You're the coach

[STREETCAT]

Good luck running the option in our mud, i guess what some call a field. Furmans best luck is to save some money stay in the warm south and start preparing for next season.

No but honestly I don't see the option working very well against this years bobcat defense. The D-ends and LB's are too fast and the only way I see Furman getting yards is pounding the FB up the middle play after play. There will be no lanes open on the outside for options and it will be to hard to cut in the mud.

The pounding of the fullback up the middle could eventually get old for us Cat fans. I remember when Cal Poly used to come to Bozeman and run the same type of offense. I am a little worried that this fullback of FU's could eat up clock and shorten the game.

wish I was there

If its working, at some point you have to start taking away the easy 4-5 yards for the FB by tightening the DL and the LBs. That just opens up the outside. Gray isn't very fast, but our two TBs are and if they can get to the outside into one on one situations with a OLB I like their odds of breaking a couple. Won't happen every time, but they can get the yards if the inside run is working.

Keep in mind our lb corps consisit of some of the fastest guys on the team. Epi King is the fastest person on the team playing an inside backer.

[FU97]

Good luck running the option in our mud, i guess what some call a field. Furmans best luck is to save some money stay in the warm south and start preparing for next season.

No but honestly I don't see the option working very well against this years bobcat defense. The D-ends and LB's are too fast and the only way I see Furman getting yards is pounding the FB up the middle play after play. There will be no lanes open on the outside for options and it will be to hard to cut in the mud.

The pounding of the fullback up the middle could eventually get old for us Cat fans. I remember when Cal Poly used to come to Bozeman and run the same type of offense. I am a little worried that this fullback of FU's could eat up clock and shorten the game.

wish I was there

If its working, at some point you have to start taking away the easy 4-5 yards for the FB by tightening the DL and the LBs. That just opens up the outside. Gray isn't very fast, but our two TBs are and if they can get to the outside into one on one situations with a OLB I like their odds of breaking a couple. Won't happen every time, but they can get the yards if the inside run is working.

Keep in mind our lb corps consisit of some of the fastest guys on the team. Epi King is the fastest person on the team playing an inside backer.

That definitely helps, but in the option, speed isn't as important as recognition/discipline. We gave UNC fits with it and their defense as a whole was much faster than our guys were. Same with Pittsburgh in 2004.

I don't envy your coaches. We've run about 5 different "base" offenses so far this year for entire games. A lot of it has been dependent on who was healthy and what they were capable of. In the games where we were most successful (and healthy) on offense, we ran a lot of the flexbone option.

[torrybruce]

Good luck running the option in our mud, i guess what some call a field. Furmans best luck is to save some money stay in the warm south and start preparing for next season.

No but honestly I don't see the option working very well against this years bobcat defense. The D-ends and LB's are too fast and the only way I see Furman getting yards is pounding the FB up the middle play after play. There will be no lanes open on the outside for options and it will be to hard to cut in the mud.

The pounding of the fullback up the middle could eventually get old for us Cat fans. I remember when Cal Poly used to come to Bozeman and run the same type of offense. I am a little worried that this fullback of FU's could eat up clock and shorten the game.

wish I was there

If its working, at some point you have to start taking away the easy 4-5 yards for the FB by tightening the DL and the LBs. That just opens up the outside. Gray isn't very fast, but our two TBs are and if they can get to the outside into one on one situations with a OLB I like their odds of breaking a couple. Won't happen every time, but they can get the yards if the inside run is working.

Keep in mind our lb corps consisit of some of the fastest guys on the team. Epi King is the fastest person on the team playing an inside backer.

and once again I would point out that we have solid safeties when it comes to recognizing a play and attacking. They, along with the LB's are solid with pursuit as long as the D-line can take up a few o-lineman and not let them get out into run blocking in the second level.

[Paladinfan]

That's the word is you have speed on defense. Furman has only two guys on offense that will break the big play, I think, WR JR Webb and RB Ced Gipson. Furman's offense can be boring as hell to watch, but they are efficient.

[torrybruce]

That's the word is you have speed on defense. Furman has only two guys on offense that will break the big play, I think, WR JR Webb and RB Ced Gipson. Furman's offense can be boring as hell to watch, but they are efficient.

Nothing wrong with being efficient. I think that's what has hurt us a little this year is that as our offense started to open up (midseason as Rolo and Jefferson were clicking) they tried to be really fun to watch and that cut down on some of the offensive efficiency. I think our O needs to get back to running on all 11 cylinders for this game, hell it's the playoffs...no more learning from your mistakes. This is going to be a great game I am sure of it, regardless of who the winner is (probably they cats though )

[crazycat]

I'm just glad this discussion isn't going in circles. Sounds like the unstoppable force against the immovable object. Strength against strength.

Thankfully we'll be able to see them play each other here in a few days.

What if they cancel each other out? What kind of defense does Furman have? Our offense has shown flashes of greatness, but has shot itself in the foot more often than not.

How about the intangibles. Has Furman played many cold weather games? We're expecting wind (10-20mph), 29 degrees, and 50% chance of snow. It'll be an early kickoff, so I'd say the temp at kickoff will be closer to 20. Which really isn't that cold, one you get used to it.

Do you do well on the road? Will you bring many fans?

[STREETCAT]

2-3 ON THE ROAD PERFECT AT HOME

[FU97]

I'm just glad this discussion isn't going in circles. Sounds like the unstoppable force against the immovable object. Strength against strength.

Thankfully we'll be able to see them play each other here in a few days.

What if they cancel each other out? What kind of defense does Furman have? Our offense has shown flashes of greatness, but has shot itself in the foot more often than not.

How about the intangibles. Has Furman played many cold weather games? We're expecting wind (10-20mph), 29 degrees, and 50% chance of snow. It'll be an early kickoff, so I'd say the temp at kickoff will be closer to 20. Which really isn't that cold, one you get used to it.

Do you do well on the road? Will you bring many fans?

Fans. Not many. Maybe 50? We have played in the cold. Temps in the 20's last year for the semis. We have a lot more playoff experience which I think is a positive. Our coaching staff has a ton of playoff experience (which I think is another positive we have). We are pretty strong vs the run, less so vs the pass. IMHO, we play too soft a zone which allows teams to dink/dunk their way down the field.

We have struggled with special teams all year. Lost the UNC and CCU game because of teams. At UNC we fumbled a kickoff leading to a 10 yd TD drive and late in the game we bobbled a kickoff putting ourselve in a hole. Vs CCU they blocked an extra point and returned it for 2 points, which was the difference in that game (we blocked one as well but didn't return it). Vs Appy they broke a 7-7 tie game open with a blocked FG returned for a TD with about 1 minute left in the first half. That totally turned the momentum. Our punting has been hit or miss. I'm usually happy with a 35 yard punt (before return) though vs GSU our punter crushed the ball in the 2nd half and helped win the field position battle. Our FG kicker has been streaky. He's on a "good" streak right now, but early in the year, we would go for it on 4th if the FG was longer than 40 yards. The blocks we've had on FGs have been missed blocking assignments so somthing that is easier to fix. I like our punt returner and kickoff returns. KO coverage is suspect at times. We did give up a TD to Wofford on a KO return (but we also got one against them).

[FU97]

2-3 ON THE ROAD PERFECT AT HOME

The road losses were to UNC, APPY, and CCU. Wins were against Wofford and Elon.

Vs CCU we lost our starting QB on our second drive. Our backup is a totally differnt player (better passer, not mobile at all) which really hurt our gameplan. Vs Appy our stud FB did not play (though frankly they were just better).

[crazycat]

Just how banged are you guys? We have two injured QBs and second string RB.


Our special teams are good on coverage and the kicker is very accurate. We don't punt or return well.

[FU97]

Just how banged are you guys? We have two injured QBs and second string RB.


Our special teams are good on coverage and the kicker is very accurate. We don't punt or return well.

The meat of our "I formation" has been in and out of the lineup with ankle injuries all season. Our starting Center, Quarterback and FB have been hurt. QB hurt ankle in practice the week of the opener. He came out of the opener. Played in the 2nd game. Seemed to be good for the UNC game and the next couple, then got ankle rolled again in the 2nd drive of the CCU game. Missed the next two (?) games and we played our freshman backup. In the UTC game our stud FB Felton (easily our best player and pro prospect) got his ankle rolled. He missed the App game the next week (technically he came in for two plays where he was a decoy on goalline plays that we used a QB sneak). He never moved. Has played since then, but you can tell he hasn't been right. He would limp off the field after carries. His carries are down by half from what he got before the injury. Center has been in and out of the lineup all season with a bad ankle. One bright side to the FB injury is I thought early in the season we didn't use our TB enough. He's the guy in the backfield with breakaway speed (his freshman backup has speed as well).

Defense has been pretty injury free, but some key offensive positions have been banged up. Downside of our QB being hurt is his backup is an entirely different style of QB so we essentially have to scrap a gameplan in the middle of a game if he goes out (i.e. CCU).

We did lose some special teamers and backups to broken legs. Paper said we had 8 guys out of practice all last week. One backup LB still out with a concussion from the GSU game. I don't imagine we will disclose the real status of Gray and Felton this week.

[Paladinfan]

Defense is good, but streaky. Very good against the run. Furman plays in the run happy SoCon where, I would guess, only Elon would be considered a pass first team. The Furman D usually steps up when it has to, it'll play just tough enough to win the game, wether its 13-10 or 45-43.

You can be sure Lamb won't reveal the injury report. MSU has to plan for two completely different personell with different styles and different offenses around them. The week has, I'm sure helped.

The big intangible is the road trip. I don't think the weather will be a factor. Furman has been out practicing in the 30s and 40s all week. Last year they played in Boone on a field covered in ice in the semis.

Furman's staff does have a TON of playoff experience. Head Coach Bobby Lamb has been associated with the program since the mid-80s when he was the quarterback on Furman's national runner up team. That experience undoubtedly gives Furman an edge over the MSU coaching staff who, while good, just hasn't been there.

FU is a very jeckyl and hyde team. They have played flawless football at times and looked unstoppable. Other times they have just been average. It really all rests on Gray in Felton. When they play healthy, Furman is very very good. If they aren't we are just north of mediocre.

[whizonthegriz]

My prediction for a game plan--Kramer will play it very close to the vest and play them straight up. If we just focus on picking up 1st downs, instead of big play touchdowns (which inevitably doesn't work and we end up punting), we are in great shape. The game will rest on the ability of the Cat defense to stuff the run on 3rd down. It will come down to who has the best field position in the second half, and of course the Cats will have the best field position thanks to a fake punt conversion or two.

If our offense doesn't give up the costly turnover--the one that sets up a score for Furman--we win in a close game. The Cat offense will put together a couple of scoring drives which should be enough for our defense

I don't see Furman marching up and down the field on us if they have to travel 60 plus yards each series.

[El_Gato]

Obviously on D, our guys MUST play their POSITIONS; if we start chasing plays/fakes, we're in trouble (I believe Chadron's been mentioned); our ends have to come with an "outside-in" mentality to force decisions by the QB & RB's and our corners MUST force the action back to the middle of the field. If I were FU, I'd be running to Corey Austin's side of the field; not that he's weak, but we KNOW that Fuller is a sound one-on-one tackler. I think LeBlanc & Force are going to have HUGE days; they're going to be able to cheat up and not be as worried about the pass.

Offensively: Believe it or not, I think Bailey should just use the gameplan we had vs the Griz, even though it was ineffective against them. It appears that FU is more vulnerable to the pass than the run so it will be one of those games where we need to pass early to soften them up and then hope to get the running game going later.

Special teams? At this point, I think I'd just have the mindset that we're ALWAYS in 4 down territory...

[crazycat]

Obviously on D, our guys MUST play their POSITIONS; if we start chasing plays/fakes, we're in trouble (I believe Chadron's been mentioned); our ends have to come with an "outside-in" mentality to force decisions by the QB & RB's and our corners MUST force the action back to the middle of the field. If I were FU, I'd be running to Corey Austin's side of the field; not that he's weak, but we KNOW that Fuller is a sound one-on-one tackler. I think LeBlanc & Force are going to have HUGE days; they're going to be able to cheat up and not be as worried about the pass.

Offensively: Believe it or not, I think Bailey should just use the gameplan we had vs the Griz, even though it was ineffective against them. It appears that FU is more vulnerable to the pass than the run so it will be one of those games where we need to pass early to soften them up and then hope to get the running game going later.

Special teams? At this point, I think I'd just have the mindset that we're ALWAYS in 4 down territory...

Furman needs Felton to have a big game in order for their other backs to have a big game against us. You can't run around the ends without negating our speed with a solid inside game and play fake to the full back. It's a good technique that has worked in the past against us, but we've changed our defense and have a great tackler with a low center of gravity in Daly in the middle. (OK, someone from Furman come in and say, "We've played a couple teams with MLBs with low center of gravity and we ran all over them, too.") We won't have to worry about chasing play fakes if we aren't stuffing Felton. They'll just keep feeding him the ball. Yes, same game plan on O as vs. Griz.

[matfu]

pure and simple:

if felton and gray are healthy and play anything like they did at unc, furman wins

if they are not healthy montana state wins

gray left our last game and could hardly walk. how many high ankle sprains do you think heal in two weeks

ANSWER: not many but that is what will determine the game (that and turnovers)

[El_Gato]

so matfu, you give us no credit to stop those 2 if they're healthy?



That's awful confident vs a team I doubt you've seen play a single down...

BTW Colorado ran for the same # of yards AGAINST DIVISION I OPPONENTS that you guys did in IAA (Colorado 1907, Furman 1915) and we beat them at their house.

I seem to remember North Carolina winning some National Championships but if my memory serves correctly, they weren't in football...

[crazycat]

Since the temps are supposed to be in the low 20s at kickoff that might help Furman's ankle injuries, since you're supposed to keep ice on them. I don't know what it'll be in the sun, but Furman shouldn't have to worry about that since the only time they will get in the sun is when they're on the field since the side of stadium they're on is shaded. Those all white unis will help since they won't soak up any sunlight.

I see they've changed the POP to 60-40-40 for Thursday through Saturday.

[Paladinfan]

Not saying that you can't stop a healthy Felton and Gray, only that no one has.

Felton won't go down one on one. As big as he is, he makes some guys look foolish with his footwork. Unless he gets hit while not looking (on a pass route) the Cats will need to bring two or three.

I'm anxious to see the matchup between your speed ends and our 6'7 320 lbs left tackle Joel Bell. Both of Furman's tackles are all conference.

Furman's pass defense is good, but gives up too many completions. Not many teams get the running game working.

I am feeling confident that Felton will be close to 100%. Gray, I doubt will be as close. Most Furman fans feel comfortable with Jordan Sorrells as the backup, though. Furman's O is a different monster with #45 in the game. He commands so much respect in there. He won't ever break a 50 yrd run, but those chunks of 5 yrds will wear a defense slap out.

[94VegasCat]

I tend to think that your FB will be getting a mouth full of Chuck Norris.