fired, not the fact that he isn't winning or that we're bad. I think I can speak for a lot of Wofford fans when saying we're disappointed, but we would be much less disappointed if he actually lived up to his state hype (we've gotten worse year-to-year, since he took over) OR if we were assured that he wasn't going to take the first ticket out of town.

Put another way, COVID still looms large over the program, and even though it's year three of this system, Wade Lang wasn't the coach for the QB play you wanted, so in some ways it's still year one. I can humor that logic. The problem is that Conklin doesn't really want to stay, and so he's likely going to leave us with mediocre offensive development and a regressed defense, so him making this argument or saying "this is all part of the plan" would be a very con artist thing to say.

I personally think the reason why we're bad is at least indirectly due to him losing the locker room or thinking much higher of his high-level football knowledge that we're slipping quite painfully on fundamentals.

Wofford still has a top tier running offense and a decent, though not outstanding defense. If we can develop QBs and get better on defense, we'll be a top tier team, maybe with the highest ceiling in the socon (we all remember 2017-2019).

The problem is, I don't think we can under Conklin, the off the field stuff is just too big of a distraction and the offense is just too bad when it comes to passing the ball in year three of this system.

[HootyHoo]

(we all remember 2017-2019).

Ah yes, the good times. What was your favorite memory? I think mine was when Jonathan Murphy came off the bench to hang 218 yards and 3 TDs on an unsuspecting Terrier team.

[Reign of Terrier]

Imagine thinking a Josh Conklin coached team made you special.

It's so easy most of the Socon has done it!

[Mocs123]

I'm not sure why Conklin was so ready to get away from the traditional Wofford offense. It worked well for them and seemed to be an identity for the team.

[Reign of Terrier]

See, it's not that the traditional wofford offense was so good, it's that the current Wofford offense is terrible.

Wofford's offense being kinda medicore (I'd give it a 6) in 2019 was not completely Conklin's fault, but it is in 2021.

Maybe this is attributable to having an option OC/QB coach until literally this past June, but the buck stops somewhere. The problem is, I don't think he cares enough to leave us in a good enough shape for the long term. If I was assured he'd be here a few more years, I'd think this would be fixed in time (and sure, it still will), but I don't feel confident it happens this year. He's too busy looking at indeed job listing for DC positions at the FBS level than he is being critical of his offensive development over the last year or so.

If Conklin was as good of a coach as he thinks he is, I think we wouldn't be having this problem.

[ElCid]

1) East Tennessee State – For now…
2) Samford – If they had a defense, they would be unbeatable; they have an uncanny ability to put a lot of points up quickly
3) Chattanooga – They looked pretty good; poised and capable on both sides of the ball; they were almost even in yards gained against a good SEC team and they very nearly pulled out the upset
4) VMI – They somehow managed to stay out front of Cornell to hold on; the only reason they are still here is getting the W on the road
5) Furman – NC St really hasn’t proven they are any good yet; they might be, but Furman had 6 straight 3 and outs in the first half after having a little bit of success on their opening drive following a fumble recovery; and all of 49 yards of O in the first half; ouch; I’m still giving them the benefit of the doubt; FBS games can get away from you very quickly
6) Mercer – They have played the extremes so far so we don’t know a whole lot yet; this week will show everyone a lot
7) The Citadel – I am not sure what to think; there were lots of good things happening, but against lower competition, so it is hard to know if they will see the same progress in conference; I am still not pleased with the defense, we have issues all over the place; the Offense was much better, so maybe they got a little confidence, especially the QB tossing some really nice passes…3 for 4 for 135 yards and 1 TD; our RBs did better as well, a little crisper and faster, especially to the outside, the play calling seems to have gotten better as well
8) Wofford – They had 223 yards of total offense against a team that gave up 262 to Reinhardt; 2.7 yards a rush…oh how the mighty have fallen
9) Western Carolina – After being down 21-3, they came back with a vengeance; only to let Samford do the same… Like Samford if they had a D they might be dangerous, there was over 1000 total yards by both teams; just not sure their O is good enough, yet…Samford is hardly a good test




This Week's Games – every game could be a toss-up, the biggest computer spread on any of these is 2.5!!!


Western Carolina @ Gardner-Webb – G-W is no pushover, they gave Ga So and Charlotte good games; after their loss this past week, I am going to say the Cats struggle on the road – 34-24

East Tennessee State @ Samford – I think Samford will not find easy pickings against the Bucs D, but they are so streaky when it comes to some games; but ETSU will have to play every single down or Samford will bite them – 31-28


Mercer @ Furman – Mercer really is a mystery still; Furman has had more revealing games; I don’t think this one will actually be very close – 34-17


Wofford @ VMI – With due respect to the Keydets, I think they are a bit overrated this year, so far; and unless something changes, Wofford has been overrated as well; there appears to be something rotten in Spartanburg; but I think Wofford is smarting more and they get it in a pile before their season gets away from them – 27-25

The Citadel and Chattanooga relaxing.

[OrangeAndBlack]

6) Mercer - resting up for the Lamb Bowl coming up


We could start calling it the Cronic Bowl too! He put in his dues at Furman as well. Mercer only hires former Furman coaches so far.

Wofford @ VMI -- Let's see what VMI can do at home.
Mercer @ Furman -- Furman looks very good, but Mercer seems to rise to challenges in recent times.
ETSU @ Samford -- I gotta hand it to ETSU, they have their program in a very nice position!
Western Carolina @ Gardner Webb -- I'm leaning WCU but I have low confidence. Hope they win this one.

[FUBeAR]

SoCon vs FBS Games (YTD) Ranked most to least impressive…

1) #37 Kentucky 28 UTC 23
2) UNR (>44) Vandy 3 ETSU 23
3) #1 Alabama 48 Mercer 14
4) UNR (>44) NC St 45 Furman 7
5) #17 Coastal 52 Citadel 14
6) #4 Oklahoma 76 WCU 0
7) UNR (>44) Kent St. 60 VMI 10

CHANGE MY MIND!

(BTW - I’ve watched almost every play of all 7 of these games…not just read the scores/stats/rankings. So, if you care to disagree with my ranking, show your work.)

[Mocs123]

I've only watched bits and pieces of the other games but I did think we held our own in the trenches against UK - an area that UK is usually pretty good in. I was proud of the way our team fought, and though he didn't play perfect, I thought Cole Copeland looked a lot better in week 2 of being the starting QB than he did last week, which gives me hope he'll continue to improve for SoCon play. Special Teams also looked good, and I'm not sure I could say that many times in the last decade.

Now it was still a loss - just like all but one on the list above, but we played well and have a lot to build on.

[ElCid]

SoCon vs FBS Games (YTD) Ranked most to least impressive…

1) #37 Kentucky 28 UTC 23
2) UNR (>44) Vandy 3 ETSU 23
3) #1 Alabama 48 Mercer 14
4) UNR (>44) NC St 45 Furman 7
5) #17 Coastal 52 Citadel 14
6) #4 Oklahoma 76 WCU 0
7) UNR (>44) Kent St. 60 VMI 10

CHANGE MY MIND!

(BTW - I’ve watched almost every play of all 7 of these games…not just read the scores/stats/rankings. So, if you care to disagree with my ranking, show your work.)

I watched good chunks of all of those except ours, which I obviously watched all of. I wasn't very impressed with Furman last week. I watched a good bit of the first half. They did not look good at all against an unranked team. Yes, NC State looked good, but Furman had something to do with that. Not going to rank them Iike you did, which is just a fool's errand, but ETSU and Chatty obviously had the only two games of note.

Change your mind? Why? God only knows what goes on in that dark place.

[Mocs123]

I predict a lot of close games this week in the SoCon

Wofford - 17
VMI – 24 – The Keydets scape out a win vs. a Terrier team trying to find it’s way on offense

Mercer - 21
Furman – 24 – The Paladins get a win in a hard fought game at home

ETSU – 31 – The Mountain Pirates go on the road and come back with a win, although it’s closer than they would like.
Samford - 27

Western Carolina – 28 – I’m going on out a limb and say that Kerwin Bell gets his first win at WCU this week.
Gardner Webb - 24


Power Rankings:



ETSU (0) – Two cupcakes and an SEC win
Furman (0) – Nothing to be ashamed about against the Wolfpack
Chattanooga (+1) – Strong showing against a good UK team
Mercer (+1)
VMI (+1) – Won an OOC game – nevermind it was against a team that hasn’t played since 2019
Wofford (-3) – Loss to KSU might not be as bad as it seems, but the Terriers seemed to have no fight
Samford (0) – Escaped Cullowhee with a win – barely
The Citadel (0) – Looked good against a D2 team
Western Carolina (0) – Better than #9 but being winless keeps them here one more week

[Catamount87]

1) East Tennessee State - undefeated puts you on top
2) 3 Way Tie - VMI - Their D might not keep them here
Furman - Slightly surprised by the good start
Samford - like aways, questionable D
5) TIE - UTC - this year’s Dr Jeckle/Mr Hyde??
Mercer - I’m inclined to give them a nod over UTC but not yet.
7) 3 Way Tie - Citadel - Wheels are wobbly, can they be a Weeble?
Wofford - Wheels are really wobbly, I don’t think they can be a Weeble.
Western Carolina - Tough start, better than the record indicates


This Week's Games
Wofford @ VMI - Roos make those wheels a bit more wobbly
Mercer @ Furman - going with the home team
East Tennessee State @ Samford - Bucs look like the better of the two with fewer question marks
Western Carolina @ Gardner-Webb - Cats continue to claw their way back up

[FUBeAR]

I watched good chunks of all of those except ours, which I obviously watched all of. I wasn't very impressed with Furman last week. I watched a good bit of the first half. They did not look good at all against an unranked team. Yes, NC State looked good, but Furman had something to do with that. Not going to rank them Iike you did, which is just a fool's errand, but ETSU and Chatty obviously had the only two games of note.

Change your mind? Why? God only knows what goes on in that dark place.Nah…the Beach Chicken’s O ran circles around your boys from the jump. It looked like a 5 year old boxing Muhammad Ali in his prime. Honestly, other than in the red zone & before their very good RB was injured, North Greenville’s O did too last weekend. Furman, while not clicking on all cylinders on O, missing a few too many tackles (on 3 plays) & not getting enough pressure on the QB, looked like they were playing the same game as NCSU. The Paladins were not manhandled up front & they didn’t look like they had little to no idea how to line up nor know what their assignments were.

#4, while not particularly impressive, was certainly more impressive (or not as unimpressive) as #5 on FUBeAR’s dark-minded list.

[Mocs123]

1) UTC - this year’s Dr Jeckle/Mr Hyde??


I'm not saying that you're wrong, but a lot of that has to do with our QB play, which we knew would be a question mark in 2021. The QB that played in the Austin Peay game has not returned and Cole Copeland has taken over the offense. He looked rusty against tUNA but better against UK - if he continues to improve we'll be fine, if he regresses, every SoCon team will put 8 guys in the box like Austin Peay did and dare us to beat them with the pass.

Obviously I'm a bit biased, but I think we can be really good this year. Of course the way the SoCon looks, we're going to beat each other up. I think every one of our games left on our schedule we can win, but the flip side of that is I think we could lose every one too. No days off in the SoCon this year - every team is good and I think most people would say there are at least five teams (and as many as seven or eight) that have a shot at the SoCon title.

[ElCid]

Nah…the Beach Chicken’s O ran circles around your boys from the jump. It looked like a 5 year old boxing Muhammad Ali in his prime. Honestly, other than in the red zone & before their very good RB was injured, North Greenville’s O did too last weekend. Furman, while not clicking on all cylinders on O, missing a few too many tackles (on 3 plays) & not getting enough pressure on the QB, looked like they were playing the same game as NCSU. The Paladins were not manhandled up front & they didn’t look like they had little to no idea how to line up nor know what their assignments were.

#4, while not particularly impressive, was certainly more impressive (or not as unimpressive) as #5 on FUBeAR’s dark-minded list.

I am sure I did not make any reference at all to our piss poor outing against CCU or our game this week. I merely stated that all the lipstick in the world would never make that pig of a game you played against NC ST look good. So your attempt at distraction utterly fails. Dude, just accept it, they looked like crap.

[wcugrad95]

Even though we are heading into week #4, the SoCon still seems messy and hard to decipher. I see a number of people with Samford towards the top and most with WCU on the bottom, but for anybody who watched that game I find it hard to say there are 6 or 7 spots difference between those two teams. Coulda, shoulda, woulda but WCU is a couple of mistakes away from being 2-1 rather than 0-3 - with the FCS games being against teams that straight-up blew our doors off in the Spring. Or maybe that is actually the SoCon this year - a big group of teams that aren't significantly better than each other. For me, I'll have to see a few more SoCon games to figure this out.

If anything, I am with @Catamount87 and say lumping things into tiers is still more close to reality at this point. WCU has to be at the bottom because they have 0 wins (but seem to be capable of winning some games). ETSU has to be at the top because they beat an FBS team and haven't lost.

[Catamount87]

I'm not saying that you're wrong, but a lot of that has to do with our QB play, which we knew would be a question mark in 2021. The QB that played in the Austin Peay game has not returned and Cole Copeland has taken over the offense. He looked rusty against tUNA but better against UK - if he continues to improve we'll be fine, if he regresses, every SoCon team will put 8 guys in the box like Austin Peay did and dare us to beat them with the pass.

Obviously I'm a bit biased, but I think we can be really good this year. Of course the way the SoCon looks, we're going to beat each other up. I think every one of our games left on our schedule we can win, but the flip side of that is I think we could lose every one too. No days off in the SoCon this year - every team is good and I think most people would say there are at least five teams (and as many as seven or eight) that have a shot at the SoCon title.

I posted that as a question. It feels like y'all could go either way for the season or with each game. So, the real question is, can they gel and get it going?

[FUBeAR]

I am sure I did not make any reference at all to our piss poor outing against CCU or our game this week. I merely stated that all the lipstick in the world would never make that pig of a game you played against NC ST look good. So your attempt at distraction utterly fails. Dude, just accept it, they looked like crap.
“except ours, which I obviously watched all of”…sure seems to FUBeAR as if you referenced CIT’s said piss poor outing against CCU. Maybe they use different standards for assessing citations at A Citadel.

…and, nope, only #1 & #2 looked “good”... #3 wasn’t bad, most expected much worse and there were some real bright spots. #4 was not good, most expected better, but it wasn’t awfully awful. They are still sterilizing the sheets from #5 - #7.

[Mocs123]

My (biased) opinion - yes. The team has played well the past two weeks with the exception of the QB play which has improved significantly the past two games with the move of Cole Copeland at QB, who's getting his first start since 2017. We have Robert Riddle too, but I don't think he's 100% healthy at the moment.

Despite the poor showing against Austin Peay to open the year, I think the Mocs have the talent to win the SoCon and have a playoff run. I admit - I'm biased and I think there are a lot of good teams in the SoCon this year so I think we'll beat ourselves up a bit, but I think this is the best Moc team since the 2015/2016 timeframe.

[FUBeAR]

I see a number of people with Samford towards the top and most with WCU on the bottom, but for anybody who watched that game I find it hard to say there are 6 or 7 spots difference between those two teams.So…you’re saying something like this makes good sense.…

5) Samford - showed some character in Cullowhee
6) WCU - still settling in; better, but not good enough…yet

[ElCid]

“except ours, which I obviously watched all of”…sure seems to FUBeAR as if you referenced CIT’s said piss poor outing against CCU. Maybe they use different standards for assessing citations at A Citadel.

…and, nope, only #1 & #2 looked “good”... #3 wasn’t bad, most expected much worse and there were some real bright spots. #4 was not good, most expected better, but it wasn’t awfully awful. They are still sterilizing the sheets from #5 - #7.

I watched ours fully because it was ours. Didn't make reference to our quality of play. Get it? But you can try to stratify crap if you want to. It's always entertaining.

[wcugrad95]

So…you’re saying something like this makes good sense.…

5) Samford - showed some character in Cullowhee
6) WCU - still settling in; better, but not good enough…yet

Of course I will have a bias here and like that you do not have WCU last, but my point was more that it seems like if ETSU is first and WCU is last, the other teams in the middle are really not that far away from either the top or the bottom. I would agree that Western proved on the field that they are capable of beating Samford. But we still lost. Your comments seem spot on for those two squads based on this past Saturday, I just still don't know what numbers to put in front of any of the teams.

[FUBeAR]

I watched ours fully because it was ours. Didn't make reference to our quality of play. Get it? But you can try to stratify crap if you want to. It's always entertaining.
“piss poor” seems to be a quality reference. Now I’m very concerned that they must be actively teaching y’all to not recognize/attribute quotes at A Military College of SC.

[ElCid]

I watched good chunks of all of those except ours, which I obviously watched all of. I wasn't very impressed with Furman last week. I watched a good bit of the first half. They did not look good at all against an unranked team. Yes, NC State looked good, but Furman had something to do with that. Not going to rank them Iike you did, which is just a fool's errand, but ETSU and Chatty obviously had the only two games of note.

Change your mind? Why? God only knows what goes on in that dark place.


“piss poor” seems to be a quality reference. Now I’m very concerned that they must be actively teaching y’all to not recognize/attribute quotes at A Military College of SC.

But I'm concerned that you may be having hallucinations. Not once did I reference our play in my original quote, just Furman's. You have a serious inferiority complex/paranoia thing going on. As I said earlier, I understand you were just trying to distract from my point by bringing us up, since you can't defend Furman's play very well by itself So I forgive you.

[SU DOG]

Wofford @ VMI - Keydets win at home.

Mercer @ Furman - I'm going to say Mercer will upset the Paladins. This Bears offense may be somewhat of a throw-back, and IMO, is difficult to prepare for. Mercer also plays hard, and I'm not sold on QB Hamp Sisson. Interesting game for sure.

ETSU @ Samford - Who has the best balance, and has looked better this year? ETSU, of course. Still, I can't pick against my team two weeks in a row. Maybe we learned how to finish last week. Welch will have to do better than what he has done recently, and so will our defense. Both our QB, and our defense, however, have the talent to do the job. It would be just like Samford to get this win then inexplicably lay an egg some other game. With heart not head I pick SAMFORD.

WCU @ GWU - Catamounts will win and gain the confidence they need to start an upward spiral.

[walliver]

Wofford at VMI - Last week Woffford looked as bad as we did at SC State 2 years ago. I complete offensive failure lead to a worn-out defense late in the game. We can't play much worse this week-end, but will we play much better either. I never pick against my team so I pick a 12-10 victory.

Mercer at Furman - Furman has beaten a D-I team, Mercer has not - FU wins 31-22

ETSU at Samford - ETSU has had a solid season, Samford is unpredictable as usual. ETSU wins 28-24

WCU at Gardner-Webb - The Cants kept it closer than I expected last week and win 35-14

Power rankings:
1) ETSU
2) FU
3) Samford
4-9 everybody else

[FUBeAR]

Wow…just watched this week’s Josh Conklin Show…

https://c.tenor.com/M8V0wUqKYzQAAAAC/cartman-throw-under-the-bus.gif

Peyton Derrick in the transfer portal yet?

[HootyHoo]

Haha, I did see a quote from Conklin in which he asked Derrick what coverages he was seeing and Derrick responded "I thought...". Conklin benched him immediately, which I thought was harsh. Wofford's offensive system is too rigid imo. If the primary option isn't there the play breaks down.

[FUBeAR]

Haha, I did see a quote from Conklin in which he asked Derrick what coverages he was seeing and Derrick responded "I thought...". Conklin benched him immediately, which I thought was harsh. Wofford's offensive system is too rigid imo. If the primary option isn't there the play breaks down.
Exactly…while Coach said, “We thought…” referencing his own / his staff’s miscalculation/misunderstanding of Kennesaw/the game on several occasions during the video. Very interesting approach.

[apaladin]

Wofford @ VMI - Keydets win at home.

Mercer @ Furman - I'm going to say Mercer will upset the Paladins. This Bears offense may be somewhat of a throw-back, and IMO, is difficult to prepare for. Mercer also plays hard, and I'm not sold on QB Hamp Sisson. Interesting game for sure.

ETSU @ Samford - Who has the best balance, and has looked better this year? ETSU, of course. Still, I can't pick against my team two weeks in a row. Maybe we learned how to finish last week. Welch will have to do better than what he has done recently, and so will our defense. Both our QB, and our defense, however, have the talent to do the job. It would be just like Samford to get this win then inexplicably lay an egg some other game. With heart not head I pick SAMFORD.

WCU @ GWU - Catamounts will win and gain the confidence they need to start an upward spiral.

I agree with you on the FU/MU game especially the comments on QB. The only thing I can base picking Mercer is the respective FBS games. Based on stats Mercer won 9 out of 10 when they were playing the #1 team in the country while FU was playing a 1-1 team. I have seen FU play many, many FBS games and they were dominated Saturday night like I have never seen. Had hope after the first 2 games but after watching Saturday night’s debacle and not being competitive at all that hope is dashed. Hope I’m wrong but I think Mercer wins pretty handily 31-13.

[BearDownMU]

I think MU/FU is going to be an old school, defensive slobberknocker. I'm really looking forward to it. Haven't seen a ton of Furman this year, but last spring to this fall (effectively the same squad), Mercer's guys on D absolutely get after it. I mean, they play real, real hard. Better than they've played in several years prior. And from what I've seen, FU's D also gets after it. Gonna be real interesting.

The X-factors for me on O for Mercer are 1) our offensive line is WAY better than it has been in recent years. I think we've got 2 first team all conference guards that move really well and love blocking people. Makes a big difference. 2) Fred Payton (who played most of the Alabama game) is a transfer from Coastal Carolina, where he started a lot of games. I think he's still getting comfortable, and I saw some really nice flashes of ability, but more importantly, it did NOT look like the stage of Alabama was too big for him. I was on the sideline and he was poised and looked like he was having the time of his life.

Not a ton of analysis, but those are the main things I've thought about going into Saturday. I think it's gonna be a heckuva football game. Imma say 17-14 Bears, but I don't think this is more than a 1 score game whichever team wins.

[Reign of Terrier]

Wow…just watched this week’s Josh Conklin Show…

https://c.tenor.com/M8V0wUqKYzQAAAAC/cartman-throw-under-the-bus.gif

Peyton Derrick in the transfer portal yet?


Haha, I did see a quote from Conklin in which he asked Derrick what coverages he was seeing and Derrick responded "I thought...". Conklin benched him immediately, which I thought was harsh. Wofford's offensive system is too rigid imo. If the primary option isn't there the play breaks down.


Exactly…while Coach said, “We thought…” referencing his own / his staff’s miscalculation/misunderstanding of Kennesaw/the game on several occasions during the video. Very interesting approach.

My thoughts, in short, after watching almost 20 years of Wofford football, about 10 very closely. The full glass of wine I just downed on a Thursday will help

1) Peyton Derrick is already like a 5th or 6th year senior (given COVID rules). He already transferred once. That interception (and I do not like saying this because it comes off as overly harsh to someone smarter at recognizing coverages than me and more athletic than me) was one of the worst I have ever seen in my life. Just absolutely awful. Triple coverage. He waits one second (he has a running back on a wheel route and blocking for at least that long) and he's got an opening running back. There's moderate pressure, but he probably has 1-2 seconds. There's literally 0 need to force that pass into *triple* coverage when he's nowhere near open. Like, I don't want to be an asshole to this QB (who is probably more down on himself for that pick than I am on the play in general), but like you can only laugh at it to not cry.

This is a *giant* failure of development by the Wofford coaching staff. I can be a little more gracious in that Wade Lang was coaching QBs (and obviously isn't going to be great at coaching passing) until, like, June...but either habituating PD to make that pass or having him in there when he would do it, is a coaching failure. I feel like JC has failed all QBS and receivers of the last 3 years by virtue of half-assing this "evolution." I agreed with him that the option has a ceiling at this level (KSU can beat the **** out of us because we aren't good, but they won't beat the **** out of NDSU, and Wofford would be the same way sticking to the option) and so moving away from it is a good call to take us to the next level...

That doesn't change the fact that he has royally sucked at facilitating this transition. Between this interception and in the previous game against Elon, either Derrick had an awful and obvious problem of staring down the first option, or he was told to do the quick route for the first option. Both outcomes created frequent (relatively speaking) interceptions and probably not good coaching. I think a little bit of this is attributable to the WL underdevelopment of passers, but tough **** Josh Conklin, this is year four and Lang is sipping martinis somewhere. Own it as your own mistake. Which brings me to my next problem...

2) One of the big things I don't like about JC is that he basically throws everyone under the bus except himself most of the time. He did this in 2019 when we started 0-2. I had a former Wofford QB in my DMs on twitter tell me that *in 2019* and it's something I can't unsee (he also told me that, under WL, he was pretty sure that playcalling was done by committee, which...explains things).

3) Again, Kuddos to Kennesaw for kicking our butts, but really...don't feel too high about yourself yet. I think KSU is about as good as they always are (not as good as they were in 2018 or so, but still at least a round of 16 or quarterfinalist team), but man, Wofford has definitely regressed and it has a lot to do with JC trying his damnedest to get the hell out of town. I'm probably a a top .01% fan of Wofford football and can't buy into any of his excuses (I can't give you slack for the Wade Lang influence on the QBs, and this is another 2-3 year project, when you've basically signaled you're out of town ASAP), so I really can't believe many of the players do either.

In this way, Wofford's not *bad* we're just not great. We're maybe average. I think we have the highest ceiling of any team in the Socon, but it's been sort of squandered by bad development at the QB position and likely (based only on the fact that players and players' parents like my tweets about how conklin sucks) divisions in the locker room by Conklin signaling he does not want to be our coach anymore. It was one thing to lobby for an FBS head coaching job (UofSC), another to lobby for a DC to a job that is big and you have connections to (Tennessee), but at a certain point, it's clear you just want to get the hell out of town (Illinois DC, really?)

4) I believe in all 100-some odd players on this roster and most of the coaches too, but as an empirical predicition I don't think we *will* turn this thing around. The KSU loss was literally the worst OOC loss in 20 years at home for Wofford (likely in the D1 era). Arguably, JC has two of the worst OOC non-playoff losses of the D1 era. Which means, he either doesn't get his players up for these games or he's just not as good of a coach as he thinks he is. KSU is a great program, and their defense is probably schematically more aggressive than ours ever was under Ayers or Conklin, but in many ways they are "the new Wofford" (tough defense, top 15 program, option-run team).

This raises the question: when was the last time Wofford in option form absolutely slobber-knocked a playoff team by 3 TDs on the road? I can't remember the last time. This leads me to the ultimate conclusion that we just aren't a playoff team. And I'm not saying we're a bubble team either - I don't think we're good right now, which is a huge disappointment given all of the seniors we have on this team. KSU may be good, but I don't think they're nearly as good as they were even in 2019 when we played given the dozen or two injuries they've sustained, which somehow makes us even worse.

5) Because I have a nice buzz going on for me, I will go ahead and say: based on what I have heard, there's a 50-50 chance JC isn't here next year, and it may have little to do with football. You heard the rumor here first! You can DM me for more lol

6) I can't reiterate how much Conklin has broken me by setting my expectations high, while at the same time, not meeting mediocre ones. Wofford has a psychological edge over every team in the socon but Samford, so I wouldn't be surprised if we won 7 or 8 games this year, rallying after this one. I've realized that JC has set the expectations so high while at the same time arguably regressing the program, that there's no way I don't get irrationally mad at outcomes of this season. So I'm holding off on posting: no need to inject that negativity into the world.

Normally, as a baseline of Wofford football, I expect to win all OOC games in the FCS (even tough ones against KSU, or at least not lose by 3 TDs), finish in the top 3 of the socon, and get to at least the round of 16, but preferably quarterfinals, in the playoffs. I was told to expect at least this much when JC took the job 3 years ago, and in year 4, we'll be lucky to accomplish 1 of these goals. Notice: Ayers won more playoff games in his last two years at Wofford than JC has in three. I will go ahead and predict that will extend to 4.

TL;DR losing sucks, but it sucks worse when your coach is kind of a con man. I'm perfectly fine with 7-4/8-3 seasons finishing second/third in the socon. But damn, let the games be fun and competitive, and don't promise me progress and give me regression while padding your resume to get out of town.

/rant

[kdinva]

Furman 31; Mercer 22
ETSU 34; Samford 28
Western Carolina 33; Gardner-Webb 20
VMI 28; Wofford 23

[FUBeAR]

Away
Home
Time
Prediculation


https://soconsports.com/images/2019/9/23/logo_wofford.png?width=30Wofford (http://woffordterriers.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/logos/VMI_spider_four_color-2015.png?width=30VMI (https://vmikeydets.com/)
1:30 PM
Important matchup between 2 Teams that have both looked exceedingly mediocre this Fall. VMI is still missing Udinski regardless of which other QB plays. Herres is still quite a stud, but as Dan Patrick prophesied, Teams are finding a way to contain him (6 Rec/54YPG vs. 10/122 this Spring). Though their O got/gets the headlines, the Marsupial’s D was their secret weapon that pouched a SoCon Championship for them last Spring. Unlike most SoCon units, VMI lost several key(det) starters on that side of the spheroid. So far, it seems those peeps may have been the beating heart of the Spring21 D. All that said, FUBeAR is still gonna pick Coach W.’s Air Attack to smash Coach C’s TeamKiller Bus while it sits idle on the LexVegas tarmac with little black & white critters crushed under its wheels…that appear to be just about to fall off.

VMI 31 - Wofford 28


https://soconsports.com/images/2020/1/2/etsu_logo.png?width=30ETSU (http://www.etsubucs.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/2019/9/23/logo_samford.png?width=30Samford (http://www.samfordsports.com/)
3:00 PM
HUGE game for both these Teams, both extremely viable SoCon Championship contenders. ETSU has beaten 1 D2 Team (Vandy), a HS Team (DelSt), and a middle school squad (Wise…why’s?), but 3-0 is still 3-0. The Highland Seafarers are a talented, physical bunch regardless of the competition…or lack of, so far. They haven’t faced an Offense nearly as good as what they will see Saturday and their aggressive secondary is prone to making more than their fair share of mistakes. If, and it’s a big IF, Welch has time, he’ll make them walk the plank for making a mistake in the Secondary. The bigger question is if Samford’s somewhat squishy D can stand up to and slow down ETSU’s physical running game. ETSU still does not have much of a passing game…despite appearances. Completing balls vs. “Air” doesn’t count. Man…this one’s tough to pick. Even though the bullpups are at home, ETSU has the edge in experience and I think might be in the canine’s minds. So…unless Sammy scores 2x on Special Teams and/or D, FUBeAR’s going to sail with the Skull & Crossbones crew this week.

ETSU 27 - Samford 21


https://soconsports.com/images/2019/9/23/logo_wcu.png?width=30Western Carolina (https://catamountsports.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/logos/Gardner-Webb-University.png?width=30Gardner-Webb (http://www.gwusports.com/)
6:00 PM
Cat fans are mewling relentlessly to get that 1st win and ring the Bell. They are unanimously expecting to cross that chasm this week in the bustling metropolis of Boiling Springs, NC. BUT…not so fast, my feline friends. “WHAT?” FUBeAR hears emanating from the Whee. Sorry, y’all need to study the opponent’s game notes & learn your history lessons. G-W has Tre Lamb as HC, Taylor Lamb as OC, Dom Davenport as ST Coord, and former Mercer Bear great, Mike Gray as LB Coach. Why does this matter? Welp, that group & 1 of their progenitors have experience whipping/upsetting the Kerwin & Kade Bell Kombo when they brought the, respectively, HC’d & QB’d by Jacksonville Dolphins into Macon in 2013. Those Bears were not as talented as their Fish, just as these Runnin’ Bulldogs aren’t as fine-furred as these Cats of TeamBell. The Cats aren’t going to be happy, but that 1st ringing of the Bell has to wait 1 more week, at least. Bulldogs channel 2013 and match that same upset score…take solace tho, Cats fans, that Jax @ Mercer game is Top 5 fun & exciting Football games FUBeAR has ever seen…and FUBeAR has seen A LOT of Football games. So, you’ll enjoy the game, if not the outcome.

Gardner-Webb 45 - WCU 42



Power Rankings (WEEK4)
1a) Furman - no shame in FBS beatdown
1b) Mercer - won the off week
3) Chatt - SEC loss better than ETSU’s SEC win. If a healthy Riddle was @ QB, they beat UK by 2 scores. O still 1D.
4) ETSU - gonna give ‘em their due, but very fluffy schedule leaves FUBeAR wondering
5) Samford - showed some character in Cullowhee
6) WCU - still settling in; better, but not good enough…yet
7) VMI - barely beating a lower-tier Ivy that hasn’t played a game in 2 years doesn’t impress
8) Wofford - If CIT had beaten a D1, the Teary-ers would be getting their noses rubbed in the mess they made Sat.
9) CIT - better than another loss…slightly. D looks dreadful.

[FUBeAR]

Imma say 17-14 Bears
17-14, you gonna say, huh?

http://gopaladins.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2630&p=43546#p43546

Good call.

[walliver]

...
4) I believe in all 100-some odd players on this roster and most of the coaches too, but as an empirical predicition I don't think we *will* turn this thing around. The KSU loss was literally the worst OOC loss in 20 years at home for Wofford (likely in the D1 era). ...

The worst OOC loss the D-1 era was a 3-0 loss to Gardner-Webb.

I've noticed that Conklin has been absent from Twitter for the last week or so - maybe he got the message on that.

The real problem is not the QB. We got beat on the offensive and defensive lines and our backs and wide-out missed way too many blocks. There is an offensive system there that can work, but the coaching staff hasn't been able to adequately coach their players on how to do it.

There is also absolutely no reason we couldn't run a few options with the current offense. Full-time option football has its limitations, but a lot of teams throw in a little option now and then because it works. It seems like stubbornness is in play here.

[Reign of Terrier]

1) We finished 5-6 in 2013, the year we lost to GW, and it was the year after Eric Breitenstein graduated. That year, GW beat us, Furman, and Richmond, and finished 7-5. That was not a bad GW team, but it was a bad Wofford team. And that weather was awful (I was there). So I wouldn't call that embarrassing.

What's embarrassing is having playoff seeding or 9-2(ish) expectations for a football season, returning most of your roster on offense, and getting absolutely routed at home by a team that you have played pretty well in the past, but at the moment isn't 100%. It's embarrassing to see an NAIA team score more points and I think have more yardage against this team two weeks prior while we came off a bye flat as a pancake.

2) We run plenty of option. In fact, I think a good chunk of our offense is RPO and we fans just don't see it because a play may look like a straight up run or a straight up pass after the read. Against Elon, Peyton Derrick ran for something like 70 yards. The fact that these plays don't develop has a majority to do with QB reads. So it does come down to QB play. We need good QB play (namely, not throwing interceptions in triple coverage after we get the ball in great field position) to get the defense out of the box to set up the run when teams like KSU sell out and load the box.

But even so, Peyton Derrick, Jimmy Weirick, and any of the other QBs on roster are not Joe Newman, Brandon Goodson, Evan Jacks, etc. They are "normal" balanced-to-passing QBs. Our offensive line's blocking scheme is an inside zone (FU Bear probably knows more about the nuances on this one), which is different (maybe even very different) from the blocking scheme we had circa 2017-2018 (if you gave me a day and some resources, I could probably explain it visually or otherwise). Part of the reason we sucked so bad against SC State in 2019 was because that was the inaugural game for that blocking scheme. I didn't see the same mistakes against KSU, I just saw the KSU defenders playing well and aggressive on the perimeter, us making mistakes in the pass game, or just mistakes in general.

I bring all of this up because a lot of Wofford fans need to just get over the fact that the option is no longer the trump card of scheming for us anymore (I'd argue it ceased to be a trump card in like 2012 - because defenses adjusted to spread/option schemes by that point - but that's just me). We aren't an option team anymore: our QBs don't run it as much, or as well, or have the same skillset of the QBs we had even 2 years ago (Miller Moseley, Joe Newman, etc). Our offensive line is great, but our blocking philosophy is different. Part of the reason why option teams (including KSU) are so good is because there's specific blocking schemes for the option that the OL gets really good at by volume of repetition, but the trade off is that they get relatively worse at other blocking schemes like pass blocking (and thus that kind of offense isn't as effective as you need it to be).

In short, football, like life, is a game of limited time, resources, and emphasis, and by moving away from the option, we've...moved away from the option. It's not going to be as effective and wishing that it will be is just to wax nostalgia.

All of this is frustrating because on one end we have Conklin talking up how great we are on offense and how balanced we are, and we all know it's obviously BS. And on the other end, we have Wofford alumni who just say "well obviously the option would work." And the answer is neither. We're just a bad offense right now, and it's not because we don't run the option enough, but because the identity we've chosen for ourselves our coaches have developed rather mediocrely.

Now, I think a big chunk of this is because the new OC has only been on campus three months: it will get better. But the lack of ownership by Josh Conklin (while at the same time openly looking for other positions) is what's frustrating (I'm probably a broken record at this point). Don't tell us how great the offense you're making is when it's obviously not, and don't tell me it's a work in progress, when you clearly don't care to see it through when it may take 1-2 more years. Just own that you have failed and it's not a #1 priority for you professionally to fix this (otherwise you'd not be looking for random other jobs).

Wofford football is in a recession right now, and that's okay because it happens somewhat frequently every 4-5 years. It's going to take a couple years of development at the QB position. I just don't see us digging out of it while Josh Conklin is the coach (but I would love to see the new co-OC stick around a few years)

[FUBeAR]

Y’know…it just came to FUBeAR…you can’t spell W-o-f-f-o-r-d without W-O-R-D…a lot of them, apparently. xpeacex

[Reign of Terrier]

Y’know…it just came to FUBeAR…you can’t spell W-o-f-f-o-r-d without W-O-R-D…a lot for them, apparently. xpeacex

I interpret that as a 100% full agreement with what I said, as usual.

[FUBeAR]

I interpret that as a 100% full agreement with what I said, as usual.”for” shoulda been “of” - edited now in original post. “For” kinda works too though. Anyway…FUBeAR makes it a habit to neither agree nor disagree with commentary he doesn’t read.

[ElCid]

I agree with you on the FU/MU game especially the comments on QB. The only thing I can base picking Mercer is the respective FBS games. Based on stats Mercer won 9 out of 10 when they were playing the #1 team in the country while FU was playing a 1-1 team. I have seen FU play many, many FBS games and they were dominated Saturday night like I have never seen. Had hope after the first 2 games but after watching Saturday night’s debacle and not being competitive at all that hope is dashed. Hope I’m wrong but I think Mercer wins pretty handily 31-13.

I still think Furman rebounds. You really can't tell anything about Mercer yet. And I will agree about Furman's bad performance against NC ST. I watched it again late last night. Even more unimpressed the second time around. It's secondary was just about as bad as ours. NCST passed almost at will, completing about 3 out of 4 with only a couple of passes defended all night. Their receivers were open most of the time. On O, it seems Furman's QB and receivers were just out of synch. Some of those passes were just horrible.

But the Tarheels may have something going this year and Furman was just overmatched. We will see this weekend. However, Mercer ain't NCST. I don't always compare FBS game results as a gauge for comparisons. As I said before, those games sometimes get away from you, or FBS teams sometimes sleep walk until they feel some heat. And then once they start putting in all their subs, comparisons get really distorted. As to looking at the stats, need I remind you that in 2018 our stats against #1 Alabama were all mostly better than Furman's were against Clemson albeit at #2.....and you all still beat us. Heck, we had 275 yards rushing against the #1 team! And most of our yards, and scoring, came against their starters. I don't think just comparing stats against really good FBS teams is always a good comparison.

So, to sum up, I think you are wrong. Furman will win.

Crap. In my haste to try to be impartial, I forgot one more key point.

FURMAN SUCKS!

[SU DOG]

Sports Journal SoCon Previews/Picks:

Southern Conference Week 4 Preview - The College Sports Journal (college-sports-journal.com) (https://www.college-sports-journal.com/southern-conference-week-4-preview-2/)

[HootyHoo]

A few thoughts from Hooty in reply to the Wofford Novel(i would quote the entire thing but its way too long)

"KSU can beat the **** out of us because we aren't good, but they won't beat the **** out of NDSU, and Wofford would be the same way sticking to the option) and so moving away from it is a good call to take us to the next level..."

-Seriously, This is your logic for moving away from the option? That you can't blow out the Bison with it? News Flash, No one has blown out the Bison with any system in over a decade. NDST is a FBS in all but name.

"I think KSU is about as good as they always are (not as good as they were in 2018 or so, but still at least a round of 16 or quarterfinalist team"

-Repeat after me, Perennial Playoff Contender.

"In this way, Wofford's not *bad* we're just not great. We're maybe average. I think we have the highest ceiling of any team in the Socon."
Wofford is terrible. You have no identity. No talent. ETSU/Furman will blow you out.

"KSU is a great program, and their defense is probably schematically more aggressive than ours ever was under Ayers or Conklin, but in many ways they are "the new Wofford" (tough defense, top 15 program, option-run team)."

KSU is not the "New Wofford." We have 39,000 more students. We're in the middle of the most fertile recruiting ground in the country. Our celling is similar to Coastal and Liberty. Fellow Big South schools who eventually went FBS.

"I can't reiterate how much Conklin has broken me"

My good fellow, It is not Conklin who has broken you. But THE Kennesaw State University. Have you ever seen the Temple of Doom when the villain rips the guy's heart out? That is what happened in Spartanburg, SC last Saturday.

Hoot Out.

[Catamount87]

https://soconsports.com/images/2019/9/23/logo_wcu.png?width=30Western Carolina (https://catamountsports.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/logos/Gardner-Webb-University.png?width=30Gardner-Webb (http://www.gwusports.com/)
6:00 PM
Cat fans are mewling relentlessly to get that 1st win and ring the Bell. They are unanimously expecting to cross that chasm this week in the bustling metropolis of Boiling Springs, NC. BUT…not so fast, my feline friends. “WHAT?” FUBeAR hears emanating from the Whee. Sorry, y’all need to study the opponent’s game notes & learn your history lessons. G-W has Tre Lamb as HC, Taylor Lamb as OC, Dom Davenport as ST Coord, and former Mercer Bear great, Mike Gray as LB Coach. Why does this matter? Welp, that group & 1 of their progenitors have experience whipping/upsetting the Kerwin & Kade Bell Kombo when they brought the, respectively, HC’d & QB’d by Jacksonville Dolphins into Macon in 2013. Those Bears were not as talented as their Fish, just as these Runnin’ Bulldogs aren’t as fine-furred as these Cats of TeamBell. The Cats aren’t going to be happy, but that 1st ringing of the Bell has to wait 1 more week, at least. Bulldogs channel 2013 and match that same upset score…take solace tho, Cats fans, that Jax @ Mercer game is Top 5 fun & exciting Football games FUBeAR has ever seen…and FUBeAR has seen A LOT of Football games. So, you’ll enjoy the game, if not the outcome.

Gardner-Webb 45 - WCU 42





FUBeAR, I fear you may be right. Apparently we've suffered quite the injuries on our offensive line which was already a bit thin. So, this could easily end up being that fine line between winning and just missing by only a few points.

[Reign of Terrier]

I'll teach you how to quote piece by piece:


A few thoughts from Hooty in reply to the Wofford Novel(i would quote the entire thing but its way too long)

"KSU can beat the **** out of us because we aren't good, but they won't beat the **** out of NDSU, and Wofford would be the same way sticking to the option) and so moving away from it is a good call to take us to the next level..."

-Seriously, This is your logic for moving away from the option? That you can't blow out the Bison with it? News Flash, No one has blown out the Bison with any system in over a decade. NDST is a FBS in all but name.


My point is, you get to a certain point in the playoffs and the option just doesn't work. It has a hard time scoring 30 points in the playoffs past the second round. That's been true of every option team in the last 20 years. Not just Wofford or Kennesaw, but Georgia Southern as well



"I think KSU is about as good as they always are (not as good as they were in 2018 or so, but still at least a round of 16 or quarterfinalist team"

-Repeat after me, Perennial Playoff Contender.


Young one, you've made the playoffs three times. Good for you! Wofford's made it 10. After the 6th or 7th time, you realize there's nuance between those who make it and those who make it deep. Right now, I don't see much of a difference in the aggregate between KSU, JSU, Wofford, and others in the southeast. KSU has beaten JSU and Wofford, but they have more in common with them than SDSU or NDSU or even SHSU.

The biggest, most accurate criticism of KSU right now is that they've only beaten Wofford and JSU over the last few years (and Samford too), but much like Wofford/JSU/Samford doesn't show up when they play the top 8 or so football programs. I'd love to think this is different now and KSU's just that good now, but I have more reason to think Wofford is bad.


"In this way, Wofford's not *bad* we're just not great. We're maybe average. I think we have the highest ceiling of any team in the Socon."
Wofford is terrible. You have no identity. No talent. ETSU/Furman will blow you out.



Normally, when my team beats another by 3 touchdowns, I'd like to hope the other team was good and thus we are good.


"KSU is a great program, and their defense is probably schematically more aggressive than ours ever was under Ayers or Conklin, but in many ways they are "the new Wofford" (tough defense, top 15 program, option-run team)."

KSU is not the "New Wofford." We have 39,000 more students. We're in the middle of the most fertile recruiting ground in the country. Our celling is similar to Coastal and Liberty. Fellow Big South schools who eventually went FBS.



Your attendance numbers are more like Wofford, and Wofford won more playoff games than both Coastal and liberty combined (almost twice as many), so I believe calling you the new Wofford is totally a fair comparison. Kennesaw State won't go FBS for another decade or more. And even then, your stadium isn't big enough, your attendance isn't great, and in about a decade or so, every FBS conference will have an in on the Atlanta market, so I don't really think there's much going on there.

I'm not saying this to be mean, but I'm telling you, by FCS standards, you'd rather be compared to Wofford than Coastal or Liberty.


"I can't reiterate how much Conklin has broken me"

My good fellow, It is not Conklin who has broken you. But THE Kennesaw State University. Have you ever seen the Temple of Doom when the villain rips the guy's heart out? That is what happened in Spartanburg, SC last Saturday.

Hoot Out.




No.

[The Cats]

A few thoughts from Hooty in reply to the Wofford Novel(i would quote the entire thing but its way too long)

"KSU can beat the **** out of us because we aren't good, but they won't beat the **** out of NDSU, and Wofford would be the same way sticking to the option) and so moving away from it is a good call to take us to the next level..."

-Seriously, This is your logic for moving away from the option? That you can't blow out the Bison with it? News Flash, No one has blown out the Bison with any system in over a decade. NDST is a FBS in all but name.

"I think KSU is about as good as they always are (not as good as they were in 2018 or so, but still at least a round of 16 or quarterfinalist team"

-Repeat after me, Perennial Playoff Contender.

"In this way, Wofford's not *bad* we're just not great. We're maybe average. I think we have the highest ceiling of any team in the Socon."
Wofford is terrible. You have no identity. No talent. ETSU/Furman will blow you out.

"KSU is a great program, and their defense is probably schematically more aggressive than ours ever was under Ayers or Conklin, but in many ways they are "the new Wofford" (tough defense, top 15 program, option-run team)."

KSU is not the "New Wofford." We have 39,000 more students. We're in the middle of the most fertile recruiting ground in the country. Our celling is similar to Coastal and Liberty. Fellow Big South schools who eventually went FBS.

"I can't reiterate how much Conklin has broken me"

My good fellow, It is not Conklin who has broken you. But THE Kennesaw State University. Have you ever seen the Temple of Doom when the villain rips the guy's heart out? That is what happened in Spartanburg, SC last Saturday.

Hoot Out.

Hoot, it seems to me Wofford is living in your head rent free. Do us all a favor, for future Wofford rants, do it on the Wofford board... http://woffordfans.com/forums/

[Reign of Terrier]

If he posts there, he will get banned. I know because I'm the sole mod (you could say dictator) of that board. And unlike AGS and ursus, I don't pretend to have that forum be an open dialogue for all who come as they are. There is no TOS, but we usually don't have any problems. So trolls aren't allowed.

We haven't had any trouble on that board other than some folks throwing profanity at the head coach, but I'm more than willing to flex my Saddam Hussein powers there, if tested.

[ElCid]

Well, so far, ETSU looks real good, Furman still sucks, can't believe how bad they are, and VMI looking better. Turnovers killing Furman and Wofford, and Samford for that matter..

[Reign of Terrier]

Wofford isn't good. We can run the ball well and our QB plays is a little better than last week, but our defense is just not good. I don't feel confident in any games going forward.

It's amazing that Conklin inherited a great program and lots of talent, but basically ran it into the ground.

[Reign of Terrier]

Wofford will be lucky to win 5 games this year.

[BlackNGoldR3v0lut10n]

TL;DR losing sucks, but it sucks worse when your coach is kind of a con man. I'm perfectly fine with 7-4/8-3 seasons finishing second/third in the socon. But damn, let the games be fun and competitive, and don't promise me progress and give me regression while padding your resume to get out of town.

/rant
(Big Brother hat on) I know the feeling all too well. Big Brother has had con man after con man take their turn at being the HC and it progressively got worse and worser. Heupel has a mess to cleanup and he is quite possibly the first coach in a month of Sundays that does not strike me as a con man. Your head coach was on Derek Dummy's staff in Dummy's last year so he kinda learned from the best.

[Reign of Terrier]

(Big Brother hat on) I know the feeling all too well. Big Brother has had con man after con man take their turn at being the HC and it progressively got worse and worser. Heupel has a mess to cleanup and he is quite possibly the first coach in a month of Sundays that does not strike me as a con man. Your head coach was on Derek Dummy's staff in Dummy's last year so he kinda learned from the best.

ETSU is going to pile drive us next week. We're about to face the best team on our schedule next week and I don't think most Wofford fans are emotionally prepared for another 38-14 loss.

[BlackNGoldR3v0lut10n]

ETSU is going to pile drive us next week. We're about to face the best team on our schedule next week and I don't think most Wofford fans are emotionally prepared for another 38-14 loss.

Wofford is the only SoCon opponent ETSU has yet to best since their return. You could be right that will no longer be the case in several days.

[ElCid]

Crazy finish in ETSU and Samford game. Still going....

[MUfan]

Crazy finish in ETSU and Samford game. Still going....

I hope they play as many overtimes as possible.

[ElCid]

This game is epic.

[ETSUfan1]

Good thing ETSU developed a passing offense. BUCS win in OT.

[BlackNGoldR3v0lut10n]

Watched a good chunk of the second half on ESPN+. Saw where Samford dedicated their field to the late Bobby Bowden (Kadoos to them). ETSU did not give up at all when they were down by 9 (33-24). Two huge kickoff returns got the Bucs back in the game. Samford has a great team who gave a great effort. Somewhere in Heaven Bobby Bowden watched that game with a smile on his face. He would be proud of the effort put out by his alma mater.

[Milktruck74]

This week, it appeared that nobody (maybe Mercer) wanted to step up and claim the top sport in the conference. Nailing the coffin and putting teams away is the difference in champions and "also playeds".

[Reign of Terrier]

I'm not sandbagging when I say that if there was a season Wofford goes 0-8 in conference play, it could be this one. Maybe we beat Citadel and Western, but I don't see us favored in any of our next 4.

[BearDownMU]

This week, it appeared that nobody (maybe Mercer) wanted to step up and claim the top sport in the conference. Nailing the coffin and putting teams away is the difference in champions and "also playeds".

xeyebrowx

[FUBeAR]

This week, it appeared that nobody (maybe Mercer) wanted to step up and claim the top sport in the conference. Nailing the coffin and putting teams away is the difference in champions and "also playeds".






APSU
Chatt


3rd
06:41
UTC - Henderson,Regin 14 yd pass from Arnold,Drayton
16
20




Final Score
30
20








Chatt
UK


4th
13:27
CHA - Sears,Aaron 30 yd field goal
16
14




Final Score
23
28



…Seems your assertion is quite accurate.

[Reign of Terrier]

I'm still not convinced VMI is great.

I think the two best teams in the Socon right now are Mercer and ETSU, and Samford is around what they always are.

Wofford and Furman ruined the concept of a three or four bid Socon IMO

[kdinva]

VMI played good with the #2 QB, but again VMI had problem tackling those Wofford backs with the huge thighs and leg drive. And in 2nd half VMI made some defensive adjustments, but Wofford moved away from the running plays that were successful in the first half.

[Reign of Terrier]

VMI played good with the #2 QB, but again VMI had problem tackling those Wofford backs with the huge thighs and leg drive. And in 2nd half VMI made some defensive adjustments, but Wofford moved away from the running plays that were successful in the first half.

Like I don't want people thinking I'm saying VMI is a cupcake (they aren't), but if Kent State was able to run all over the keydets, than Wofford should have too if we were anywhere near the level our coaches claim to be.

Wofford may have outgained VMI overall, but we once again made the second string QB look like Peyton Manning out there, and had another embarrassing (by Wofford standards) defensive game against the ground. VMI completed almost 80% of their passes and ran for over 4 yards per carry. Wofford made Cornell's defense look good. Even if it didn't seem flashy from a yardage standpoint (VMI only had 319 yards of offense), they scored 31 points and did basically everything they needed to do (including converting third and long).

Maybe I'm just too down on VMI for that Kent State performance, but what I'm seeing out of Wofford right now is more in line with the Terriers finishing well below .500 than it is VMI repeating as socon champs.

[walliver]

VMI played good with the #2 QB, but again VMI had problem tackling those Wofford backs with the huge thighs and leg drive. And in 2nd half VMI made some defensive adjustments, but Wofford moved away from the running plays that were successful in the first half.

The second half play-calling was unusual. My general philosophy is that if something works on offense, you keep running it until it doesn't.

I do wish that our running backs could get another 3-4 years after being contained like VMI does.

[SU DOG]

Watched a good chunk of the second half on ESPN+. Saw where Samford dedicated their field to the late Bobby Bowden (Kadoos to them). ETSU did not give up at all when they were down by 9 (33-24). Two huge kickoff returns got the Bucs back in the game. Samford has a great team who gave a great effort. Somewhere in Heaven Bobby Bowden watched that game with a smile on his face. He would be proud of the effort put out by his alma mater.

Thanks for some kind words. The Bobby Bowden dedication video was spectacular and so well done. Bobby might have liked our players' effort, but not the Samford record. We are now 11-12 in the last 3 seasons(2019, Spring, and 2021). Of those 12 losses, Samford had a lead in the 4th quarter in SEVEN of those games. Those games included 7 OT games, and Samford lost 6 of those. Believe me, Coach Bowden would never have had a record like this.

As for ETSU - they are a well balanced basically sound football team. Congrats on the win, and I believe there will be many more to come for the Bucs,

[Reign of Terrier]

Something that may be nothing, but still worth mentioning: I got curious about coaching experience in the Socon, and from the looks of things Wofford and Furman are by far the teams with youngest coaching staffs. Maybe I'm doing an arbitrary cut-off at 40 years old or so, but Wofford and Furman each only have two coaches older than 40 (one of which is the head coach), while pretty much every other team has more like 4-5 coaches in that experience range, and not all of them in "big" positions like OC/DC.

I think one of the problems with both FU/Wofford with what we saw this week is that they're just so young and inexperienced relative to the rest of the conference (party due to Wade Lang's retirement - and I dunno what's going on at Furman), they're not in as great of an advantage as they were 2-3 years ago.

[gofurman]

Wofford @ VMI - Keydets win at home.

Mercer @ Furman - I'm going to say Mercer will upset the Paladins. This Bears offense may be somewhat of a throw-back, and IMO, is difficult to prepare for. Mercer also plays hard, and I'm not sold on QB Hamp Sisson. Interesting game for sure.

ETSU @ Samford - Who has the best balance, and has looked better this year? ETSU, of course. Still, I can't pick against my team two weeks in a row. Maybe we learned how to finish last week. Welch will have to do better than what he has done recently, and so will our defense. Both our QB, and our defense, however, have the talent to do the job. It would be just like Samford to get this win then inexplicably lay an egg some other game. With heart not head I pick SAMFORD.

WCU @ GWU - Catamounts will win and gain the confidence they need to start an upward spiral.

I tout myself as an objective Furman Fan. as objective as a fan can be lol. Furman is strong on D. pretty dang good. three FCS score - beat NC AT 26-18, beat TTU 26-0 (shut out !), lost to Mercer 24-3.. so in three FCS games we have given up an average of 16 per game. thats Strong. Our O , unfortunately, is HORRID. lost 3 - 24. THREE? Our issues are OC - we just got WHOOPED by our old OC (Cronic who is the new HC at Mercer). He OWNED us. and what do you know? When we had him - Cronic - in 2017 we had less talent and yet were a strong offense! F4 wins to 9 irst place offense in the SOcon with less talent. Cronic leaves and is HC at Lenoir Rhyne goes from something like 4 or 5 win season to 9 instantly. Now is HC at Mercer who we last beat 45-10 w Lamb there.. Cronic is now 2-0 against us.

I am obviously worried how much was Cronic a part of Furmans/Hendrix early success?? Cronic even said that when he had that year at Furman we didn't have the backs that could get the edges. We do now... but we can't do shizzl... mother of pearl.

Put it this way - the O/U totl offshore on Furman Mercer was 51. The resulting total was 27 at Mercer winning 24-3. We got da D .. have no O.

The O issues are 1) OC. 2) OL but OL is young (almost all freshan and soph and jun).. 3) QB - we have one , Sisson, who makes decisions but is inconsistent in his passes accuracy.. we tried a true freshman who looks electric running but is prone to the freshman mistakes of throwing in a crowd etc. QB can be remedied in time ... so can OL.. OC can require a hard decision. I honestly think FU has talent (you can see I will criticize where necessary) but wtih the OC we have may only win 2 or 3 games in conference


Mercer O may be something of a throwback. but IT WORKS - watch the line shifts prior to the play.. oh how I yearn for the days when we did that with Cronic as our OC.
- - - Updated - - -


I'm not sandbagging when I say that if there was a season Wofford goes 0-8 in conference play, it could be this one. Maybe we beat Citadel and Western, but I don't see us favored in any of our next 4.

you could DEFINITELY beat Furman.. and that kills me to say that. Conklin sucking.. our OC sucking

[gofurman]

If he posts there, he will get banned. I know because I'm the sole mod (you could say dictator) of that board. And unlike AGS and ursus, I don't pretend to have that forum be an open dialogue for all who come as they are. There is no TOS, but we usually don't have any problems. So trolls aren't allowed.

We haven't had any trouble on that board other than some folks throwing profanity at the head coach, but I'm more than willing to flex my Saddam Hussein powers there, if tested.

Reign, you are a pretty good man.. I post on your board and have never been threatened with a ban EVEN as a Furman fan.. L O L

[walliver]

...
you could DEFINITELY beat Furman.. and that kills me to say that. Conklin sucking.. our OC sucking

I was sorry we didn't play in the Spring. I fully expected both teams to find a way to lose. That may be what we see in two weeks.
Right now, we have "co-Offensive Coordinators" which apparently means no-one is in charge.

As Dabo Swinney is finding out, a good OC can make a tremendous difference.

[Reign of Terrier]

Reign, you are a pretty good man.. I post on your board and have never been threatened with a ban EVEN as a Furman fan.. L O L

It's because you're not a troll ;)

[gofurman]

It's because you're not a troll ;)

lol. I try to,keep it objective. I’ll,probably post there next week. Don’t get me wrong. I seriously want to kill you all. But we are good at D and horrible. Just. Horrible on Ô !!! FCS Scores…. V a good NCATwe win 26-18. Vs bad TTU we win 26-0 w a shut out! Ms a good Mercer we lose 3-24. Score THREE. In three FCS games vs two good teams and a bad team we have only allowed 50 pt. 16 per game. But we have only scored 55 in the same three games. Average score 17 per game on O. Thus 2-1

Ae can be shut down when we have the ball if we don’t make a few completions to get your D out of the box. And right now we are struggling to make those completions more than most years. Inaccurate throws etc. Do we switch to a more dynamic but TRUE FRESHMAN athlete in game 5 w a bye week? Or play it conservative and keep an older QB in who makes better decisions but hasn’t been accurate lately. ?

OVERALL. I honestly wonder but what our academic restrictions are just too much sometimes. I might share more on that next week Know we couldn’t recruit a kid that went elsewhere in SoCon and we coulda had him ( he probably wanted Furman but point is we knew we wanted him and weren’t allowed to,pursue … another school got him. Later we got the go ahead to pursue but too late. :(:(:(

That depresses me. That could put a ceiling on our ability in all years without a top down change

as for next week it could be a “let’s see who loses game”. 😳

[caribbeanhen]

If he posts there, he will get banned. I know because I'm the sole mod (you could say dictator) of that board. And unlike AGS and ursus, I don't pretend to have that forum be an open dialogue for all who come as they are. There is no TOS, but we usually don't have any problems. So trolls aren't allowed.

We haven't had any trouble on that board other than some folks throwing profanity at the head coach, but I'm more than willing to flex my Saddam Hussein powers there, if tested.

Nothing wrong with a irritant. Haha

[FUBeAR]

Nothing wrong with a irritant. Haha
FUBeAR has applied for that position, but RoT rejected my application like it was Josh Conklin’s applying for the GaSou HC job. Shoulda added the stars & rainbows to the envelope, I guess.

No worries…the peeps there, on occasion, copy/paste or quote/paraphrase FUBeAR’s stuff from other venues and self-irritate.

[caribbeanhen]

FUBeAR has applied for that position, but RoT rejected my application like it was Josh Conklin’s applying for the GaSou HC job. Shoulda added the stars & rainbows to the envelope, I guess.

No worries…the peeps there, on occasion, copy/paste or quote/paraphrase FUBeAR’s stuff from other venues and self-irritate.

Is RoT running a Stepford like site?

[FUBeAR]

Is RoT running a Stepford like site?Why would you think that?

WoffordFans Posters KSU Tailgate pre-game ‘Team photo’
https://media.publit.io/file/cuddla/boston-terrier-litter-with-mom.jpg

[Reign of Terrier]

Nothing wrong with a irritant. Haha

I'm okay with some flavors of irritant. I'd like to think I'm a good natured irritant.


FUBeAR has applied for that position, but RoT rejected my application like it was Josh Conklin’s applying for the GaSou HC job. Shoulda added the stars & rainbows to the envelope, I guess.

No worries…the peeps there, on occasion, copy/paste or quote/paraphrase FUBeAR’s stuff from other venues and self-irritate.

If you're having trouble getting approved on the site, PM me here and I'll approve you. Much like the old site, we get more spam applications than anything, but the difference is we have some fancy algorithm approving new users. It's such a small site that it's possible it's malfunctioning and no one's noticed. The good news is that I have Wofford computer science professor helping out with tech support, if needed (he created the site on request of Wofford alumni).


Is RoT running a Stepford like site?

I got volun-told for this position xlolx At one time they emailed my work boss to get in touch with me lol

Don't get me wrong, I like it, I'm the guy Wofford people go to now to talk about sports, but "just when I think I'm out THEY PULL ME BACK IN"

[FUBeAR]

If you're having trouble getting approved on the site, PM me here and I'll approve you.Nah, I’m good.