The Paladin Walk Blog

Paladin Nation site is Live

But it's still not updated with the finished template. So please keep checking on the progress.

http://paladinnation.com/

Welcome Paladin Nation

First let me say I have no excuses. My work has become a constant criss-crossing of the US. And I have not made the blog the priority that I should have.

Oddly, I have continued to get messages from a broad range of folks about starting back the blog. And I'm going to do just that.

The Paladin Walk will be changing, this coming week I will be providing a link here at the the Paladin Wlak to www.paladinnation.com. My goal will be to include more features and still support what is all ready out there and "Rockin," like www.uffp2.com, and www.furmanpaladins.com.

So, thanks to all of you who still have an interest and see ya real soon at PaladinNation.

Geno

Back In Business

Well I could blog about excuses for an entire post but that wouldn't serve any purpose. The good news is that I'm back home and I will start blogging again this evening. I will start my All-Access Experience with the Furman Football team this evening.

Check back later tonight as I give my first update.

Geno

The Option

Furman went back to the past to breakout of a second half offensive production slump that carried over from last season.

I think this was a good move by the Furman coaches., Furman has been searching for an offensive identity since the graduation of Ingle Martin. Furman is blessed to have two very good quarterbacks, two quarterbacks that bring very different skill sets into the game.

With both quarterbacks under perfoming in the first half Coach Lamb really had no choice but to simplfy on offense, and for Furman that means running the option.

Furman rolled up 17 points in the second half of the Coastal game the most since Furman put up 28 points in the second half against UNC. And that game was probably one of the best executions of the rio option offense I've ever seen.

I can only guess that we will see more option with Renaldo at the helm. History is on Furman's side running what some criticcs are calling an old school offense.

Wofford is doing quite well this season, and maybe in an odd twist of fate the Pups from Spartanburg have made the Paladins think about going back to its roots and playing some old fashioned smashmouth football. I've got a feeling #45 will like that thought.

Furman vs Coastal Week

Well despite traveling again this week for work related projects, my goal is to bring the Paladin mojo back and post everyday this week.

Coastal Carolina rolls into Greenville for their first visit to Paladin Stadium. Both teams come into the game 1-3 and in a bad mood. On paper Coastal is the perfect opponent Furman needs to get back to basics and re-focus for the remaining 7 games.

I’m learning not to take anything for granted this season but playing a team that doesn’t run a unique scheme (like Wofford) will give the Paladins a chance to get their feet settled before taking on the Dogs in Chucktown.

A quick look at Coastal
The Coastal Carolina Defense has been far from dominate this season, giving up over 32 points per game. Opponents are averaging 327 yards rushing but only 79 yards passing per game, total yards allowed per game 406.8.

On offense the loss of Tyler Thigpen has caused the Chants to struggle on offense despite the return of Jerome Simpson. Coastal is averaging 118 yards rushing per game, and 204 yards passing, total offense per game 323.

Against GSU the only game I’ve seen Coastal play this year, it was a game of basically no defense by either team. Jason Foster ran over and around Coastal often dragging their defensive players with him into the endzone.

This should be the game for Jerome Felton to see plenty of yardage production. The key is patience, Furman has to stick to establish the run like they did early against Wofford but not abandon it after success in the passing game.

First half blues
Furman hopefully will take advantage of Coastal’s first half blues. After 4 games this season Opponents have scored 63 points in the first half, compared to 29 points for Coastal. It hasn’t been a lot better in the second half Coastal opponents have put up 68 points in the second half but Coastal has improved their point production averaging 61 points.

Monday Morning Fog Brew

It's too bad you can't order a Starbuck's bold, extra caffeine coffee to lift the Monday hangover for a loss.

Coach Bobby Lamb said it best in the Monday Gville fishwrap. "We probably talk a little too much about playoffs and this and that," said Lamb. "We're at a point right now where we're just focusing on Coastal Carolina (2 p.m. Saturday at Furman). That's the only thing we're focusing on. We've got to get a win because we're 1-3 right now.

I can't add to much to those words. Now's the time to re-focus and put a patch on the season. Right now the holes are hard to explain and Furman can't afford the time to replace the tires. IMO this season is a gut check for the next several years. Many of the teams in the SoCon have looked at Furman as the model. Now Furman has to do the same. The players are in place and it was obvious to this arm-chair-coach that the difference makers on offense last Saturday were the young guns. Sorrells, Webb, Truss, Hedden, Mims, LaFrance, Brown will be around for the next two years.

I hope that Furman makes a run and game by game turns this season around, they can do it. Bu if that doesn't happen Furman has to look to the future. A future that will be lead by a kid that knows Furman football history and more importantly is one of the few that grew up "wanting to be a Paladin."

Sometimes…

It's hard to have an answer after a defeat. And that's what Andrew Thacker said during his radio interview following the loss to Wofford. Andrew played in his first game since being injured at Hofstra.

I was feeling pretty numb after watching the game from the sidelines. Furman played hard but Wofford had an answer offensively time after time. Kudos to Wofford, I thought coming into the game that the intangibles favored the Terriers in this matchup. Furman played Wofford last season the 5th game of the season, the year before the 10th game. I was not to excited about Furman playing Wofford early this season, Furman especially this season is a consistency mess. The 007 Paladins are a talented bunch but its now becoming obvious that the current team, this team is so developing.

My player of the game is a no-brainer… Andrew Thacker. 11 solos tackles, 15 total tackles. Thacker played with emotion and played as physical as I can remember. But I might have been most impressed by his post game interview.  Andrew was upset about the loss, but he spoke with the kind of wisdom that will get him far in his life. Andrew said hollering won't get it done now, you better bring your lunch pail to practice Monday because we have some hard work to do.

This week brings Big South member Coastal Carolina into Paladin Stadium. Coastal is also struggling this season, but their struggles are due to major graduation losses from the previous season. Furman needs to worry about Furman.  The talent is there for Furman to win out the season but more consistent offensive play has to start this weekend.

Stop the Work. I have some blogging to do.

Sometimes the stars don't align and the best laid plans fall apart. I'm been traveling a lot lately, and battery issues with my Apple laptop and internet exchange connection issues have played a role in my light blogging of late.

The good news is I'm back in the office and I have a new battery and I appear to be back in business.

This week is the most important game of the year. I guess you could say that the current game is always the most important of the season, because you play them one game at a time. This game has a little extra bite to it.

Wofford is Furman's closest rival in distance and historically. I don't want to go into my view of the game just yet, I'll post a game preview tomorrow.

Until tomorrow's preview Go Paladins!!!

Bear Reinhart and Needtobreathe Rock Greenville

 
In case you didn't know former Paladin great Bear Reinhart nas been a busy guy after graduating from Furman. Bear his brother Bo, Seth Bolt (who my 13 year-old daughter has a crush on), and another Furman alum Joe Stillwell have been making waves and sounds in the music industry with the band Needtobreathe. The boys from Seneca put out one of the finest  debut cds you will ever listen too.

The guys just sold out The Handlebar this weekend fro two nights. They rocked the house, the guys played tunes from their debut cd "Faylight" and their new release "The Heat".

The best way I can describe Needtobreathe is soulful, southern alternative rock. The guys have mastered very electric rock music but they ground it in their stories and they don't seem to want to forget where they came from. And I respect them a lot for that.

The biggest roar of the night came when Bear told the story behind "Sweet Talker". He explained that as a student at Furman, he wrote the story about Greenville girls. The crowd of Furman students erupted.

Needtobreathe might not be for everyones taste but I don't think many people from 12 to 50 would be disappointed.

Slippery Defensive Line

After watching the Paladins defense sack Colin Harper of Clemson five times, I thought it might be timely to look into the sack numbers a bit.

This season after 3 games the Furman defense has recorded 11 sacks for 101 yards. Let's breakdown the 11 sacks.

Wallace Artis leads the Paladins this season with 3 sacks. Justin Brown has 1.5 sacks. Gaines Burnett, Channing Welch, Shaun VaRensberg, Corey Ray, and Julian Hicks all have recorded 1 sack each. But let's not forget Paul White 2 sacks for a whopping 32 yards.

How does this compare to previous season? Well the 07 bunch is within 5 sacks of passing the 2006 total and tying the 2005 total. And after only 3 games they are easily within striking distance of the 2004 mark of 24 sacks. By the way the 2001 Paladins recorded 38 sacks for 225 yards.

So whats up? I asked former Western Carolina offensive lineman, father of a Furman great offensive lineman Dwight Covington what he thought.

He said their slippery. The intensity is up and our guys are running through the blocks not around them. I wish I had thought of the slippery term. The last two seasons we've watched our end get bogged down on the edges only to see quarterbacks running around buying time for their receivers to break open.

You can argue that the 2007 Paladins are still weak to the pass. But, I think what we are seeing from the current group of defensive linemen will continue to improve week to week. The unique thing about the sacks this season, especially against Clemson, they were explosive. Dwight's thoughts make sense, these intense rushes by the ends and the line are creating choas in the backfield. The same physical pressure applied to the Tigers QB also resulted in a poor performance by two of the best running backs in the entire nation.

So do we dream that this defensive group could eclipse the sack total of the 2001 defense. Yes they could. One final note, the 2001 team played 15 games.