SoCon 2024 Predictions and Power Rankings - Week 6

[FUBeAR]

SCHEDULE


DATE
AWAY TEAM
HOME TEAM
TIME
LOCATION


10/5
Furman
The Citadel

2 (https://soconsports.com/fb/game/53881_CIT-vs-FUR_20241005/stats/)P

Charleston, SC


10/5
Wofford
Western Carolina

2:30P (https://soconsports.com/fb/game/53917_WCU-vs-WOF_20241005/stats/)

Cullowhee, NC


10/5
VMI
Samford

3P (https://soconsports.com/fb/game/53909_SAM-vs-VMI_20241005/stats/)

Birmingham, AL


10/5
Chattanooga
ETSU

3:30P (https://soconsports.com/fb/game/53975_ETSU-vs-CHAT_20241005/stats/)

Johnson City, TN


Bears basking @ 5-0/3-0 … and healing up. Princetonians comin’ to Maconga next week. Gotta be sharp to keep up with them Ivy League types.

FUBeAR’s POWER RANKINGS to follow…

[bonarae]

Furman - revenge?
Wofford
Samford
ETSU

[FUBeAR]

Furman - revenge?
Yes - for their sadistic corps of bellhops horsenapping & cruelly blinding our beloved majestic live mascot in 1963. #NeverForget

[Reign of Terrier]

Something to keep in mind for the western/Wofford game is that pretty much no one has power. Wofford has canceled classes. Cullowhee was cut off from the outside world. I wouldn’t be surprised if this game was ultimately played in Spartanburg (but i would say that may be unlikely). Either way, teams will be less sharp because it’s hard to say how they’re practicing.

Also, i think the socon is mercer, ETSU, and everybody else.

[caribbeanhen]

Dear Abby,

I had a crush on this girl named Waffy and then she goes out and publicly embarrassed me, after speaking very highly of her at that

What should I do?

Dump her and may the lord have Mercer on your soul

thank you much and duly noted

[Reign of Terrier]

Dear Abby,

I had a crush on this girl named Waffy and then she goes out and publicly embarrassed me, after speaking very highly of her at that

What should I do?

Dump her and my the lord have Mercer on your soul

thank you much and duly noted

This but with Dela and the CAA/CUSA

[The Cats]

Wofford (2-2, 0-1 SoCon) at Western Carolina (1-3, 0-0 SoCon)
Furman (1-3, 0-0 SoCon) at The Citadel (2-3, 0-2 SoCon)
VMI (0-4, 0-0 SoCon) at Samford (1-2, 0-0 SoCon)
Chattanooga (1-3, 0-1 SoCon) at ETSU (3-2, 1-0 SoCon)



Power rankings

1. (1) Mercer (5-0, 3-0 SoCon)
Next: Bye Week

2. (2) ETSU (3-2, 1-0 SoCon)
Next: Chattanooga (2-2, 0-1 SoCon)

3. (4) Western Carolina (1-3, 0-0SoCon)
Next: Wofford (2-2, 0-1 SoCon)

4. (5) Chattanooga (1-3, 0-1 SoCon)
Next: at ETSU (3-2, 1-0 SoCon)

5. (3) Wofford (2-2, 0-1 SoCon)
Next: at Western Carolina (1-3, 0-0 SoCon)

6. (6) Furman (1-3, 0-0 SoCon)
Next: at The Citadel (2-3, 0-2 SoCon)

7. (6) The Citadel (2-3, 0-2 SoCon)
Next: Furman (1-3, 0-0 SoCon)

8. (8) Samford (1-2, 0-0 SoCon)
Next: VMI (0-4, 0-0 SoCon)

9. (9) VMI (0-4, 0-0 SoCon)
Next: at Samford (1-2, 0-0 SoCon)

[wcugrad95]

Regarding the storm, it is my understanding WCU has power, food, water, etc. with even campus restaurants and dining halls open. The problem - getting to Cullowhee. As this was our bye week, I am sure a number of kids who were able to go home this weekend probably did. I can't imagine the game being moved to Spartanburg. If the Cats would be able to make the trip to Spartanburg I wouldn't understand why the Terriers wouldn't be expected to make it to Cullowhee - either team has to make pretty much the same drive. Given the current (and expected bettering) campus/field/stadium conditions, I'd expect game on @ WCU.

[FUBeAR]

SCHEDULE


DATE
AWAY TEAM
HOME TEAM
TIME
LOCATION


10/5
Furman
The Citadel

2 (https://soconsports.com/fb/game/53881_CIT-vs-FUR_20241005/stats/)P

Charleston, SC


10/5
Wofford
Western Carolina

2:30P (https://soconsports.com/fb/game/53917_WCU-vs-WOF_20241005/stats/)

Cullowhee, NC


10/5
VMI
Samford

3P (https://soconsports.com/fb/game/53909_SAM-vs-VMI_20241005/stats/)

Birmingham, AL


10/5
Chattanooga
ETSU

3:30P (https://soconsports.com/fb/game/53975_ETSU-vs-CHAT_20241005/stats/)

Johnson City, TN


Bears basking @ 5-0/3-0 … and healing up. Princetonians comin’ to Maconga next week. Gotta be sharp to keep up with them Ivy League types.

FUBeAR’s SoCon POWER RANKINGS - Week 6
As FUBeAR has spent most of the past week working with his business partner, Simon Bar Sinister, on their diabolical machine to control the weather (not quite perfected yet), he has been immersed in SCIENCE. So, the theme continues…



FUBeAR’s
Power
Rank
SoCon
Team
Massey
Projected
Overall Record
Massey
Projected
SoCon Record
Massey
Projected
SoCon
Win %
Massey
Projected
SoCon
Finish
Massey Projected
SoCon W/L Details


1a
Mercer (https://masseyratings.com/cf2024/4649)
11-1
8-0
1.000
1
Only projected loss is to Alabama. FUBeAR is not prepared, at this time to opine regarding his projection of the outcome of that contest, so he will leave Mr. Masseys thoughts in place, for now. [Unchanged from last week]


1b
Furman (https://masseyratings.com/cf2024/2800)
7-4
6-1
.857
2
loss to Mercer; now “postponed” Samford game is “no contest”


3
ETSU (https://masseyratings.com/cf2024/2321)
7-5
5-3
.625
3
losses now to only Mercer, Furman, and Chatt


3
W Carolina (https://masseyratings.com/cf2024/8742)
6-6
5-3
.625
3
losses to Mercer, Furman, and, now, also ETSU


3
Chattanooga (https://masseyratings.com/cf2024/7809)
6-6
5-3
.625
3
losses to Mercer, Furman, WCU [Unchanged from last week]


6
Samford (https://masseyratings.com/cf2024/6987)
5-6
3-4
.429
6
wins over Wofford, CIT & VMI; now “postponed” game with Furman is “no contest”


7
Wofford (https://masseyratings.com/cf2024/9126)
4-8
2-6
.250
7
wins over CIT & VMI


8
Citadel (https://masseyratings.com/cf2024/1545)
3-9
1-7
.125
8
win over VMI


9
VMI (https://masseyratings.com/cf2024/8450)
0-11
0-8
.000
9
0’fer / 0’fer



- While it’s tempting for FUBeAR to drop Furman out of the top spot in his Power Rankings, with the Paladins coming off a difficult week off the field and still no power on campus, eschewing science in this 1 small instance, FUBeAR just doesn’t have the heart to make such a change. The “1b” notation will have to suffice…for now.

- FUBeAR also sees / believes

….. - ETSU, WCU & Chatt. are in a very tight bunch - just as SCIENCE tells us. Wofford may also belong in that bunch. Chatt @ ETSU & Woffy (see below) @ WCU this week should be highly instructive
….. - Wofford is probably better than Samford and will compete with the 4 Teams directly above them. That said, Mercer provided the PursePuppies with validation that additional redemption for the sin for their previous Coaching hire is still needed. R-FR QB not gonna win the Payton Award this year, but this is a good, well-Coached Football Team that continues to improve. They just didn’t have enough to escape the Bears’ Boa Constrictor Defense / Punting / Field Position game.

FUBeAR’s SoCon Picks - Week 6 … later this week

[Reign of Terrier]

Through 4 games, I would say Wofford’s weaknesses are:

1) Our offensive line is just average. It sounds cynical, but I look at it like we are in year two of a brand new program. We had a running back coach (now at Army!) coaching OL in 2022. The current guy is very good, but the current unit kind of bears the scars of insufficient development from 2021-2022. Sure, we have 2 5th years starting, and 3 returning starters from last year. And sure, we are better than we were last year. But the fact that we have 2 newcomers (true freshman and sophomore who transferred in) starting over like half a dozen OL who have 3+ years of experience here tells you where we are. I don’t view our fifth years as fifth years because they lost 1-2 years of development. Jr. Quincy Hughes is probably the best of the bunch at left tackle. The good news is this can still get better.

2) I absolutely hate to say this because it sounds way too critical of fourth tier college athletes who may not be old enough to drink, but our receivers are just bad. I hate saying that, but they have one job above else (catch the football) and they fail at it constantly. We probably make yesterday more interesting, and Odom throws one less pick if we just catch the damn football.

3) Odom is good, but he’s a young guy and starting to show it against stiff competition. He was definitely trying hero ball and spiraling in the fourth quarter, so it was good that we took him out. He probably doesn’t play that way if his receivers catch his passes and his OL establishes the run.

I don’t really have much criticism of our defense. They can be too aggressive at the point of attack sometimes and as a result miss a tackle on an explosive runner, and they often play bend but don’t break, but they are usually really good at forcing a stop when needed.

If we finish 6-6 or so, Watson will keep his job. If we finish with that record and are still making the same mistakes in a month, he’ll probably be pressured to hire an OC (which he said he wanted to do when he was hired). We have made way too much progress to chunk with an untimely termination, but we clearly need to do some more retooling on offense. Not sure if a 50-50 run/pass west coast system can be successful at this level.

[FUBeAR]

RoT said…

If we finish 6-6 or so, Watson will keep his job. If we finish with that record and are still making the same mistakes in a month, he’ll probably be pressured to hire an OC (which he said he wanted to do when he was hired).If Wofford finishes 2-10, Watson should keep his job, get a fat raise, and make whatever decisions he wants to make about his Coaching Staff in the off-season.

He is the single best thing about Wofford Football right now.

[Mocs123]

Did Furman and Samford play today or did it get pushed to a later date?

[wcugrad95]

Dang ROT - before Saturday you are on record saying Wofford is back and after 1 loss you think maybe the coach who you were so high on now needs help? It was an ugly offensive game but they happen (see WCU vs Campbell). Wofford is light-years better now than they were just a couple of seasons ago. Give it time.

[FUBeAR]

Welp … it seems some of y’all are ready to crown Mercer as SoCon Champions.FUBeAR, channeling a sentient Lee Corso says … “Not so fast, FUBeAR’s friends!”Continuing to, scientifically, analyze SoCon Teams’ results so far AND looking ahead, we can turn to our good friend, Dr. Kenneth Massey for elucidation…. #SoSLivesMatter


Team


SoS Played FCS Rank


SoS
(Played)


SoS Forward FCS Rank



SoS Forward


Avg SoS Rank (Played & Fwd)


Avg SoS (Played & Fwd)


CHG SoS Rank: > is Easier & < is Harder


CHG SoS: < is Easier & > is Harder



Chattanooga (https://masseyratings.com/cf2024/7809)

5


42.26


29


32.65


17


37.46


24


-9.61



W Carolina (https://masseyratings.com/cf2024/8742)

11


39.72


30


32.43


20.5


36.08


19


-7.29



Wofford (https://masseyratings.com/cf2024/9126)

14


37.41


18


34.06


16


35.74


4


-3.35



ETSU (https://masseyratings.com/cf2024/2321)

43


32.00


41


30.68


42


31.34


-2


-1.32



Furman (https://masseyratings.com/cf2024/2800)

47


31.58


52


29.24


49.5


30.41


5


-2.34



Samford (https://masseyratings.com/cf2024/6987)

67


28.46


63


27.81


65


28.14


-4


-0.65



VMI (https://masseyratings.com/cf2024/8450)

75


26.89


38


30.96


56.5


28.93


-37


4.07



Citadel (https://masseyratings.com/cf2024/1545)

94


22.99


55


28.63


74.5


25.81


-39


5.64



Mercer (https://masseyratings.com/cf2024/4649)

103


19.18


70


27.20


86.5


23.19


-33


8.02



Not only has Mercer played the easiest schedule in the SoCon (by far), the hill the Bears have remaining to climb, while remaining the most ‘gentle’ in the SoCon, steepens, relatively, far more than any other SoCon Team, and certainly far, far more than the 6 SoCon Teams whose schedules ahead, currently, are rated easier than that which they have already faced.

2 definite SoCon Championship contenders, Chatt & WCU, face substantially easier schedules than that which they have already endured.

Can Mercer continue their winning ways facing 7 games that, SoS-wise are almost half again harder than their 1st 5? We should note that Alabama is ahead for Mercer and that may skew these numbers a bit. The Tide seems to be rather competitive this season. They would, probably, be favored to defeat even a 10-0 Mercer headed into Tuscaloosa.

Also, we have seen Mercer dispatch 2 of the 3 Teams that have played the hardest schedules so far, and, notwithstanding Chatt’s outcome @ Tennessee, have acquitted themselves rather well in each of their games before Mercer’s Defense & Field Position (Punt & Punt Return) game choked them out.

But week-after-week of facing tougher competition (vs. Mercer’s Played SoS) often leads to slip-ups, injuries, and depth issues.

FUBeAR looks at the data above and says, “Sure, Mercer may be 3-0 in the SoCon, and has already defeated 2 probable contenders, but, besides Mercer, there are still 7 (yes, he said 7) SoCon Teams that appear to have a chance to come out on top.”

Your thoughts on this?

[Reign of Terrier]

Dang ROT - before Saturday you are on record saying Wofford is back and after 1 loss you think maybe the coach who you were so high on now needs help? It was an ugly offensive game but they happen (see WCU vs Campbell). Wofford is light-years better now than they were just a couple of seasons ago. Give it time.

I said at the beginning of the year he’d probably have his job called for had he lost to GW, which was close.

We haven’t scored 28 points on offense in 2 years. Our defense is fine, our team and culture isn’t a dumpster fire like it was 2-3 years ago under Conklin, but this is the longest drought Wofford’s gone without making the playoffs since going D1. People like Watson, but have always been skeptical of him and his system, and he was universally seen as a lazy hire by an AD with an ego who himself should have been let go.

I have never been super duper high on him without conditions. I thought we turned a corner earlier in the season, but I’m inclined to think the Mercer offensive performance is just as much about us than it was Mercer. We have 2/3 of the season to go and we can get better, but if we can’t break .500 and we look this frustrating our new AD who wants to make his first big hire and get in the good graces of football alumni will probably pull the trigger.

[Mocs123]

Welp … it seems some of y’all are ready to crown Mercer as SoCon Champions.

FUBeAR, channeling a sentient Lee Corso says … “Not so fast, FUBeAR’s friends!”

Continuing to, scientifically, analyze SoCon Teams’ results so far AND looking ahead, we can turn to our good friend, Dr. Kenneth Massey for elucidation…. #SoSLivesMatter




Team


SoS Played FCS Rank


SoS


SoS Forward FCS Rank


SSF


Avg SoS Rank (Played & Fwd)


Avg SoS (Played & Fwd)


CHG SoS Rank: > is Easier & < is Harder


CHG SoS: < is Easier & > is Harder



Chattanooga (https://masseyratings.com/cf2024/7809)

5


42.26


29


32.65


17


37.46


24


-9.61



W Carolina (https://masseyratings.com/cf2024/8742)

11


39.72


30


32.43


20.5


36.08


19


-7.29



Wofford (https://masseyratings.com/cf2024/9126)

14


37.41


18


34.06


16


35.74


4


-3.35



ETSU (https://masseyratings.com/cf2024/2321)

43


32.00


41


30.68


42


31.34


-2


-1.32



Furman (https://masseyratings.com/cf2024/2800)

47


31.58


52


29.24


49.5


30.41


5


-2.34



Samford (https://masseyratings.com/cf2024/6987)

67


28.46


63


27.81


65


28.14


-4


-0.65



VMI (https://masseyratings.com/cf2024/8450)

75


26.89


38


30.96


56.5


28.93


-37


4.07



Citadel (https://masseyratings.com/cf2024/1545)

94


22.99


55


28.63


74.5


25.81


-39


5.64



Mercer (https://masseyratings.com/cf2024/4649)

103


19.18


70


27.20


86.5


23.19


-33


8.02




Not only has Mercer played the easiest schedule in the SoCon (by far), the hill the Bears have remaining to climb, while remaining the most ‘gentle’ in the SoCon, steepens, relatively, far more than any other SoCon Team, and certainly far, far more than the 6 SoCon Teams whose schedules ahead, currently, are rated easier than that which they have already faced.

2 definite SoCon Championship contenders, Chatt & WCU, face substantially easier schedules than that which they have already endured.

Can Mercer continue their winning ways facing 7 games that, SoS-wise are almost half again harder than their 1st 5?

We should note that Alabama is ahead for Mercer and that may skew these numbers a bit. The Tide seems to be rather competitive this season.

Also, we have seen Mercer dispatch 2 of the 3 Teams that have played the hardest schedules so far, and, notwithstanding Chatt’s outcome @ Tennessee, have acquitted themselves rather well in each of their games before Mercer’s Defense & Field Position (Punt & Punt Return) game choked them out.

But week-after-week of facing tougher competition (vs. Mercer’s Played SoS) often leads to slip-ups, injuries, and depth issues.

FUBeAR looks at the data above and says, “Sure, Mercer may be 3-0 in the SoCon, and has already defeated 2 probable contenders, but, besides Mercer, there are still 7 (yes, he said 7) SoCon Teams that appear have a chance to come out on top.”

Your thoughts on this?

Interesting analysis FUBeAR.......Mercer has played an easy schedule, and to be honest, I thought that the Mocs would be able to exploit that - and despite a few coulda-woulda-shoulda moments for the Mocs, the Bears prevailed in that game and really did so by dominating the LOS on defense and stifling the Mocs running game - something I certainly didn't expect to happen. The Bears defense is legit and if nothing else, that will win them a bunch of football games. Personally, I don't think anyone goes through the SoCon unscathed so there is still a chance for the rest of teams, including the Mocs (though they now need help), but Mercer has certainly put themselves in the drivers seat at this point.

Wofford and ETSU have been surprises in the SoCon this season - both seemingly vastly improved over last season. Furman and Samford have been disappointing - though I doubt any SoCon team is looking to play either of them. The Paladins lost quite a bit from last years team and perhaps we should have seen this more as a rebuilding year but of course we ranked them high to begin the season - largely based on last year and overall program quality.

The Mocs - I thought they'd be really good, perhaps they can still be. The schedule didn't do us any favors this season playing two FBS schools early and then starting SoCon play with the hottest team in the SoCon. I wonder what would have happened if we'd played someone like Gardner-Webb instead of Georgia State (who we should have beaten anyways) and started the SoCon off with someone else. Starting the season 0-3 might make the hole too deep to dig out of and could have phycological impacts on the team and the fans.

[FUBeAR]

MOCS123 said

Starting the season 0-3 might make the hole too deep to dig out of and could have phycological impacts on the team...Nah…

FUBeAR was worried about that as he recalled the Mocs ChattaQuitta days, but spiraling Teams don’t do what Chatt did Saturday; regardless of the competition.

Thinking we gonna see an epic (yet typical) SoCon battle in Johnson City this week!

[FUBeAR]

I said at the beginning of the year he’d probably have his job called for had he lost to GW, which was close.

We haven’t scored 28 points on offense in 2 years. Our defense is fine, our team and culture isn’t a dumpster fire like it was 2-3 years ago under Conklin, but this is the longest drought Wofford’s gone without making the playoffs since going D1. People like Watson, but have always been skeptical of him and his system, and he was universally seen as a lazy hire by an AD with an ego who himself should have been let go.

I have never been super duper high on him without conditions. I thought we turned a corner earlier in the season, but I’m inclined to think the Mercer offensive performance is just as much about us than it was Mercer. We have 2/3 of the season to go and we can get better, but if we can’t break .500 and we look this frustrating our new AD who wants to make his first big hire and get in the good graces of football alumni will probably pull the trigger.
FUBeAR has never led the turnaround of a Football Team, but he has led several business / operations turnarounds & startups (much easier than a turnaround) - from CA to NJ to SC, and GA. Every one of them is equivalent to overhauling the engine of a 1980 AMC Pacer while it’s going 90 mph in traffic on I-75 between ATL & Chattanooga. It’s soul-sucking.

FUBeAR doesn’t know Coach Watson nor have any ‘special connection’ to him, but that man took over a manure-fueled dumpster fire during a CAT 4 hurricane, and IMMEDIATELY, showed significant improvement.

Just cutting out a cancer tumor can, on occasion, stop its spread, but leaves an open wound, and, likely, many other metastasized smaller tumors. It takes a miracle-worker to heal, rehabilitate, and, hopefully, cure the patient. And, in most cases, takes years of careful medical attention and therapy.

Dr. Watson has been Woffy’s Hippocrates.

Cutting him loose would require stupidity and arrogance of almost unfathomable proportion.

BUT…it is Woffy … so you are prolly right.

[wcugrad95]

With Mercer jumping out to such a fast start in SOCON play, pretty much all the teams have to treat the rest of their games as the playoffs. That is especially true for Wofford and Chatt since they don’t get to play the Bears again. Citadel already has 2 conference losses, and 4 of us still haven’t played a conference game. With Mercer off and then playing an OOC game next, we could either have the race tighten up or we could see Mercer way out in front over the next 2 weekends.

Or we could see more fallout from post-storm recovery and see even more games postponed that would make the whole thing even more chaotic. I know some schools have cancelled classes for some or most of this week (WCU has, and think I heard Wofford has - anybody else like ETSU, UTC, or Furman???).

I think all games will be played this weekend, but expect poor attendance and possibly distracted coaches and players.

[FUBeAR]

I know some schools have cancelled classes for some or most of this week (WCU has, and think I heard Wofford has - anybody else like ETSU, UTC, or Furman???).
Furman closed through, at least, Wednesday. Heard somewhere, Duke Energy estimated they should have power restored to most in GVL area by Friday.

[Reign of Terrier]

Here's the thing when it comes to digging a deep hole if you're a socon team in the last 10 years or so (I'm not going back further because that was the App/GSU era and because the playoff format was different).

It's 100% possible to win the SoCon starting 0-1 in conference play (Wofford did it in 2019). It's possible to make the playoffs after stumbling out the gate. But if you're Chattanooga, 2-3 obstacles stick out:

1) the one team that has been screwed the most by the playoff committee in a 12 game season is Chatt, who I think alongside Wofford in 2002 (different era!) that won 8 games and was left out of the playoffs.

2) 1-3, for playoff purposes isn't insurmountable. But there have been *no* playoff teams for the socon in the last decade that started 1-4. That's why this weekend with Western, Furman, and Chatt are super important. My going theory with the 1-4 bit is that early season games tend to weigh less as the season goes on, and that a lot of times teams play tough OOC games or multiple FBS teams. But when you get that fourth loss, it suggests something a little deeper than inconvenient scheduling. Having said that, I would think Chatt has the best chance to rally of the teams with less than 2 wins.

3) With that said, I think losing to Mercer so early will hurt Chatt for socon championship purposes. Wofford was able to rally in 2019 because we were legitimately trying out new things and Samford was not good that year (had we played in October, we'd probably have won). I could see Mercer stumbling against, I dunno, maybe Samford/ETSU, but not both. They would still have a tie breaker over Chatt.

All the more important to win more so they're in the conversation for a 3 way tie.

To be honest, I think the best playoff situation for the socon in terms of league standing looks something like:
1) Mercer 7-1 (10-2)
2) ETSU 7-1 (9-3) (or even 6-2, 8-4)
3) UTC 6-2 (8-4)
4) Wofford 6-2 (8-4) (or even 5-3/7-5)

I think Wofford has the best chance of sneaking in at 7-5 with our win over Richmond and our tough showing against W&M (who I don't think is going to have trouble in the CAA). As much as it would bug me, Wofford being the fourth team is probably best for the conference - I think they are the only team with a shot at 7-5.

The citadel could also get there, but sitting at 2-3 with a D2 win in a 12 game year, they're basically going to have to run the table. I'll be honest, I don't see that happening.

If you're western, Samford, and Furman, sure you have a lot to play for still, but each has an albatross loss (CSU, WGU, Campbell) that emits red flags for the committee. It may be good for you and your team to succeed, but it's best for the conference for a coherent rank order and narrative. IE: Furman losing to Wofford last year was bad for the conference

[FUBeAR]

Here's the thing when it comes to digging a deep hole if you're a socon team in the last 10 years or so (I'm not going back further because that was the App/GSU era and because the playoff format was different).

It's 100% possible to win the SoCon starting 0-1 in conference play (Wofford did it in 2019). It's possible to make the playoffs after stumbling out the gate. But if you're Chattanooga, 2-3 obstacles stick out:

1) the one team that has been screwed the most by the playoff committee in a 12 game season is Chatt, who I think alongside Wofford in 2002 (different era!) that won 8 games and was left out of the playoffs.

2) 1-3, for playoff purposes isn't insurmountable. But there have been *no* playoff teams for the socon in the last decade that started 1-4. That's why this weekend with Western, Furman, and Chatt are super important. My going theory with the 1-4 bit is that early season games tend to weigh less as the season goes on, and that a lot of times teams play tough OOC games or multiple FBS teams. But when you get that fourth loss, it suggests something a little deeper than inconvenient scheduling. Having said that, I would think Chatt has the best chance to rally of the teams with less than 2 wins.

3) With that said, I think losing to Mercer so early will hurt Chatt for socon championship purposes. Wofford was able to rally in 2019 because we were legitimately trying out new things and Samford was not good that year (had we played in October, we'd probably have won). I could see Mercer stumbling against, I dunno, maybe Samford/ETSU, but not both. They would still have a tie breaker over Chatt.

All the more important to win more so they're in the conversation for a 3 way tie.

To be honest, I think the best playoff situation for the socon in terms of league standing looks something like:
1) Mercer 7-1 (10-2)
2) ETSU 7-1 (9-3) (or even 6-2, 8-4)
3) UTC 6-2 (8-4)
4) Wofford 6-2 (8-4) (or even 5-3/7-5)

I think Wofford has the best chance of sneaking in at 7-5 with our win over Richmond and our tough showing against W&M (who I don't think is going to have trouble in the CAA). As much as it would bug me, Wofford being the fourth team is probably best for the conference - I think they are the only team with a shot at 7-5.

The citadel could also get there, but sitting at 2-3 with a D2 win in a 12 game year, they're basically going to have to run the table. I'll be honest, I don't see that happening.

If you're western, Samford, and Furman, sure you have a lot to play for still, but each has an albatross loss (CSU, WGU, Campbell) that emits red flags for the committee. It may be good for you and your team to succeed, but it's best for the conference for a coherent rank order and narrative. IE: Furman losing to Wofford last year was bad for the conference
Ooohh … FUBeAR has chills.

When RoT does a SoCon macro-perspective, there is a lot of Brazilian buffet of meat on the bone.

The in-depth Woffy-only takes … vegan.

[Mocs123]

anybody else like ETSU, UTC, or Furman???.


UTC and local high schools are in session today. Chattanooga was fortunate and really avoided the brunt of it. We got between 5" and 7" of rain depending on what part of town you were in but overall we got out OK. Further north and east of here - areas like Newport and Greenville, TN really got hammered, and of course western NC and SC - we were lucky being just a little too far west to get the worst of it.

[Reign of Terrier]

FUBeAR has never led the turnaround of a Football Team, but he has led several business / operations turnarounds & startups…

Just cutting out a cancer tumor can, on occasion, stop its spread, but leaves an open wound, and, likely, many other metastasized smaller tumors. It takes a miracle-worker to heal, rehabilitate, and, hopefully, cure the patient. And, in most cases, takes years of careful medical attention and therapy.

Watson, has been Woffy’s Hippocrates.

Cutting him loose would require stupidity and arrogance of almost unfathomable proportion.

BUT…it is Woffy … so you are prolly right.

Context is everything. We have way too many examples at the FCS level of a coach coming in and either building his own foundation overnight and showing competitiveness overnight - even if the wins don’t stack immediately. Huesman at Chattanooga, Hendrix at Furman, Lamb at ETSU/GW, Chadwell at CSU. Heck, even Cronic (who had more to build on than these guys) added an edge overnight.

That hasn’t been the case with Watson. There’s been nothing but waiting and shuffling of the coaching staff. We have improved on defense, but on offense we have the same problems as we did in 2022/2023. Insufficiently dominant OL, and receivers who can’t catch. We have a QB and a decent run game (and even then that doesn’t show in the stats), but that’s a pretty low bar. Fans can tolerate losing 8 games if you’re losing by a score and racking up 20-30 points per game probably more than they can losing 7 but being unable to score 30. Heck, losing 7 games because you can’t score 20 is even worse (which is kind of what happened last year)

I’m one of the more pro-Watson terrier fans and I’ve kind of made myself a fool over the last 18 months defending him. I’m rooting for him to succeed, but all of the arguments defending him in the absence of winning big games is “he inherited a mess” and “wait until his system takes hold.”

Well…we’re 3 years into his offensive system and our receivers can’t catch. We lack rhythm on offense, and have started pretty much every game with consecutive 3 and outs. I watch a lot of football, and I don’t think i have seen anything like it. The bull case is “we’re getting better, just have to work the bugs out” but it’s becoming more apparent that the bugs are a feature.

Usually when teams are bad on offense statistically, it’s because they’re overwhelmed or they can’t run the ball. For Wofford, we have all the component parts of a good offense, but we just can’t put them together. At some point that becomes Watson’s fault, and being “not-Josh-Conklin” is not the sole expectation of success at Wofford.

Fans just want to have consistent fun. The Richmond game was the most fun Wofford fans have had in years, and even then you were holding your breath for 45 minutes of it. It’s been a very long time since Wofford came into a game, was expected to win, scored early and often, and you could just enjoy the game without overthinking it. PC was supposed to be that last year. We lost. VMI is supposed to be that this year. If we can’t rally to beat Western, it may not be. We’ll see if the culture change is truly here this week against Western.

Wofford has had 5-6 and 3-8 seasons where we had games like that. I’m not sure a 4-8 or 5-7 Wofford team emits the same vibe.

[Reign of Terrier]

Did Furman and Samford play today or did it get pushed to a later date?

My guess is that they will only play the game if neither makes the playoffs on thanksgiving weekend.

[gofurman]

My guess is that they will only play the game if neither makes the playoffs on thanksgiving weekend.

Sadly, I agree and even think that is my hope... If we don't make playoffs - which I suspect.. we need game practice. GAMES

[FUBeAR]

Update from Furman - not good news…
https://twitter.com/furmanu/status/1840785817754579377

1 - Furman still without power, closes through Friday

Duke Energy has advised us that their crews cannot begin to restore electricity to campus until Wednesday, at the earliest. Their schedule is unpredictable, as they said in an email to customers, because of the “catastrophic damage … particularly in Upstate South Carolina and Western North Carolina.” There has “never been a storm like this in our company’s history,” with extensive damage to transmission lines and substations. Greenville County Emergency Management reported that as of Sunday night, 75% of the county, including most of our faculty and staff, was still without power, and hundreds of roads are still blocked by trees.

2 - Even after electricity is restored it will take 24-48 hours for Furman’s Facilities personnel to bring campus buildings back online. Today we determined the most prudent course of action is to close campus at least through Friday, Oct. 4.All classes and events are canceled, and there will be no online or asynchronous learning during this time.

We will communicate more information about reopening by midday Thursday, Oct. 3.

[wcugrad95]

I know WCU canceled classes also through Friday. Luckily campus does have power, and everything I have heard so far points to Western hosting Wofford on Saturday. If WCU gets the win I am interested to hear ROT's take about Wofford should they be 0-2/2-3 (and WCU would be 1-0/2-3). I am trying not to project all the way out to the end of the season. At this stage, it could be Western and ETSU squaring off at 5-0 in SOCON play late in the season. Or it could be an 0-5 Western team. I still don't exactly know who the Cats are even after 4 full games.

I'd also say sure it is a technicality, but "officially" Western, Furman, Samford, and even VMI are higher than Wofford, Chattanooga, and Citadel in the league standings :)

[Reign of Terrier]

I know WCU canceled classes also through Friday. Luckily campus does have power, and everything I have heard so far points to Western hosting Wofford on Saturday. If WCU gets the win I am interested to hear ROT's take about Wofford should they be 0-2/2-3 (and WCU would be 1-0/2-3). I am trying not to project all the way out to the end of the season. At this stage, it could be Western and ETSU squaring off at 5-0 in SOCON play late in the season. Or it could be an 0-5 Western team. I still don't exactly know who the Cats are even after 4 full games.

I'd also say sure it is a technicality, but "officially" Western, Furman, Samford, and even VMI are higher than Wofford, Chattanooga, and Citadel in the league standings :)

I’ll go ahead and say that if Wofford loses, I’ll be disappointed. That’s not because I expect them to win easily or that I think Western is garbage, just that if we lose we are SOL. There’s never been a season that was good for us where we lost to Western, and the Catamounts have some serious problems on defense (giving up 400+ yards a game in most of their games so far).

My honest read of Western is that they move the ball, but have a hard time putting points on the board with that. The plus side of their defense has been (for the most part of that) the inverse. Montana was the only one to put their yardage to points. And then Western returned the favor. Full disclosure: I hold Big Sky defenses - with the exception of Montana State usually in low regard. And EWU didn’t make western look good.

All of that in the context that we pushed a much better WCU to go the distance last year, when we were definitely much worse than now.

Put simply, a Wofford loss to Western tells us more about Wofford than Western. WCU’s identity hasn’t changed from last year, so much as they execute a little worse on offense. I don’t see them running the table in the socon, but I would be surprised if they won less than 5 games. To that end, any outcome is unsurprising. Meanwhile, we know Wofford has a solid defense (though WCU’s style will be different than others we have played this season so they may score more than others) and we *think* their offense is better than before than last year - perhaps much better. But we haven’t shown we can score enough to match WCU in a shootout - which we may have to do. With how I perceive this Western defense (admittedly negatively!) and what I saw on Saturday, I would raise the alarm bells if we can’t win.

Don’t ever let it be said i’m not hard on Wofford. I think our performance on Saturday said more about us than Mercer. I hope i’m wrong! There’s a good chance i may be, but until Mercer is like 9 games in and putting up those defensive numbers, i’ll give marginally more credit to the bears. It’s in my team’s interest that I am wrong.

[BearDownMU]

but until Mercer is like 9 games in and putting up those defensive numbers, i’ll give marginally less credit to the bears. It’s in my team’s interest that I am wrong.

This just goes up every week. By week 11 it'll be "if Mercer can do this for 3 more years, I'll believe in their defense." Lol

[Reign of Terrier]

This just goes up every week. By week 11 it'll be "if Mercer can do this for 3 more years, I'll believe in their defense." Lol
Typo! Wofford hasn’t scored 28 points on an opponent in 2 years. Apparently scoring On GW isn’t hard. We have no reason to think Wofford is a good offense yet. Pardon me if i’m a little skeptical any unit can get as good as Mercer has shown practically overnight. There’s got to be a little bit more going on here.

[FUBeAR]

Typo! Wofford hasn’t scored 28 points on an opponent in 2 years. Apparently scoring On GW isn’t hard. We have no reason to think Wofford is a good offense yet. Pardon me if i’m a little skeptical any unit can get as good as Mercer has shown practically overnight. There’s got to be a little bit more going on here.
Does this tell us anything about Mercer’s Defense … or nah…




1 game after Mercer
choked the Mocs out

UTC vs.
“Power Conference”
FCS Team


FIRST DOWNS


Total
29


Rushing
11


Passing
18


RUSHING


Total (Net)
171


Attempts
42


Avg. Per Rush
4.1


Rushing TDs
2


PASSING


Total (Net)
396


Comp.-Att.-Int.
24-32-1


Avg. / Att.
12.4


Avg. / Comp.
16.5


TDs
4


TOTAL OFFENSE


Yards
567


Plays
74


Avg. / Play
7.7




MISCELLANEOUS


Poss. Time
35:05


3rd. Down Conv.
11 of 13


Red-Zone: Scores - Chances
4-4

[Reign of Terrier]

Does this tell us anything about Mercer’s Defense … or nah…




1 game after Mercer
choked the Mocs out

UTC vs.
“Power Conference”
FCS Team


FIRST DOWNS


Total
29


Rushing
11


Passing
18


RUSHING


Total (Net)
171


Attempts
42


Avg. Per Rush
4.1


Rushing TDs
2


PASSING


Total (Net)
396


Comp.-Att.-Int.
24-32-1


Avg. / Att.
12.4


Avg. / Comp.
16.5


TDs
4


TOTAL OFFENSE


Yards
567


Plays
74


Avg. / Play
7.7




MISCELLANEOUS


Poss. Time
35:05


3rd. Down Conv.
11 of 13


Red-Zone: Scores - Chances
4-4




Do we really think Portland State is elite though???

If Wofford had shown me anything to hope for consistent, high level offense in the last year, I would be on the Mercer bandwagon, but they have to push someone else’s **** in to <10 points who has had it more together (ETSU, Western, Samford)

[FUBeAR]

Typo! Wofford hasn’t scored 28 points on an opponent in 2 years. Apparently scoring On GW isn’t hard. We have no reason to think Wofford is a good offense yet. Pardon me if i’m a little skeptical any unit can get as good as Mercer has shown practically overnight. There’s got to be a little bit more going on here.
Oh…and…

OVERNIGHT?

2023 Mercer Defense…
Total Defense #2 (behind SoCon Champion Furman)
Scoring Defense #2 (behind SoCon Champion Furman)
Rushing Defense #2 (behind SoCon Champion Furman)

2022 Mercer Defense…
Total Defense #2 (behind Chattanooga)
Scoring Defense #3 (behind Chattanooga & Furman)
Rushing Defense #3 (behind Chattanooga & Furman)

2021 Mercer Defense…
Total Defense #2 (behind Chattanooga)
Scoring Defense #3 (behind SoCon Champion ETSU & Chattanooga)
Rushing Defense #2 (behind Chattanooga)

THAT’S A LONG NIGHT!!!

[Reign of Terrier]

Oh…and…

OVERNIGHT?

2023 Mercer Defense…
Total Defense #2 (behind SoCon Champion Furman)
Scoring Defense #2 (behind SoCon Champion Furman)
Rushing Defense #2 (behind SoCon Champion Furman)

2022 Mercer Defense…
Total Defense #2 (behind Chattanooga)
Scoring Defense #3 (behind Chattanooga & Furman)
Rushing Defense #3 (behind Chattanooga & Furman)

2021 Mercer Defense…
Total Defense #2 (behind Chattanooga)
Scoring Defense #3 (behind SoCon Champion ETSU & Chattanooga)
Rushing Defense #2 (behind Chattanooga)

THAT’S A LONG NIGHT!!!

flag on the play: Use of superlative stats in place of actual stats. 15 yard penalty. Loss of down.

[FUBeAR]

flag on the play: Use of superlative stats in place of actual stats. 15 yard penalty. Loss of down.
No idea what that means, but FUBeAR does know that you must’ve had your head buried in a bowl of chili at Ben’s Chili Bowl on U Street if you don’t realize Mercer has had a top-tier Defense in the SoCon for the past several years.

[BearDownMU]

Yeah, I don't get the overnight bit. Amongst Mercer fans the general consensus the last 3-4 years was the defense was the strength of our program and was getting better every year.

[Reign of Terrier]

Guys…Mercer was roughly in the same neighborhood of defensive stats from 2021-2023. About 330-340 yards per game, and like 20ish turnovers forced. Mercer now is averaging 224ypg and already has like 13 turnovers forced halfway through the season. That’a crazy! That is overnight better. It would be one thing if it was a gradual thing from 340 to 320 to 300 etc but BOOM falls off a cliff. Unlike other posters, i’ll throw my team under the bus if the evidence supports it, and Wofford’s badness is part of the explanation for Mercer’s statistically crazy numbers.

For perspective, Furman’s defense last year was one of the best in the last decade, maybe two in the socon, and they let up about 315. I went to the socon archives, and the most comparable defense statistically is Wofford in 2016, with like 30 yards more per game (and even those stats are a little misleading as we pummeled a couple start up teams,a d2 team, and got into at least 3 option rock fights that year). I went back to 2009 and Elon was even closer, but that was a weirder time, so I stopped.

Even if defense was the strength of this Mercer program, the intensity of their improvement in the stats implies something else going on here. Is Mercer’s defense elite? Sure. I’ve said as much in other threads. But in a season where you have stats like that, you would guess a standard distribution of outcomes, where Mercer gives up more than the average half the time. Right now, that average is about 220. I think it’ll go up a little. But regardless, Wofford put up 140. We did little better than PC, and we did 130+ yards less than the other socon teams. Bethune Cookman did better than us. That tells us it’s something more to do with Wofford than Mercer.

How is that controversial? It’s very likely that Mercer is really good and Wofford is below average, but for some reason I can’t say that without being nagged. Jeeze.

[wcugrad95]

Yeah, I don't get the overnight bit. Amongst Mercer fans the general consensus the last 3-4 years was the defense was the strength of our program and was getting better every year.

Not here to question Mercer's D as I think it has been pretty good for the last few seasons. My question is about "amongst Mercer fans" - outside of you and FUBeAR who is that xlolx

[OrangeAndBlack]

Not here to question Mercer's D as I think it has been pretty good for the last few seasons. My question is about "amongst Mercer fans" - outside of you and FUBeAR who is that xlolx


33503

[BearDownMU]

Not here to question Mercer's D as I think it has been pretty good for the last few seasons. My question is about "amongst Mercer fans" - outside of you and FUBeAR who is that xlolx

Well, most of them have great jobs and families and find productive things to do with their time as opposed to hanging out here. :D

[FUBeAR]

Even if defense was the strength of this Mercer program, the intensity of their improvement in the stats implies something else going on here. Is Mercer’s defense elite? Sure. I’ve said as much in other threads. But in a season where you have stats like that, you would guess a standard distribution of outcomes, where Mercer gives up more than the average half the time. Right now, that average is about 220. I think it’ll go up a little. But regardless, Wofford put up 140. We did little better than PC, and we did 130+ yards less than the other socon teams. Bethune Cookman did better than us. That tells us it’s something more to do with Wofford than Mercer.

How is that controversial? It’s very likely that Mercer is really good and Wofford is below average, but for some reason I can’t say that without being nagged. Jeeze.
OK RoT - this should make you feel better about Woffy’s Offense …




Opponent


Offense Points vs. Mercer


Avg Offense Points vs. All Other FCS Opponents


Total Yards vs. Mercer


Avg Total Yards vs. All Other Faces Opponents


Rushing Yards vs. Mercer


Rushing Yards vs. All Other FCS Opponents


3rd Down Conversion vs. Mercer


3rd Down Conversion % vs. All Other FCS Opponents


Offense vs. Mercer Points Delta


Total Yards vs. Mercer
Delta


Rushing Yards vs. Mercer
Delta


3rd Down Conversion % vs. Mercer
Delta



PC

10


29.00


137


408.00


-7


80.50


20.00%


47.83%


-19.00


-271.00


-87.50


-27.83%



B-C
0


21.00


166


241.00


29


99.00


0.00%


20.00%


-21.00


-75.00


-70.00


-20.00%



UTC

3


45.00


278


396.00


19


171.00


0.00%


84.62%


-42.00


-118.00


-152.00


-84.62%



CIT

14


19.67


393


301.33


89


125.67


40.00%


37.21%


-5.67


91.67


-36.67


2.79%



WOF

3


22.67


146


345.67


16


104.67


14.29%


31.71%


-19.67


-199.67


-88.67


-17.42%































Avg

6


27.47


224


338.40


29.20


116.17


14.86%


44.27%


-21.47


-114.40


-86.97


-29.41%




The last 4 columns show that the Woffy O encountered, more or less, the same level of difficulty, relative to their other FCS opponents, with Mercer’s Defense, as Mercer’s other Opponents have encountered.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hl2ud9-gU6U

[FUBeAR]

Furman Helene / Operational update…
https://twitter.com/furmanu/status/1840886685296456181
1- Power restored, campus remains closed

Helene and the recovery efforts remain unpredictable. As you might have heard, Duke Energy found a creative workaround that restored electricity to most of campus late this afternoon. This is much-welcomed progress, but conditions in and around Greenville remain dire, and most of the community is still without power, as we communicated this morning. It will still take several days to complete cleanup and repairs on campus and ensure that all buildings are fully operational.

Campus remains closed. There will still be no classes or asynchronous learning this week, and all events remained canceled through Friday.

2 - For students:
•Students may return to campus, but they are not required to do so. Note: WiFi is not available in student housing, and we do not know when it will be restored. Also, power has not been restored to North Village buildings G, H, I, and J. Facilities is working to resolve this as quickly as possible.
•Starting tomorrow, the PAC will open for students between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. each day.
•Support resources, and services, including dining, remain very limited this week and students will continue to receive daily messages from Student Life about what is available.

[wcugrad95]

OK FUBeAR, here are the new numbers plugged into my stoopid spreadsheet. Purely based on points scored/allowed, total yards gained/allowed, all against FCS scholarship teams. Because we had 4 teams not play (WCU and VMI were off and Furman/Samford was "postponed") the numbers look probably even screwier. It will probably not be all that telling until like I said we all have at least 3 or 4 SOCON games under our belts. Not sure what you used for your algorithm to create your rankings, but think you used point differential as a higher factor. Seems like this does at least put Mercer and ETSU at the top.



Team
Games Played
Avg Pts For
Avg Pts Against
Difference
Score Rank
Avg Passing
Avg Rushing
Total
Offensive Rank
Passing Against
Rushing Against
Total
Defensive Rank


Citadel
4
20.00
29.00
(9.00)
8
216
109
324
7
225
200
424
7


ETSU
3
34.33
23.00
11.33
2
166
278
444
1
208
132
340
4


Furman
2
22.00
29.00
(7.00)
7
250
93
342
6
121
249
370
5


Mercer
4
25.25
7.25
18.00
1
189
179
368
5
213
30
243
1


Samford
2
20.50
22.50
(2.00)
4
244
142
385
3
189
144
333
2


UTC
2
24.00
20.00
4.00
3
328
95
423
2
205
171
375
6


VMI
3
15.00
36.00
(21.00)
9
127
147
274
9
286
144
430
8


WCU
3
25.00
29.00
(4.00)
5
267
111
378
4
265
209
473
9


Wofford
4
17.75
22.25
(4.50)
6
213
83
296
8
177
156
333
3

[wcugrad95]

Noteworthy from above. Chatt made a big move forward after scoring 45 points and getting a ton of passing and good rushing yards against Portland State. Mercer is #1 in point differential and defense, but #5 in offense so it will be telling to see how DJ Smith does coming back from injury. ETSU is #2 in point differential, #1 in offense, and #4 in defense.

Like I said - still screwy because Samford is pretty high in the categories and several teams only have 2 data points. But maybe it means something. No idea yet other than Mercer and ETSU would be my top-2.

[FU_Paladin08]

Week 6 Rankings:
Mercer
ETSU
Wofford
WCU
Furman
Chatt
Samford
CIT
VMI


Picks:
Furman over The Citadel
WCU over Wofford
Samford over VMI
UTC over ETSU

[gofurman]

Noteworthy from above. Chatt made a big move forward after scoring 45 points and getting a ton of passing and good rushing yards against Portland State. Mercer is #1 in point differential and defense, but #5 in offense so it will be telling to see how DJ Smith does coming back from injury. ETSU is #2 in point differential, #1 in offense, and #4 in defense.

Like I said - still screwy because Samford is pretty high in the categories and several teams only have 2 data points. But maybe it means something. No idea yet other than Mercer and ETSU would be my top-2.

Same top 2 here

Mercer and ETSU.

Then maybe
Chatt
Western
Woff
Furman
Citadl
Samford

VMI is last

--------------

sadly meaning home field may give Citadel a win over my Paladins... And we may have lost that game vs Samford at Furman? Not sure - which was one I felt better about as we rebuild


finally know a little more about these teams this week: ...one more week from now know pretty much where everyone basically stands
Furman
The Citadel
WCU
Wofford
Samford
VMI
UTC
ETSU

[catamountalum04]

I think the fact that the WCU/Wofford game will be played in the Whee but with no fans allowed in the game it helps Wofford as no fans equals no home field advantage for the Catamounts.

[FUBeAR]

I think the fact that the WCU/Wofford game will be played in the Whee but with no fans allowed in the game it helps Wofford as no fans equals no home field advantage for the Catamounts.
There’s that … AND … the fact that Woffy’s Players are quite accustomed to playing with no fans. :D

[FU_Paladin08]

There’s that … AND … the fact that Woffy’s Players are quite accustomed to playing with no fans. :D

Boom!

[bonarae]

ETSU and UTC unite for a donation drive to help Helene victims in TN.

https://gomocs.com/news/2024/10/2/general-mocs-bucs-week-becomes-about-more-than-football.aspx

[FUBeAR]

A couple of interesting tidbits about the rivalry between the Paladins (GOOD) vs. the bellhops (evil)…

The Furman Paladins take on The Citadel Bulldogs this week in the 104th meeting of the Southern Conference's most contested football rivalry.

Furman (1-3, 0-0 SoCon), which holds a commanding 63-37-3 lead in the series that began in 1919, has won the last three encounters.

[FUBeAR]

Furman update…
https://twitter.com/furmanu/status/1841911597167440097

[ElCid]

A couple of interesting tidbits about the rivalry between the Paladins (GOOD) vs. the bellhops (evil)…

The Furman Paladins take on The Citadel Bulldogs this week in the 104th meeting of the Southern Conference's most contested football rivalry.

Furman (1-3, 0-0 SoCon), which holds a commanding 63-37-3 lead in the series that began in 1919, has won the last three encounters.

And yet, if you ignore ancient history, its still 5-5 over the last 10. I picked Furman in the pick'em, but I wouldn't be surprised if we won.

I still got to see the replay from last week and see what happened. Looks like it was a three point game into the 4th when we collapsed somehow and gave up three TDs on three big plays including a pick 6. Looks like our rushing D was really bad as well. At least our punter is outstanding. He averaged 50 yards. I read he was the equipment manager until he taught himself how to punt and walked on. He is averaging almost 48 yrds a kick. Hope we don't need him Saturday.

[FUBeAR]

And yet, if you ignore ancient history, its still 5-5 over the last 10. I picked Furman in the pick'em, but I wouldn't be surprised if we won.

I still got to see the replay from last week and see what happened. Looks like it was a three point game into the 4th when we collapsed somehow and gave up three TDs on three big plays including a pick 6. Looks like our rushing D was really bad as well. At least our punter is outstanding. He averaged 50 yards. I read he was the equipment manager until he taught himself how to punt and walked on. He is averaging almost 48 yrds a kick. Hope we don't need him Saturday.
Interesting for an Alum of an institution that has long-reveled-in and religiously-revered their role in starting a war over 160 years ago to suggest ignoring “ancient history,” but…anyway…

Here’s how FUBeAR described, on the FU board, “what happened” to CIT in the ETSU game / 2nd half meltdown.


FUBeAR thinks Coach Drayton is doing a fantastic job at The Citadel.

That said, FUBeAR thinks, regardless of the stats and the final score, the bellhops lost that game to ETSU, primarily due to a Coaching decision (with an assist from a typically bad spot from the Refs) with about 4 minutes left in the 3rd quarter.

ETSU leads 13-10…
CIT had converted 42% of their 3rd down tries at this point in the game….
CIT had rushed 22 times for 60 yards (on non-sacks)(~3 yards per attempt), so far, on the day.

3rd and 4 at ETS14 Shotgun Ibrahim,Corey rush middle for 3 yards gain to the ETS11 (Hope,Chris; Henderson,Jayvon).

4th and 1 at ETS11 PENALTY CIT Delay Of Game 5 yards from ETS11 to ETS16. NO PLAY. [The delay of game penalty occurred because they, initially, only had 10 men on the field while lining up for the FG. The decision not to go for it was made as soon as the Officials signaled 4th down. Actually, since the ball was on the hash, the penalty backing them up (should have) helped the Kicker by decreasing his angle]

4th and 6 at ETS16 Barnes,Ben field goal attempt from 34 yards NO GOOD blocked by Sims,Cam [Mercer Transfer] (H: McCall,Jack, LS: Tokar,Nathan), clock 04:16, out of bounds at ETS16, TURNOVER ON DOWNS.
ETSU at 04:16

If you are coming off an 0-11 / 0-8 season; you just played a respectable game against the 5-0/3-0 #11 ranked SoCon Leader; you’ve shown signs of life/success while defeating ChuckSouth & N. GVL, gave SCState a tussle; are at home against a Team that took NDSU to the wire, but also may be exhausted from their travel ordeal; and you have a 235 pound QB who can run the ball, get under center, and has played in 30 FBS games — YOU GOTTA GO FOR IT THERE!!!!

By kicking for the tie, you told your Team that you still don’t believe in them…despite all they’ve shown you so far, in terms of improvement and growth. IFBO, it was a devastating decision. Don’t convert and you’re still down only a FG with your opponent, who had only scored 2x, pinned deep in their territory. Get it and you probably score a TD to take the lead (but can still kick an FG, if necessary)…and your Players KNOW you have faith in them.

Obviously, the game turned from that point forward - going from CIT driving with a chance to take the lead to down 3 scores in about 10 minutes.


Now, in his Monday Press Conference, when the 1st 2 questions were about that decision - Coach Drayton did OWN it…but FUBeAR still doesn’t understand it.

From his explanation, he said that as soon as the drive began he gave the Offensive Staff “a line of demarcation” (a certain yard line, FUBeAR surmises) at which they would go for a 1st Down on 4th Down.

The drive began on the ETSU 32 after an interception by the bellhops. That’s a 49 yard FG, a distance CIT’s PK has made from this season, so FUBeAR will assume Punting wasn’t ever in the equation on this drive unless the bullpups went backward.

So, the 4th Down decision was always Go-Don’t Go binary on this drive. FUBeAR has to assume that “line of demarcation” had to be the 10 yard line. The (bad) spot was on the 11.

So…technically, Coach Drayton had a plan and he stuck with his plan. Props for that - BUT it was still a bad wrong decision and the bellhops paid the price for it.

[Milktruck74]

I think the fact that the WCU/Wofford game will be played in the Whee but with no fans allowed in the game it helps Wofford as no fans equals no home field advantage for the Catamounts.

I kinda get it, but hostile crowd noise is not really the advantage of playing at home in FCS...the advantage is sleeping in your own bed and not riding on a bus.

[FUBeAR]

I kinda get it, but hostile crowd noise is not really the advantage of playing at home in FCS...the advantage is sleeping in your own bed and not riding on a bus.
Agree in most cases, but as FUBeAR was on the Mercer sidelines for the ‘21 de facto SoCon Championship Game @ ETSU, he noted, with the Buc’s (BIG) band and the ETSU students right behind the visitor bench, there were some communication challenges in sideline huddles, calling for personnel, etc.

FUBeAR suspects NDSU’s Offense / Team, that is most used to playing in a silent mausoleum when their Offense is on the field in the FargoDome, and FUBeAR is sure faces no issues with excessive noise / harassment on their sideline during their games there, may have felt some of that in Johnson City.

Mercer has a similar seating design, but they don’t have a band that compares in size / volume to ETSU. Get the Bears another 10 tubas and the number of corresponding band members per tuba … and the Visitors sidelines in Maconga could present a similar challenge.

[ElCid]

Interesting for an Alum of an institution that has long-reveled in and revered their role in starting a war over 160 years ago to suggest ignoring “ancient history,” but…anyway…

Here’s how FUBeAR described, on the FU board, “what happened” to CIT in the ETSU game / 2nd half meltdown.


FUBeAR thinks Coach Drayton is doing a fantastic job at The Citadel.

That said, FUBeAR thinks, regardless of the stats and the final score, the bellhops lost that game to ETSU, primarily due to a Coaching decision (with an assist from a typically bad spot from the Refs) with about 4 minutes left in the 3rd quarter.

ETSU leads 13-10…
CIT had converted 42% of their 3rd down tries at this point in the game….
CIT had rushed 22 times for 60 yards (on non-sacks)(~3 yards per attempt), so far, on the day.

3rd and 4 at ETS14 Shotgun Ibrahim,Corey rush middle for 3 yards gain to the ETS11 (Hope,Chris; Henderson,Jayvon).

4th and 1 at ETS11 PENALTY CIT Delay Of Game 5 yards from ETS11 to ETS16. NO PLAY. [The delay of game penalty occurred because they, initially, only had 10 men on the field while lining up for the FG. The decision not to go for it was made as soon as the Officials signaled 4th down. Actually, since the ball was on the hash, the penalty backing them up (should have) helped the Kicker by decreasing his angle]

4th and 6 at ETS16 Barnes,Ben field goal attempt from 34 yards NO GOOD blocked by Sims,Cam [Mercer Transfer] (H: McCall,Jack, LS: Tokar,Nathan), clock 04:16, out of bounds at ETS16, TURNOVER ON DOWNS.
ETSU at 04:16

If you are coming off an 0-11 / 0-8 season; you just played a respectable game against the 5-0/3-0 #11 ranked SoCon Leader; you’ve shown signs of life/success while defeating ChuckSouth & N. GVL, gave SCState a tussle; are at home against a Team that took NDSU to the wire, but also may be exhausted from their travel ordeal; and you have a 235 pound QB who can run the ball, get under center, and has played in 30 FBS games — YOU GOTTA GO FOR IT THERE!!!!

By kicking for the tie, you told your Team that you still don’t believe in them…despite all they’ve shown you so far, in terms of improvement and growth. IFBO, it was a devastating decision. Don’t convert and you’re still down only a FG with your opponent, who had only scored 2x, pinned deep in their territory. Get it and you probably score a TD to take the lead (but can still kick an FG, if necessary)…and your Players KNOW you have faith in them.

Obviously, the game turned from that point forward - going from CIT driving with a chance to take the lead to down 3 scores in about 10 minutes.


Now, in his Monday Press Conference, when the 1st 2 questions were about that decision - Coach Drayton did OWN it…but FUBeAR still doesn’t understand it.

From his explanation, he said that as soon as the drive began he gave the Offensive Staff “a line of demarcation” (a certain yard line, FUBeAR surmises) at which they would go for a 1st Down on 4th Down.

The drive began on the ETSU 32 after an interception by the bellhops. That’s a 49 yard FG, a distance CIT’s PK has made from this season, so FUBeAR will assume Punting wasn’t ever in the equation on this drive unless the bullpups went backward.

So, the 4th Down decision was always Go-Don’t Go binary on this drive. FUBeAR has to assume that “line of demarcation” had to be the 10 yard line. The (bad) spot was on the 11.

So…technically, Coach Drayton had a plan and he stuck with his plan. Props for that - BUT it was still a bad wrong decision and the bellhops paid the price for it.

Wow. Thanks for the run down. Great insights there. We have gone for it a few times in the same exact situation this season. And made it. Baffling decision. I'm so worn out and tired, I'm not sure I have the heart to even watch it. I'm already drained.

[Reign of Terrier]

Wofford apparently has to make the trip to Cullowhee and back in one day. Ugh. It shouldn't matter being only a 2 hour trip, but at a certain point all of it just sounds better for everyone to play it logistically at Wofford. I know we want to honor home field and all that jazz, but yeesh.

[FUBeAR]

News for Woffy, WCU, and SoCon fans … “rumor” is prolly more accurate than “news” at this point.

Was just listening to the ETSU guys’ (Jay Sandoz & Keith Brake) podcast and they were discussing the Mercer @ Woffy game last week. They mentioned both starting QB’s being out of the game … and then they said they heard that Mercer’s DJ Smith will be OK, especially with a bye this week and a non-SoCon (Princeton @ Mercer) next week…BUT, then they SHOCKED FUBeAR by saying they are hearing Woffy’s Amari Odom has a shoulder injury that may keep him out for the rest of the season.

Now, FUBeAR finds that Jay & Keith (former NDSU media guy) are typically very knowledgeable, seem to have reliable sources, and don’t play ‘fast & loose’ with ‘gossip.’ They are goofy and wrong-headed with their constant negativity about the SoCon (to which ETSU should be counting their blessings let them back in), but they are, generally, top-notch FCS guys.

So, FUBeAR, an amateur investigative journalist and a former professional stalker (that’s really what Executive Search / Headhunting is), was intrigued with this info and decided to look into it.

FUBeAR recalled watching Coach Watson’s post-game interview and Coach talking about ‘pulling’ Odom after he threw his final INT - a bad Pick6 - for his own benefit and to allow him to watch the game / not put him out there in a more desperate situation to further damage his confidence - a solid Coaching decision with a talented, yet somewhat raw FR QB. Well, FUBeAR watched that a 2nd time and confirmed his memory was (oddly) accurate. FUBeAR did notice on his 2nd viewing, though, that Coach Watson gave Mercer, other than their Defensive ALIGNMENT (“8 in the box”), absolutely no credit for their 3-score victory over the PursePuppies. That was disappointing.

So, FUBeAR decided to put on his smarm-resistant Hazmat suit and watch this week’s “Inside Wofford Football.” But…no show. It’s been posted like clockwork every Wednesday this season (except for the PorchYappers’ bye week). So, that was interesting…but, Helene … power outages, maybe nothing to it. Maybe.

Then, back to the ESPN replay. Nothing obvious, but FUBeAR did notice Odom fell HARD while being tackled on his non-throwing shoulder and left the game for a play or 2, sort of holding his non-throwing wing very high & close to his body as he trotted off. But, he came back and seemed OK. FUBeAR thought he saw him grab at that shoulder, perhaps in pain, a few plays later, after a handoff mesh, but it really was not conclusive.

Finally on Odom’s final play - the Pick6 - FUBeAR noticed that Odom quickly grabbed at his throwing shoulder as soon as he released the ball AND FUBeAR noticed that Odom did chase the interceptor and may have been in position to make a diving tackle at him, but he just slightly eased up instead. He seemed to be carrying that throwing arm as he had his non-throwing one when he previously left the game, but again, really not conclusive. FUBeAR did capture a screenshot (below) of when he grabbed his shoulder immediately following the release of the INT, but the quality, after enlargement, is pretty bad. You can kinda see his left arm is across his body and it’s on his shoulder. That is NOT a normal follow-through motion. He never returned after this play.
https://i.postimg.cc/wMZGrZwB/IMG-1386.jpg

FUBeAR then searched the online SparkleBurg Herald - nothing…not even an article on the Mercer game or the WCU game - other than 1 about the No Fans thing.

So…Woffy fans … what y’all got? Jay & Keith talkin’ out of their BucHoles or is Odom injured?

SoCon prognosticators need this info to make their picks!

[FUBeAR]

SCHEDULE & CERTAIN OUTCOMES


DATE
AWAY TEAM
HOME TEAM
TIME
WHAT IT DO


10/5
Furman
The Citadel

2 (https://soconsports.com/fb/game/53881_CIT-vs-FUR_20241005/stats/)P

The bellhops demonstrated vs. Mercer that they can adapt their Offense, if not their will, to do what is necessary to find something that works. In that game, they found chunkin’ it deep was their only hope. If they would have had the will to do that every play, they may have been more successful. Despite the outcome vs. ETSU, they also found some things (QB rotation / p/a passes) that also had promise. The ToySoldiers’ Defense wasn’t horrible against Mercer and was solid against ETSU, save allowing some big runs. They, self-admittedly, just don’t have the Team Speed to compete every play in the SoCon.

Other than missing out on a certain W against Samford, nothing could have been more beneficial to Furman than having another week to improve via practice. The growth from the Paladins unfortunate loss to ChuckSouth to the close loss to #12 W&M has been remarkable. To paraphrase Coach Twain, the reports of the demise of the Paladins are greatly exaggerated. The young and greatly improved Furman Football Team will be on display in The Holy City tomorrow afternoon.

Furman 64 - bellhops 37


10/5
Wofford
Western Carolina

2:30P (https://soconsports.com/fb/game/53917_WCU-vs-WOF_20241005/stats/)

FUBeAR had planned to pick Woffy in an upset here, but the news/rumor of a possible season-ending injury to the PorchYappers very good QB Odom has rendered that unworkable. FUBeAR is relying on the reputation of the ETSU media dudes, but he does reserve the right to change this pick or be held unaccountable (insert your own political humor here, if desired) in the event Odom plays and is clearly not suffering from an injury. Woffy Game Notes show he’s starting, but the SnakeBirds tried to hide Artopoeus’ injury from FUBeAR last year, so we know how that goes.

Without Odom, Woffy is good on Defense and Special Teams (despite their Punt & KoR fails against Mercer), but their mid Offense is definitely sub-mid. KittyCats had a week to lick their fur, cough out some tough OOC fur balls and should be ready to play in front of nobody. That environment will seem like Home for the YardBarkers, but it’s not enough.

WCU 31 - OdomLess Wofford 3


10/5
VMI
Samford

3P (https://soconsports.com/fb/game/53909_SAM-vs-VMI_20241005/stats/)

FUBeAR’s prediction narrative is going to match the excitement level either of these Teams have about this game…







Samford 39 - VMI 12


10/5
Chattanooga
ETSU

3:30P (https://soconsports.com/fb/game/53975_ETSU-vs-CHAT_20241005/stats/)

SoCon Game of the Week - The AvianTrainDrivers FINALLY, in Week 5, had the pleasure of facing a ‘normal’ FCS Defense and they showed their Offensive firepower with about half a hundred points and about 700 yards. Hard for a Defense to stay focused while their Offense is ringing up pinball numbers on the opponent, so don’t be misled, the SoftLeatherShoes is likely to be the best Defense that ETSU has faced. FUBeAR said what he said bizun & lurking Appy fans. Fight him.

That trip to ChuckTown and back last week was hard on the MountainMarauders. The effects didn’t show up Saturday as the Team’s overcome adversity genes were kicking in, but they very well might this Saturday. FUBeAR expects some (understandable) mental mistakes and sloppy play from Coach Lamb’s bunch this Saturday. They’ve had a lot of distractions this week. Mocs will capitalize. In a mild upset…

Chattanooga 31 - ETSU 24


Bears basking @ 5-0/3-0 … and healing up. Princetonians comin’ to Maconga next week. Gotta be sharp to keep up with them Ivy League types.

FUBeAR’s SoCon POWER RANKINGS - Week 6
As FUBeAR has spent most of the past week working with his business partner, Simon Bar Sinister, on their diabolical machine to control the weather (not quite perfected yet), he has been immersed in SCIENCE. So, the theme continues…



FUBeAR’s
Power
Rank
SoCon
Team
Massey
Projected
Overall Record
Massey
Projected
SoCon Record
Massey
Projected
SoCon
Win %
Massey
Projected
SoCon
Finish
Massey Projected
SoCon W/L Details


1a
Mercer (https://masseyratings.com/cf2024/4649)
11-1
8-0
1.000
1
Only projected loss is to Alabama. FUBeAR is not prepared, at this time to opine regarding his projection of the outcome of that contest, so he will leave Mr. Massey's thoughts in place, for now. [Unchanged from last week]


1b
Furman (https://masseyratings.com/cf2024/2800)
7-4
6-1
.857
2
loss to Mercer; now “postponed” Samford game is “no contest”


3
ETSU (https://masseyratings.com/cf2024/2321)
7-5
5-3
.625
3
losses now to only Mercer, Furman, and Chatt


3
W Carolina (https://masseyratings.com/cf2024/8742)
6-6
5-3
.625
3
losses to Mercer, Furman, and, now, also ETSU


3
Chattanooga (https://masseyratings.com/cf2024/7809)
6-6
5-3
.625
3
losses to Mercer, Furman, WCU [Unchanged from last week]


6
Samford (https://masseyratings.com/cf2024/6987)
5-6
3-4
.429
6
wins over Wofford, CIT & VMI; now “postponed” game with Furman is “no contest”


7
Wofford (https://masseyratings.com/cf2024/9126)
4-8
2-6
.250
7
wins over CIT & VMI


8
Citadel (https://masseyratings.com/cf2024/1545)
3-9
1-7
.125
8
win over VMI


9
VMI (https://masseyratings.com/cf2024/8450)
0-11
0-8
.000
9
0’fer / 0’fer



- While it’s tempting for FUBeAR to drop Furman out of the top spot in his Power Rankings, with the Paladins coming off a difficult week off the field and still no power on campus, eschewing science in this 1 small instance, FUBeAR just doesn’t have the heart to make such a change. The “1b” notation will have to suffice…for now.

- FUBeAR also sees / believes

….. - ETSU, WCU & Chatt. are in a very tight bunch - just as SCIENCE tells us. Wofford may also belong in that bunch. Chatt @ ETSU & Woffy (see below) @ WCU this week should be highly instructive
….. - Wofford is probably better than Samford and will compete with the 4 Teams directly above them. That said, Mercer provided the PursePuppies with validation that additional redemption for the sin for their previous Coaching hire is still needed. R-FR QB not gonna win the Payton Award this year, but this is a good, well-Coached Football Team that continues to improve. They just didn’t have enough to escape the Bears’ Boa Constrictor Defense / Punting / Field Position game.

[Mocs123]

I also picked Wofford in an upset on the MocNation board, but if Odom really is out I may need to go revise my choice.

[FUBeAR]

LOL - Check out the logo that “the Official Twitter of the WCU Film Room” slapped on the Woffy helmet.
https://twitter.com/wcufb_video/status/1841553723539259652
Not sure if being disrespectful or just clueless. Either way FUBeAR is here for it…

BTW - Woffy is an Adidas Team and that is NOT a Boston Terrier xlolx

https://i.postimg.cc/HLzHxkVq/IMG-1388.jpg

[Reign of Terrier]

Not sure about Odom. I’m asking around about him. It wouldn’t be the first time Wofford learned about a bad injury or season ending player problem right before a game.

Obviously you want Odom to start, but if it has to be Seely, we ball anyway.

Seely doesn’t have the mobility of Odom or Corriston, and many people may have a sour taste in their mouth over Seely last season. He was not super impressive, but I wouldn’t read too much into it. He was a true freshman thrown into the fire of a team that had little offensive identity. The offensive line last season progressed from below average to average over the course of the season. It’s hard to manage an offense as a newbie if everyone else is also trying to figure things out.

As average as they are, the hope is that the OL uses the rest of this season to take the next step. They aren’t great, but they’re good enough to run the ball behind and take the pressure off Seely. I don’t think they were last year when he got thrown in there.

Seely is a year older, and the reality is that if Watson is doing what he said he’s doing, he should be better; it should be next man up. He didn’t look bad against Mercer. Only about 3 of his passes were bad, including the pick, and even then, it wasn’t that bad - just a little too in front of his intended receiver.

His difficulty, like Odom, will be dealing with receivers who can’t catch. I hate saying it in a public forum like this but our receivers are just bad - they drop the ball way too much. Regardless, In the 3-4 drives he played, I didn’t see anything out of Seely to suggest he couldn’t manage the offense. I mean, it’s not nothing that he had a better completion % than Odom.

Odom going down is obviously bad if it’s true, but there’s also an opportunity. I personally think Wofford’s pro-style offense relies a little too heavily on the athleticism of our players (UTC IMO also has this problem). Put that in contrast to what Mercer runs currently (or ETSU or Furman or a lot of the socon) which IMO is on the opposite side of the spectrum.

It works well at the P4 level (where you can get good athletes), and it can be a thing of beauty at any level when it’s clicking. But when it’s not - it’s pretty damn ugly. I think reverting to Seely may have a “Ewing effect” where our play-calling is pressured to be a little bit better, and the rest of our offense plays a little bit better (our tight ends and running backs have missed way too many blocks). We saw a little bit of this last year after the PC loss and it was clear we weren’t as good as we thought we were.

It helps that we are playing Western Carolina, a team that we almost beat last year, and if coaches have low confidence in Seely, Bryce Corriston (who started the game last year) is still on roster. I don’t think Corriston will start, but I think we will see a lot more of him situationally in his pseudo-wildcat formation. But again, if we truly think Seely is bad, we have a safety valve.

We are going to run the ball. Western Carolina in the last 2 years has not really shown that they can stop it consistently. And if they stack the box, someone on roster should be able to complete the pass. Long story short, if we can get through Western without Odom, we’ll be alright. I expect to curb stomp VMI regardless of this game, so it’s really more about getting better every week. If we can escape Cullowhee with a W, we’re staring down a 4-2 start, which would have us still thinking playoffs.

[Reign of Terrier]

Actually, listening to the aforementioned podcast…it seems kind of fake news? I mean, there could be something there, but they speculated that DJ Smith got a knee injury which was obviously not true (it was an ankle and he was wearing a boot) and that Odom was late getting up off the field, which is also not true and not what FU_Bear saw.

We’ll see tomorrow, but I would have heard on the Wofford board at this point if this was legit. Maybe it is, we’ll see.

For those curious, it starts at 33:08. Mentions he “got late off the field” and talking line of sight that he saw…I mean I would guess if he had sources it would be someone like Thom Henson in the booth at Wofford, but it sounds more like he’s speculating over vaguely skimming the game to this point. I don’t expect everyone to get every minor detail about the game right (especially if they don’t have a vested interest), but it sounds like he was watching the game muted or something and then noticed Odom didn’t come in one drive.

https://soundcloud.com/sandos-and-the-sidekick/jay-keith-episode-152?si=f0fe38266aa44fb38c30239bfe12302c&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

[wcugrad95]

FWIW (and we know it isn’t always worth that much), Odom is listed as the starter on Wofford’s 2-deep.

It will be odd with no fans in the stands, especially at WCU who typically show up strong at 10k or more. This was also supposed to be Family Weekend that would add to the crowd. Now Western has announced classes won’t start back until 10/21 to allow students and faculty time to address and adjust to all the issues the region faces. Our next game is at home against Citadel so it will be interesting to see how the logistics work out for that one.

[FUBeAR]

Actually, listening to the aforementioned podcast…it seems kind of fake news? I mean, there could be something there, but they speculated that DJ Smith got a knee injury which was obviously not true (it was an ankle and he was wearing a boot).

We’ll see tomorrow, but I would have heard on the Wofford board at this point if this was legit. Maybe it is, we’ll see.

For those curious, it starts at 33:08. Mentions he “got late off the field” and talking line of sight that he saw…I mean I would guess if he had sources it would be someone like Thom Henson in the booth at Wofford, but it sounds more like he’s speculating over vaguely skimming the game to this point. I don’t expect everyone to get every minor detail about the game right (especially if they don’t have a vested interest), but it sounds like he was watching the game muted or something and then noticed Odom didn’t come in one drive.

https://soundcloud.com/sandos-and-the-sidekick/jay-keith-episode-152?si=f0fe38266aa44fb38c30239bfe12302c&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
Yeah - listened to that part again and he did say it was Smith’s knee. A bit different though is that he said something like ‘from what I could see’ and FUBeAR doesn’t think they ever showed Smith in a boot. (Yes - Mercer peeps also told FUBeAR that he was in a boot). They did show him with ice on his ankle (pre-boot though)…so maybe he missed that. And with Odom he said ‘he was HEARING’ that Odom might be out for the season. No way could he get that from watching the broadcast. FUBeAR has ‘deep dived’ it and all he saw was as discussed previously - could barely see anything was wrong with him at all …if it was/is.

Will be interested in what you turn up.

[Reign of Terrier]

Yeah - listened to that part again and he did say it was Smith’s knee. A bit different though is that he said something like ‘from what I could see’ and FUBeAR doesn’t think they ever showed Smith in a boot. (Yes - Mercer peeps also told FUBeAR that he was in a boot). They did show him with ice on his ankle (pre-boot though)…so maybe he missed that. And with Odom he said ‘he was HEARING’ that Odom might be out for the season. No way could he get that from watching the broadcast. FUBeAR has ‘deep dived’ it and all he saw was as discussed previously - could barely see anything was wrong with him at all …if it was/is.

Will be interested in what you turn up.

I saw him in a boot sometime in the third quarter when the camera panned on the entire mercer team huddled on the field (i assume during the injury timeout at the beginning).

Again, I’m not saying it’s definitely fake news but the way it was talked about (minor details wrong, selective details right, no clear sourcing) is how fake news is unintentionally formed and spread. I’m also a little skeptical that this little nugget didn’t make its way to the message board before the ETSU podcasters. It doesn’t really make sense to have Western over prepare for Odom when it’s Seely either by being quiet about the injury.

What typically happens with Wofford scuttlebutt is like a dozen people know and then they tell somebody and then somebody posts on the message board. Usually when a player is hurt or suspended or kicked off the team it makes its way there a few hours before the press release.

It’s actually kind of funny because the folks who post on the board are the few hyper-engaged, hyper-connected types. We still have a sense of propriety, so when a lot of the dumb coach and administrative stuff happened over the last 3 years, it was often alluded to as an inside joke that everyone knew but no one would say out loud.

Anyway, Jim Noble also posts on our board, and I expect him to say something today. There’s definitely a little media blackout going on. He normally posts pregame interviews by thursday or friday.

[ETSUfan1]

This game will show how good ETSU actually is. We have had a tough time with UTC lately.

[FUBeAR]

This game will show how good ETSU actually is. We have had a tough time with UTC lately.
ETSU IS really good. They’ve already shown that @ App, vs. NDSU, @ Elon, and @ CIT.

Chatt is good too. They’ve only had 1 real oppty to show that though…and they blew a Big Sky Team out.

UTenn is an NFL-lite Team, GaState is an FBS Team with an SEC win, and Mercer just has a Boa Constrictor Defense that no Team has even come close to ‘solving’…yet.

Top 4 or 5 Teams in SoCon are as good as Top 10 in FCS.

Furman (‘23), ETSU, and WCU have proven it (even w/o the corresponding W’s), but no one will admit / acknowledge it until SoCon Team(s) overcome the ‘gamed’ / biased FCS Playoff structure.

[Reign of Terrier]

So there is something going on with Amari Odom, but it doesn’t look clear yet as of Friday at around noon.

From Jim Noble: “We should get an update on our QB situation soon and will have it on the pregame show Saturday 2pm”

My guess is that it was bad enough to get an MRI but with all the hooplah with floods and hurricanes and power outages that he didn’t get it until late in the week and the extent of the injury isn’t known.

We may get word later today on the message board. Regardless, I would bet on Seely starting at this point.

[kdinva]

Furman 38; The Citadel 20
WCU 33, Wofford 17
ETSU 28; UTC 24
Samford 31; VMI 20

[Reign of Terrier]

If Wofford beats Western without Odom - which may not be great odds but better than most may give - the terriers will be alright this season.

We didn’t need him last year to almost pulled it off, while Wofford is a little better on both sides of the ball, and Western is no better than the same at best.

I’m high on Odom because I see lots of flash and potential. But he didn’t play great the last two games, and we had lots of 3 and outs and mistakes that took points off the board and gave the ball back. Seely didn’t have a great season last year. He’s definitely not an Odom, but I’d say every position group is better than it was last year, which Odom benefited from this year, while Seely didn’t last year.

If we need to play him like a game manager, that could benefit wofford more than people think. Heck, I think Odom would do better if he was treated more like a game manager. Long story short, I don’t have faith in our offensive system, and i think limiting QB freedom is underrated at this level.

[FUBeAR]

If Wofford beats Western without Odom - which may not be great odds but better than most may give - the terriers will be alright this season.

We didn’t need him last year to almost pulled it off, while Wofford is a little better on both sides of the ball, and Western is no better than the same at best.

I’m high on Odom because I see lots of flash and potential. But he didn’t play great the last two games, and we had lots of 3 and outs and mistakes that took points off the board and gave the ball back. Seely didn’t have a great season last year. He’s definitely not an Odom, but I’d say every position group is better than it was last year, which Odom benefited from this year, while Seely didn’t last year.

If we need to play him like a game manager, that could benefit wofford more than people think. Heck, I think Odom would do better if he was treated more like a game manager. Long story short, I don’t have faith in our offensive system, and i think limiting QB freedom is underrated at this level.
https://heatwavevisual.com/cdn/shop/products/QTR_Gold-Rush.jpg?v=1724702880&width=1000

[SU DOG]

And what shade of purple glasses are you wearing FUB when you predict that this Furman Offense can score 64 points on The Citadel?

[TribeNomad1]

Wow, some SoCon smack this Friday PM........that time of the season, finally conference matchups.

[FUBeAR]

And what shade of purple glasses are you wearing FUB when you predict that this Furman Offense can score 64 points on The Citadel?Life … and FUBeAR’s prediculatin’ …

https://unlimitedchoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Life-Moves-Pretty-Fast-Ferris-Bueller.jpg

EXTRA HINT: The answer to your query is already posted within this thread

[Reign of Terrier]

Me: Mercer’s defensive performance against Wofford is a little overstated because Wofford’s offense isn’t spectacular

FU Bear and the Mercer fans: You are hating on your own team to make them look bad because obviously you just hate Mercer.

Me: Pauly Seely coming back isn’t catastrophic because Odom has played up and down this season; our offensive failures are just as much his as our successes. We should be okay so long as everyone on the team improved from last year. If not, we would be screwed anyway.

FU Bear: HOMER

Spot the contradiction…

[FUBeAR]

Me: Mercer’s defensive performance against Wofford is a little overstated because Wofford’s offense isn’t spectacular

FU Bear and the Mercer fans: You are hating on your own team to make them look bad because obviously you just hate Mercer.

Me: Pauly Seely coming back isn’t catastrophic because Odom has played up and down this season; our offensive failures are just as much his as our successes. We should be okay so long as everyone on the team improved from last year. If not, we would be screwed anyway.

FU Bear: HOMER

Spot the contradiction…
Maybe. Is it facts vs. fantasy?

[SU DOG]

Wow, some SoCon smack this Friday PM........that time of the season, finally conference matchups.

Yep, much needed. Tribeman you should have seen it (and maybe you did) back in the old days when Appy and Georgia Southern were dueling it out verbally on here. Now that was some serious SoCon smack.

[TribeNomad1]

Yep, much needed. Tribeman you should have seen it (and maybe you did) back in the old days when Appy and Georgia Southern were dueling it out verbally on here. Now that was some serious SoCon smack.

I remember those days, do not forget Marshall. We had a Marshall poster named Thunders (they were FBS by then) that regaled us when we played them. Quite the character.

[Tribe4SF]

I remember those days, do not forget Marshall. We had a Marshall poster named Thunders (they were FBS by then) that regaled us when we played them. Quite the character.

THUNDERS!!! He was fun. Argued that Marshall was a superior academic school to W&M!

[ElCid]

Wow, some SoCon smack this Friday PM........that time of the season, finally conference matchups.

Furman sucks. They have always sucked. They will still suck at the end of time.

[FUBeAR]

Furman sucks. They have always sucked. They will still suck at the end of time.Suck dis…

https://gopaladins.com/download/file.php?avatar=62_1573096554.jpg
https://data.textstudio.com/output/sample/animated/2/3/5/2/63-34-12532.gif
https://i.postimg.cc/6pCkw8Nf/IMG-1169.jpg
https://data.textstudio.com/output/sample/animated/6/0/5/2/37-29-12506.gif

[caribbeanhen]

So after HR Tyler puffin Huff played at Presbyterian in 2019

why was he not the starter in 2021?

military obligation or hurt?

[FUBeAR]

So after HR Tyler puffin Huff played at Presbyterian in 2019

why was he not the starter in 2021?

military obligation or hurt?
BYOQ by this 1-year (2-9) PC Head Coach https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Kelley_(American_football) … and FUBeAR believes he did tear his ACL in ‘21 about 4 games in, while playing part-time as the backup QB and part-time WR for this Coaching genius. That gave him his 6th year.

BTW…

Rushing


#
Player
GP
ATT
Gain
Loss
Net
AVG
TD
Long
AVG/G


6
Huff, Tyler
5
63
481
36
445
7.1
5
46
89.00


​Passing


#
Player
GP
Rating
COMP
ATT
INT
%
YDS
TD
Long
AVG/G


6
Huff, Tyler
5
152.27
78
116
4
67.24%
1073
5
92
214.60



JSU Cocks started a bit slow under Lt. Huff’s leadership, but have won their last 2 and walloped the FlyingBarnRats last night. Huff had beef with them last year at their place, so he went in there again and blitzkrieg shocked & awed their sorry feathery a$$e$ last night … hung 63 points and 600 yards on ‘em…

Rushing


Player
Att.
Gain
Loss
Net
TD
Lg.
Avg.


Huff,Tyler (https://jaxstatesports.com/sports/football/roster/tyler-huff/6644)
15
176
0
176
3
46
11.7


Passing


Player
Cmp
Att.
Yds.
TD
INT
Long
Sack


Huff,Tyler (https://jaxstatesports.com/sports/football/roster/tyler-huff/6644)
16
25
193
0
0
27
0



That Masters degree he earned at Furman is paying off for him!

Sluka schmuka! You picked the wrong horse. Lt. Huff shoulda been YOUR guy all along!

https://images.sidearmdev.com/resize?url=https%3a%2f%2fdxbhsrqyrr690.cloudfront. net%2fsidearm.nextgen.sites%2fjsugamecocksports.co m%2fimages%2f2024%2f10%2f4%2f10042024_Football_at_ Kennesaw_State-52.jpg&width=1920&type=webp

[caribbeanhen]

BYOQ by this 1-year (2-9) PC Head Coach https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Kelley_(American_football)

BTW…

Rushing


#
Player
GP
ATT
Gain
Loss
Net
AVG
TD
Long
AVG/G


6
Huff, Tyler
5
63
481
36
445
7.1
5
46
89.00


​Passing


#
Player
GP
Rating
COMP
ATT
INT
%
YDS
TD
Long
AVG/G


6
Huff, Tyler
5
152.27
78
116
4
67.24%
1073
5
92
214.60



JSU Cocks started a bit slow under Lt. Huff’s leadership, but have won their last 2 and walloped the FlyingBarnRats last night. Huff had beef with them last year at their place, so he went in there again and blitzkrieg shocked & awed their sorry feathery a$$e$ last night … hung 63 on ‘em…

Rushing


Player
Att.
Gain
Loss
Net
TD
Lg.
Avg.


Huff,Tyler (https://jaxstatesports.com/sports/football/roster/tyler-huff/6644)
15
176
0
176
3
46
11.7


Passing


Player
Cmp
Att.
Yds.
TD
INT
Long
Sack


Huff,Tyler (https://jaxstatesports.com/sports/football/roster/tyler-huff/6644)
16
25
193
0
0
27
0



That Masters degree he earned at Furman is paying off for him!

Sluka schmuka!

https://images.sidearmdev.com/resize?url=https%3a%2f%2fdxbhsrqyrr690.cloudfront. net%2fsidearm.nextgen.sites%2fjsugamecocksports.co m%2fimages%2f2024%2f10%2f4%2f10042024_Football_at_ Kennesaw_State-52.jpg&width=1920&type=webp

So the one year Presby coach decided to go with his Michigan transfer over Lt Huff? or was something else going on here

"In Kelley's debut as Presbyterian head coach on September 4, 2021, the Blue Hose broke two significant passing records in their 84–43 win over NAIA (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Association_of_Intercollegiate_Athletics) member St. Andrews (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Andrews_Knights_football). Ren Hefley threw for 10 touchdowns, breaking the previous FCS record"

i actually watched that game and a WR named Jayln Witcher jumped out as a big talent and later transferred his talents to Delaware in 2022, but he has been buried on the bench for the most part, I'm thinking those 2 big early season games vs lesser than FCS competition padded his season stats

[SU DOG]

Huff did receive a medical RS for the 2021 season after playing in only the first 4 games for Presby. Why he wasn't the starter in those games, I dunno. I did happen to notice his stats from last night, and he is still terrific. Against an admittedly weak KSU defense he was 16 of 25 passing for 193 yards, he rushed for 176 yds and 3 TDs averaging 11.7 yards/carry. He hasn't just been good for this one game, however. For the season he is averaging 89yds/gm rushing, 7.1 yds per carry, and just over a 67% completion rate.

Sorry posting at almost time CH - your details of Huff's success at Jax State, much better with great detail. Great minds...... you know!

[FUBeAR]

So the one year Presby coach decided to go with his Michigan transfer over Lt Huff? or was something else going on here

"In Kelley's debut as Presbyterian head coach on September 4, 2021, the Blue Hose broke two significant passing records in their 84–43 win over NAIA (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Association_of_Intercollegiate_Athletics) member St. Andrews (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Andrews_Knights_football). Ren Hefley threw for 10 touchdowns, breaking the previous FCS record"

i actually watched that game and a WR named Jayln Witcher jumped out as a big talent and later transferred his talents to Delaware in 2022, but he has been buried on the bench for the most part, I'm thinking those 2 big early season games vs lesser than FCS competition padded his season stats
Pretty sure Hefley was a walk-on @ Michigan, but he had played for Kelley in HS…so, made sense on paper … except Huff was/is, BY FAR, a much, much better Player.

St. Andrew’s couldn’t beat Caesar Rodney’s 9th grade Team.

[Reign of Terrier]

Jacksonville State may make a bowl

[caribbeanhen]

Huff did receive a medical RS for the 2021 season after playing in only the first 4 games for Presby. Why he wasn't the starter in those games, I dunno. I did happen to notice his stats from last night, and he is still terrific. Against an admittedly weak KSU defense he was 16 of 25 passing for 193 yards, he rushed for 176 yds and 3 TDs averaging 11.7 yards/carry. He hasn't just been good for this one game, however. For the season he is averaging 89yds/gm rushing, 7.1 yds per carry, and just over a 67% completion rate.

thanks SU DOG, but that Michigan transfer QB played in that first game in 2021 for Presby vs the NAIA team and set those records, but yes Huff had to have been Redshirted.

[SU DOG]

On second look, guess I've got to give FUB credit for the Huff at Jax post. Think I will just drink my coffee instead of posting anymore. LOL!

[caribbeanhen]

Pretty sure Hefley was a walk-on @ Michigan, but he had played for Kelley in HS…so, made sense on paper … except Huff was/is, BY FAR, a much, much better Player.

St. Andrew’s couldn’t beat Caesar Rodney’s 9th grade Team.

gotcha, now things are coming into focus .... The new coach decided to take a hike after year one and good for him as Huff should of stayed the starter

[SU DOG]

Life … and FUBeAR’s prediculatin’ …

https://unlimitedchoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Life-Moves-Pretty-Fast-Ferris-Bueller.jpg

EXTRA HINT: The answer to your query is already posted within this thread

Okay. I am finally beginning to see why these particular numbers mean more than a prediction. I can be a little slow, but I can blame my age for that I guess.

[ElCid]

Jacksonville State may make a bowl

The Tyson Chicken Bowl attended by 11,348 people and watched by maybe a couple hundred thousand on TV as background noise. And they get a few hundred thousand dollar check. Welcome to the big time. Eh.

[Reign of Terrier]

The Tyson Chicken Bowl attended by 11,348 people and watched by maybe a couple hundred thousand on TV as background noise. And they get a few hundred thousand dollar check. Welcome to the big time. Eh.

Let’s be real, outside of one season JSU was 2 and done at best at FCS.

[Reign of Terrier]

Amari Odom out for a while (officially)

[ElCid]

Wow. My Dogs up 10-0 in the first, on who FUBeAR thinks is a team only a hair behind the SOCON leader. I love it. FUBeAR's science was flawed I guessed.

[ElCid]

Furman racking up the yards with 31 total yards with less than two minutes to go in 1st half. Not sure if our D is way better, or Furman's offense really sucks.

[ElCid]

Furman racking up the yards with 31 total yards with less than two minutes to go in 1st half. Not sure if our D is way better, or Furman's offense really sucks.

I'll edit that. Now they have 20 total yards. Nice sack.

[Reign of Terrier]

Pauly Seely doesn't look too bad. Playcalling is looking okay for Wofford too. Turnovers and penalties are hurting Wofford. Defense is playing bend but don't break. Western has driven it inside the 10 twice and had to settle for field goals. 6-0 Western.

[Reign of Terrier]

Pauly Seely is playing well. Two third down conversion passes. That'll be lost in the highlight of Ben Ingram's long to run and JT Smith's touchdown run

[BearDownMU]

Can everyone here please ask their school to throw a couple of microphones down at field level to get some natural sound? This Chatt-ETSU game with NO sound other than the announcers is miserable to listen to.

[kdinva]

Can everyone here please ask their school to throw a couple of microphones down at field level to get some natural sound? This Chatt-ETSU game with NO sound other than the announcers is miserable to listen to.

the samford broadcast has audio bleed-over from the truck.....

[ElCid]

I can't believe we dominated Furman for over 50 minutes and now we are going to choke. Unbelievable.

[BearDownMU]

Two reviews on the same play in Furman-CIT? Is Chris Hatcher down there somewhere? LUL

[Reign of Terrier]

The good news is that I don't think Amari Odom being out hurts Wofford as much as others think.

The bad news is that Wofford's offense is pretty average.

We need a true offensive coordinator.

[ElCid]

Wow, we suck. Coach decided to go conservative in the second half and is paying for it. Furman takes their first lead with a minute to go.

[Reign of Terrier]

Wofford offense absolutely sucks.

[Reign of Terrier]

Western has execution problems as a team. They may beat Wofford, but I don’t see them making the playoffs because little execution stuff holds them back.

[Reign of Terrier]

Wofford’s offense is too cludgey to work.

[ElCid]

WCU did bad time management. There should have been at least 40 less seconds. The WCU QB should have run instead of throwing it away.

[kdinva]

Right now, if VMI played VU @ Lynchburg, it'll be a dogfight. xconfusedx

[BearDownMU]

Davis is definitely down. But, ya know, SoCon refs. Let's see how this goes....

[BearDownMU]

Was the right call, IMO

[Mocs123]

Mocs with a hard fought win over a good ETSU team. The Mocs still have so much to clean up on the offensive side of the ball.

[Reign of Terrier]

Wofford isn't a playoff team this year. We'll push for 6 or 7 wins, but our offense is a cludge. It's like having all the parts of a car (but they being different cars) and when you put it together it's not a good car. It's better just to build a car from top down.

[OrangeAndBlack]

Can everyone here please ask their school to throw a couple of microphones down at field level to get some natural sound? This Chatt-ETSU game with NO sound other than the announcers is miserable to listen to.

yes to this!! Also a stationary camera behind the goal posts for FG kicks.

[ElCid]

yes to this!! Also a stationary camera behind the goal posts for FG kicks.

How about pylon cams. Can't be that expensive.

[Bisonoline]

How about pylon cams. Can't be that expensive.

It just amazes me on the easy fixes that could be made but the NCAA is so FU it takes years.

[OrangeAndBlack]

#11 Mercer could have their highest ranking ever this coming week.

#10 William and Mary goes down.
#8/9 UC Davis is a fraud and lost the game twice, yet still won. (Portland State stopped them and time ran out. But refs added 1 more second. Next play the receiver caught the ball and looked to be out the end zone).
#5/7 Central Arkansas loses.

I was high on Idaho this year until I saw them lose to UC Davis. And now UC Davis should have lost to Portland State, who chatty handled.

[ElCid]

#11 Mercer could have their highest ranking ever this coming week.

#10 William and Mary goes down.
#9 UC Davis is a fraud and lost the game twice, yet still won. (Portland State stopped them and time ran out. But refs added 1 more second. Next play the receiver caught the ball and looked to be out the end zone).
#7 Central Arkansas loses.

I was high on Idaho this year until I saw them lose to UC Davis. And now UC Davis should have lost to Portland State, who chatty handled.

Big time. I can see a couple teams jumping Davis easily. Not impressed with W&M. Cent Ark was a mild surprise.

[FUBeAR]

FUBeAR, who never sleeps (just hibernates from Mid-Jan to Mid-Feb), exhausted from the never-in-doubt Furman destruction of the bellhops, calling in plays to Chatt’s Coach Wright, trying to find a phone number for the replay Official in Portland, and rushing the field @ Vandy, CRASHED…so he’s been ‘offline’ for several hours. The 14 pints of beer and repetitive shots of FUATT GoPunch may, also, have had some effect.

https://i.postimg.cc/N0x2D9xJ/IMG-3135.jpg


What a day!!!

Will (of course) have more comments, but saw, ahem, “someone” mention FUBeAR’s science earlier in this thread. Well, here’s some science FUBeAR learned today…

Mercer > Chatt.
Chatt ~= GaState
GaState > Vandy
Vandy > Alabama
Alabama > Georgia ...

ERGO ... Mercer > Alabama & Georgia

How much do y’all think Mercer will be favored by when they go to Tuscaloosa in November?

[ElCid]

FUBeAR, who never sleeps (just hibernates from Mid-Jan to Mid-Feb), exhausted from the never-in-doubt Furman destruction of the bellhops,

What are you smoking? We should have won that game. Complete domination until we took mental vacation. I was frothing at the mouth at our horrendous play calling. Not to mention the phantom forward pass that was actually a fumble scoop and score. But even without that, I have no idea what our coaching staff was thinking. You got a gift and don't even know it.

[FUBeAR]

What are you smoking? We should have won that game. Complete domination until we took mental vacation. I was frothing at the mouth at our horrendous play calling. Not to mention the phantom forward pass that was actually a fumble scoop and score. But even without that, I have no idea what our coaching staff was thinking. You got a gift and don't even know it.
You gotta stop drinkin’ during games. The Paladins were in control of that game from opening Kickoff until the final whistle!

On the incomplete pass, initially, and wrongfully, ruled a fumble, the Refs got it right - without question - on the review.

FUBeAR so thought his Paladins were gonna get Hatchered again when Coach Drayton was in the middle of the field ‘directing’ the Officials for 10 minutes…and then they went to a 2nd review.

FUBeAR started having flashbacks from his time in the Mekong Delta in 1968 and from Samford @ Furman in 2022 all at the same time! They were only reviewing what down it should be though … and they got it right, over Coach Drayton’s strenuous objections, on that one too.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOnRHAyXqYY

[wcugrad95]

Very strange game in Cullowhee, and not only because there were no fans. The Cats should have been in control, should have scored probably 31 to as many as 41 points, and should have won comfortably. But because the SOCON does SOCON things, we eeked out a win against Woffy. Now after 5 games I still don't thnk I know who Western is. We passed for over 250 and ran for more than 200 against what I thought was a pretty good Wofford defense. But we settled for FGs, missed a couple of FGs, and turned the ball over in the redzone (Gonzales had 2 bizzare batted/punched out INTs on a day where he looked pretty sharp throwing the ball). The Cats defense (no - that is not a typo) showed up and played well in the 2nd half. If we can somehow figure out how to either get some of the homerun plays on offense and/or solve why we bog down in the redzone, I think we can be a tough out for the top teams. Even with just some decent progression I expect us to still be possibly a 5-3 type of league record and with an upset or two - who knows.

I also know it is Western. We can stub our toe down the streth as good as anybody :)

[Reign of Terrier]

Western is doing what I wished Wofford would: playing better each game.

Wofford's defense is legit, but our offense is too glitchy. We don't really have an identity. I think both teams will probably be 6-6ish, but for opposite reasons. Wofford's offense is glitchy but capable of a big play, while Western's offense is super big play oriented, but finds ways to not execute. They did this against Elon and Campbell and Montana too (so I'm not going on a small sample).

Considering all that Western lost that's a good position to be in, because you just have to work on consistency and getting marginally better. But that Campbell loss is going to loom too large *in my opinion.* If the catamounts are sitting at home at 6-6 or 7-5, that's why. But their playoff hopes are still alive, as I said early 1-4 is the point of no return for socon teams.

It's frustrating watching Wofford because some people would blame this on not having Odom, but at the end of the day it's just the offense we run. We have 4 different kinds of plays: deep pass, short pass to the flats, and a run that either gains 8 or loses 2. It's not an offense that helps out the players because it relies way too much on having superior athletes that we just don't have.

To be honest with you, it's the kind of offense whose core competency is "hey come play Quarterback for us and if you're good enough you'll learn the game enough to have a shot at the UFL" and not "win".

[Milktruck74]

I clearly do not understand football. It may be because FooBare's science only makes sense after a handle of tito's...but it May actually make more sense than SoCon Football.

Right now, the team that stays healthy and alert will win the SoCon and that could be any one of 5 or 6 teams. Healthy is obvious. Keep your guys from getting banged up and missing games. We saw how missing one guy can hurt a team this week. Alert, well don't sleep on those other 3 or 4 teams, or they will bite you and destroy the chance for a SoCon Championship.

Ok, a little on my Mocs. If I was told at 3:28pm yesterday, my Mocs would only muster 17 points against the Mountain Pirates, I would be a much poorer man today. I would have laid the 1.5 and let it ride on ETSUx.

Now think about this, the Mocs held an ETSU team to 10 points, that same teams hung 35 on NDSU????

How about the Mocs controlling the Game at GaST and losing 21-24 on a last minute opportunity...then GaSt beating Vandy 36-32, then Vandy Beating #1 Bama by 40-35....Mocs Held Mercy to only 10 points. but couldn't move the ball on O...What does that say for the Bears? MAybe FooBare's science of having Mercer win out (including 11/16) holds water??? Damn my head hurts.

SoCon gonna SoCon!!!!

[caribbeanhen]

Big time. I can see a couple teams jumping Davis easily. Not impressed with W&M. Cent Ark was a mild surprise.

The Southern Conference champs?

[ElCid]

The Southern Conference champs?

Eh, they beat three SOCON teams, one really bad one and two so-so teams...combined record 4-11. They just seem inconsistent. I still have them ranked, but dropped them a bit.

[Reign of Terrier]

William and Mary's defense is only a little above average. It didn't help that the tribe gifted Towson points. Towson's coach is good. The schedule will be kind to all CAA teams as usually, because there's a lot of awfulness in that conference.

[gofurman]

What are you smoking? We should have won that game. Complete domination until we took mental vacation. I was frothing at the mouth at our horrendous play calling. Not to mention the phantom forward pass that was actually a fumble scoop and score. But even without that, I have no idea what our coaching staff was thinking. You got a gift and don't even know it.

Somehow my post got deleted.

ElCid. He’s bear is pushing your buttons man.

Here’s an OBJECTIVE Citadel v Furman status -

NEITHER TEAM is good. NEITHER

BOTH are improving.. y’all coming from winless season and us with a TRUE FR (basically a high school!!!) QB. A TRUE FR. almost unheard of.

Your DL KILLED US IN FIRST HALF. KILLED us. See I’m objective. There is no denying that.

Our OL is just not strong or fast right now. We CANNOT RUN BLOCK. AT ALL. Best runs ? Sneaky QB keepers. Lol. We can’t just line up and run it.

You guys had a beautiful option game ! Pissed me off watching us struggle to stop that. Strong option game. Not sure what was happening to allow freakin 10 yards a carry there but someone on our team was getting beat. BAD.

where our LOS did definitely win was your attempt at runs up the middle between tackles. Many of these went for 0-2 yards. The middle of our DL is a strength. No denying that. Citadel up the middle .. 1 yard. That happened A LOT

But when you got outside on runs you killed us.

Interesting y’all have a SIXTH YEAR QB and we have a TRUE FR.

***. YALL OWNED US FOR 50 minutes of the game. OWNED US.

*** were you aware we are kissing our one All CONFERENCE WR Josh Harris? The one guy who can really stretch the field ??? You can see I am objective. Giving y’all credit where credit is due. So just asking … were you aware he is out? Our best WR who is the best at strecthing field???

I will say your coach went for a kill shot I disagreed with at the time. First it should have worked. Y’all out coached us. The Fake FG was there to at least get a first. Maybe a TD. but take the 3 points. You were KILLING us. You weren't an underdog. We had 30 yards of offense. Think if it was 13-0 instead of halftime at 10-0…. The game may play out differently ..

You can see my Objectivity. So I wanted to note that I Went back and watched the fumble v forward pass. It was absolutely the right call on the forward pass. No way that’s a fumble. Watched it 3 times now. Not Close. RIGHT CALL.

Man the refs made us score that first TD like 2 or 3 times LOL. OL downfield ? It was close. Had to do it again

Objectively. We have a true FR QB in high pressure situation AND missing our best WR … and just started eating up your pass D. That’s a definite weakness for y’all. Some were phenomenal )!!!) passes by our new QB. my son was shocked as some only had inches to spare !!! But some had our HUGE TE just with no one around him

Our weaknesses - HORRIFIC run blocking. And an inability to stop the run

think if we could help our new QB with just 100 yards of running? Man.

Oh GREAT BLITZES by y’all. Weakness by us. We are needing much work with RBs to pick up blitzes !!!

Tough game. Y’all have the more MAN football with running and we have a great passing future. But need more run game to help our pass game and keep people honest.