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Post by FUBeAR on Nov 19, 2018 11:55:42 GMT -5
I don't think it is fair to say Mercer "eliminated" Furman (especially in a game Furman won). It did eliminate them from the automatic bid conversation, but the making of the post season as an at large is a beauty contest. It was quite clear after the game that Clay Hendrix knew the result of the ETSU game at half time, but wasn't going to concern himself with trying to limit Mercer to a set number of points. Furman's goal was to win the football game and share the conference title. Furman lost their beauty contest by blowing a three touchdown lead against ETSU two months ago. Don't have a monumental meltdown in that game, and Furman is the outright champ and autobid. I didn’t think you would think it was fair to say, but knowing what we know now, this play & more precisely, the XP following this play, is the exact point in time that Furman’s Playoff possibilities ended. If FU had been on the dumb&#%& Committee’s “bubble,” then an argument could be made that other factors came into play, but, we now know that Furman went into this game having 0 chance of getting an At-Large Bid. The ONLY way that Furman had a shot at getting in the Playoffs was to win the Auto-bid by holding Mercer to 16 points or less & this is when that opportunity vanished. I’m certainly not saying it’s right, but it is the truth. |
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Post by FUBeAR on Nov 19, 2018 12:22:56 GMT -5
Also...I am glad it was LeMarkus Bailey that blew up this play because he has had such an interesting ‘relationship’ with Furman over the years AND because of the type of young man he is, the leadership he has provided for Mercer Football, his sincere gratitude for those “Day1’s” who laid the foundation for Mercer’s return to Football, and he’s just FUBeAR’s kind of Baller!
* Committed to Mercer
* While on a visit to Furman with his Hillgrove HS Teammates, Furman commit (and later Furman Player), Jaylan Reid & Chatt commit (and later Chatt Player), Richardre Bagley; decommitted from Mercer & committed to Furman...as did Bagley...from Chatt to FU
* Recommited to Mercer (as did Bagley, to Chatt)
* Signed with Mercer
* Ejected from 2014 Furman game at Mercer as a True FR, on a little ticky-tack slappy (no)thing, instigated by an FU Player (hit Bailey late from behind while he was standing around a pile-up) on a Kickoff Return
* Ejected from 2018 Furman game on a ‘coulda gone either way’ Targeting call, in the midst of playing an outstanding game, where he was, as usual, ALL OVER THE FIELD. Hard to think he might not have made a difference in there at the end...but that’s the way it goes.
* In between those 2 Furman games, he’s been an ever-present dynamo & a spark plug for Mercer’s Defense for 4+ years.
While FUBeAR takes no satisfaction (and is actually quite PO’d) that Furman is not in the Playoffs, young Mr. Bailey can take some satisfaction in knowing he played a huge part in making that so. But...knowing him just a little bit, I would bet that while he’s glad he made that play, he is more disappointed that his former HS Teammate, Mr. Reid, is not going to get to keep playing ball in his final year.
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Post by jackal on Nov 19, 2018 21:50:11 GMT -5
Also...I am glad it was LeMarkus Bailey that blew up this play because he has had such an interesting ‘relationship’ with Furman over the years AND because of the type of young man he is, the leadership he has provided for Mercer Football, his sincere gratitude for those “Day1’s” who laid the foundation for Mercer’s return to Football, and he’s just FUBeAR’s kind of Baller! * Committed to Mercer * While on a visit to Furman with his Hillgrove HS Teammates, Furman commit (and later Furman Player), Jaylan Reid & Chatt commit (and later Chatt Player), Richardre Bagley; decommitted from Mercer & committed to Furman...as did Bagley...from Chatt to FU * Recommited to Mercer (as did Bagley, to Chatt) * Signed with Mercer * Ejected from 2014 Furman game at Mercer as a True FR, on a little ticky-tack slappy (no)thing, instigated by an FU Player (hit Bailey late from behind while he was standing around a pile-up) on a Kickoff Return * Ejected from 2018 Furman game on a ‘coulda gone either way’ Targeting call, in the midst of playing an outstanding game, where he was, as usual, ALL OVER THE FIELD. Hard to think he might not have made a difference in there at the end...but that’s the way it goes. * In between those 2 Furman games, he’s been an ever-present dynamo & a spark plug for Mercer’s Defense for 4+ years. While FUBeAR takes no satisfaction (and is actually quite PO’d) that Furman is not in the Playoffs, young Mr. Bailey can take some satisfaction in knowing he played a huge part in making that so. But...knowing him just a little bit, I would bet that while he’s glad he made that play, he is more disappointed that his former HS Teammate, Mr. Reid, is not going to get to keep playing ball in his final year.Bail Bailey was a good player for Mercer. I was sorry to see him take an early exit. I disagree that his ejection was a close call, though. It was a textbook targeting penalty. He lead with his hemlet into the "head or neck" area of a defenseless player (in that case, "a ball carrier already in the grasp of an opponent whose forward progress has been stopped"). Not even the SoCon refs could miss that one. I was a bit surprised that Mercer didn't seem to have anyone that would escort Bailey back to the field house. He had to take down the rope barrier himself and wander through fans to get off the field. I thought that was peculiar. |
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Post by FUBeAR on Nov 19, 2018 23:03:29 GMT -5
Also...I am glad it was LeMarkus Bailey that blew up this play because he has had such an interesting ‘relationship’ with Furman over the years AND because of the type of young man he is, the leadership he has provided for Mercer Football, his sincere gratitude for those “Day1’s” who laid the foundation for Mercer’s return to Football, and he’s just FUBeAR’s kind of Baller! * Committed to Mercer * While on a visit to Furman with his Hillgrove HS Teammates, Furman commit (and later Furman Player), Jaylan Reid & Chatt commit (and later Chatt Player), Richardre Bagley; decommitted from Mercer & committed to Furman...as did Bagley...from Chatt to FU * Recommited to Mercer (as did Bagley, to Chatt) * Signed with Mercer * Ejected from 2014 Furman game at Mercer as a True FR, on a little ticky-tack slappy (no)thing, instigated by an FU Player (hit Bailey late from behind while he was standing around a pile-up) on a Kickoff Return * Ejected from 2018 Furman game on a ‘coulda gone either way’ Targeting call, in the midst of playing an outstanding game, where he was, as usual, ALL OVER THE FIELD. Hard to think he might not have made a difference in there at the end...but that’s the way it goes. * In between those 2 Furman games, he’s been an ever-present dynamo & a spark plug for Mercer’s Defense for 4+ years. While FUBeAR takes no satisfaction (and is actually quite PO’d) that Furman is not in the Playoffs, young Mr. Bailey can take some satisfaction in knowing he played a huge part in making that so. But...knowing him just a little bit, I would bet that while he’s glad he made that play, he is more disappointed that his former HS Teammate, Mr. Reid, is not going to get to keep playing ball in his final year.Bail Bailey was a TRULY OUTSTANDING & EXCELLENT player for Mercer. I was sorry to see him take an early exit. I disagree that his ejection was a close call, though. It was a textbook targeting penalty. He lead with his hemlet into the "head or neck" area of a defenseless player (in that case, "a ball carrier already in the grasp of an opponent whose forward progress has been stopped"). Not even the SoCon refs could miss that one. I was a bit surprised that Mercer didn't seem to have anyone that would escort Bailey back to the field house. He had to take down the rope barrier himself and wander through fans to get off the field. I thought that was peculiar. 1) FYP2) Yeah - Like I said, it could have gone either way - which is why a) it wasn't originally called by the officials on the field and b) they spent 3 minutes and 25 seconds reviewing it to make a decision. No problem with the ruling, but it could have gone the other way and a reasonable, objective observer wouldn't have had a problem with that either - questionable whether or not it was the "crown of the helmet" and whether or not the contact was below the neck area or not. He dipped his head slightly just before contact and he was close enough to the head/neck area that it was reasonable to call down from the booth, reasonable to review, and reasonable to rule the way they did. Reasonable, not clear-cut & certainly not "textbook," whatever that means. 3) As far as his exit, he left the way he played for 4+ years, bouncing around, and making Mercer fans smile & cheer. He took his own path and was congratulated for his career the whole way out, shaking hands and hugging his Teammates, talking to kids, hugging Mercer Athletics Officials, hugging friends and family, that came down from the stands to line the way. Only a real....I'll skip filling in the blank...could find something to criticize about his final departure from the field as one of the key building blocks of the re-boot of Mercer Football. Personally, I was smiling, almost laughing, had a few chills, and may have even had a speck or two of dust blow into my eyes (or something) as he went off for the final time. 4) I found a couple of things interesting about the game play after he left. Furman scored on almost the very next play. That so much harkens back to the single play that I think, if one projects it out logically and reasonably, kept Mercer from (at least sharing) the SoCon Championship and going to the Playoffs this season - the CIT fumble that was ruled not a fumble and not overturned on review. That play just makes me CRAZY - If the refs get it right, I just have to think Mercer goes up 24-7, then 31-7 coming out of half...and Robert Riddle isn't trying to make desperate passes at the end...and then a lot changes. But...back to that...so another tough Officials ruling that goes against Mercer (I already said "not an unreasonable ruling"...unlike the BS no fumble call/ruling!) and next play is a TD. Gotta respond better to adversity than that on D AND gotta expect Teams to treat any adversity like that as a turnover is typically treated - O goes for Home Run. Also, on Furman's game winning drive, every play except 1, including the TD Pass, was designed to go right at and/or 'stress' Bailey's replacement, who is a R-SO walk-on. He's a good player, but he's also young and hasn't played a lot. I don't think that Play Selection was an accident. Furman's Offensive Staff knows how to leverage an advantage and they capitalized on the situation. BTW - If you watched the broadcast, there was, of course, the usual chippiness that we've come to see from both Teams in these FU/MU matchups, but I'm sure you saw the one VERY DIRTY play that was flagged, but if I was in the game at the time...and I saw what was done, I would have been ejected because the offender would have had to 'pay the cost' for that kind of BS. Look, I'm a 'play to the echo of the whistle' guy and if an opponent gets injured in the course of the game, oh well, that's football, but deliberately trying to injure an opposing Player, outside the rules of the game, crosses the line in my book. If I'm not mistaken, I saw the same Player flagged in another SoCon game this year for stomping his cleat down, after the play, on the hand of an opposing Player who was in a pile-up. No room for that kind of ish. Actually, I just checked...different Player - same position group though...which makes me wonder something a bit worse. I'm not going to elaborate on this any further, but wondering if you'd care to comment. BTW2 - If you want to talk about a hilariously AWFUL call...watch the final punt, 3:25:05 or so in the broadcast...where #3, Houzah, was charged with an Unsportsmanlike Penalty that ended up being 1/2 the distance (4 yards) and Mercer 'got out' so it probably had no effect on the game, really...but it's still hilarious. Houzah is rushing the punt and the FU Player grabs him around the neck and spins him around...OK, Holding, not called...not that big a deal (usually), happens all the time...so Houzah goes and pushes the guy in the chest with 2 open hands (inside the frame of his body)...during the play...He's doing exactly the same thing he would do if he was blocking him...which, on a Punt Return is usually part of the play...and the $%^#^#%^%ing SoCon Ref calls unsportsmanlike...for doing EXACTLY what you are supposed to do on that play in this Sport....those guys are SOOOOO bad. He, essentially, called the foul because he (correctly) interpreted that Houzah was mad about getting grabbed around the neck. So, now we are going to start calling penalties because of how we think a Player FEELS about something....un-#$%%#$^#%^ing believable!!! |
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Post by jackal on Nov 20, 2018 11:21:32 GMT -5
Didn't see the play. If it is the same player flagged for a similar infraction earlier this year, I did take notice that he did not return to the field the rest of that game. I imagine Hendrix will handle whatever it is in house. If it is the same guy (again, I didn't see it), his playing time drastically reduced this year.
I didn't think the Houzah penalty was warranted. Seemed like an appropriate no call on that play. That area in front of the punter, though, is a place the Refs are always watching.
I agree that Furman pressured Bailey's absence, but I don't know how much of a direct impact that had. Furman moved the ball pretty well against the Bears all night with or without Bailey in the lineup. I thought a few of Mercer's defensive stops during the game were more the result of poorly thrown balls to open receivers than a defensive stand.
Furman's game plan seemed as though they intended to stress the edges early in the game, and later come back off play action and attack the middle of the field. They had a lot of success with that sort of stuff late.
Personally, I think Mercer's biggest issue on defense is they really didn't seem to have anyone that could get to the edge before Devin Wynn could.
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Post by FUBeAR on Nov 20, 2018 13:17:46 GMT -5
Didn't see the play. If it is the same player flagged for a similar infraction earlier this year, I did take notice that he did not return to the field the rest of that game. I imagine Hendrix will handle whatever it is in house. If it is the same guy (again, I didn't see it), his playing time drastically reduced this year. I didn't think the Houzah penalty was warranted. Seemed like an appropriate no call on that play. That area in front of the punter, though, is a place the Refs are always watching. I agree that Furman pressured Bailey's absence, but I don't know how much of a direct impact that had. Furman moved the ball pretty well against the Bears all night with or without Bailey in the lineup. I thought a few of Mercer's defensive stops during the game were more the result of poorly thrown balls to open receivers than a defensive stand. Furman's game plan seemed as though they intended to stress the edges early in the game, and later come back off play action and attack the middle of the field. They had a lot of success with that sort of stuff late. Personally, I think Mercer's biggest issue on defense is they really didn't seem to have anyone that could get to the edge before Devin Wynn could. Nope - different guy (as I said)...one that has played and plays a lot more, but good to know about the non-return to that game of the other guy, the hand-stomper, to that game. Knowing that, then, I suspect you are correct that the issue last Saturday will be addressed as well. We (FU) AREN’T Marshall and need to play every play of every game as tough as nails, balls out, giving no quarter, and taking no prisoners....and doing all that with 100% class. No place for that other crap from a Player with a <F> on his helmet. LOL - if they were watching that area in front of the Punter closely, why didn’t he call the holding? He had to see it...or else he wouldn’t have known that Houzah was mad...because what Houzah did, physically, was PERFECTLY legal & a part of every normal Football Play. He was penalized for his FEELINGS. It’s HILARIOUSLY AWFUL. No other way to describe it or justify it. So, in your view, Mercer didn’t stop Furman. Furman only stopped themselves. I just wonder if you ever stop to think about how non-objective you are in your assessments. It’s really quite amazing. Wynn played very well & Furman did a darn fine job of running the ball, but I think 99.9% of normal, objective viewers would identify Mercer’s biggest issue on defense as blown coverages...that were caused by Furman’s outstanding Offensive schemes & execution on all 5 occasions...and on a few of those occasions; certainly the final one, aided by Mercer having to play without an AllSoCon OLB in those coverages. |
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Post by jackal on Nov 20, 2018 14:14:09 GMT -5
I didn't say Furman only stopped themselves. Certainly you are not arguing that Mercer had a banner day defensively, though.
Furman had 434 yards of offense. They were 9 yards from having two running backs with 100 yards. One back nearly had 100 yards before half time. Harris Roberts threw for 5 TDs and a nearly 70% completion rate. The Paladins had 5 scoring drives of 67+ yards, and 3 drives over 80. They scored on 6 of 13 possessions, which included a 1 play possession where Mercer scooped up a fumbled pitch for a score.
I'm not suggesting Furman had a good defensive day. They didn't. They held Mercer's offense to 23, though, which was good enough. Furman had 35 and 3 failed extra points (so, 38).
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Post by FUBeAR on Nov 20, 2018 14:46:49 GMT -5
I didn't say Furman only stopped themselves. Certainly you are not arguing that Mercer had a banner day defensively, though. Furman had 434 yards of offense. They were 9 yards from having two running backs with 100 yards. One back nearly had 100 yards before half time. Harris Roberts threw for 5 TDs and a nearly 70% completion rate. The Paladins had 5 scoring drives of 67+ yards, and 3 drives over 80. They scored on 6 of 13 possessions, which included a 1 play possession where Mercer scooped up a fumbled pitch for a score. I'm not suggesting Furman had a good defensive day. They didn't. They held Mercer's offense to 23, though, which was good enough. Furman had 35 and 3 failed extra points (so, 38). So, objectively, the actual final score was 38-23, a 3 score beatdown. ...even though Mercer had the ball at the Furman 38 with a chance to win the game on 1 play as time expired. Got it. LOL |
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Post by MU96 on Nov 20, 2018 18:29:33 GMT -5
I hate these platforms, but perhaps someone with influence at the University (i.e. Pres. Underwood or A.D. Cole) will see it. The comments about Furman and their playoff potential are irrelevant and actually stupid given this platform. Mercer is the focus. If you root for someone else, great for you, but talk them up or down somewhere that's of importance to them. The issue here is Mercer has failed again on the season-long gridiron. Injuries and academic standards are not an excuse. Wofford has 1500 students for Christ's sake and always competes for the conference title. ETSU and KSU are also new programs and have figured out how to win. MERCER --Count the blown 4th quarter leads. Count the highly regarded recruiting classes. Count the funds spent on the best stadium (and other facilities) in the conference. Coach Lamb and his guys (plus his GA and SC connections) have been fabulous, but its time for new vision. Alumni contributions won't continue forever without progress.
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Post by Mzu96 on Nov 20, 2018 18:35:32 GMT -5
As a follow-on -- Baseball, Men's Soccer, Men's and Women's Basketball, and even Men's Lacrosse have learned how to win championships in recent years. Again for emphasis, academic standards are no excuse. Time for a new vision in football.
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Post by MUfan on Nov 20, 2018 18:52:48 GMT -5
Mercer did compete for the conference title but came up a bit short. Injuries may not be an excuse but they are part of the reason.
If the team had given up, I would agree with your opinion, but they didn't.
My opinion is to give Lamb next year to get on track, for what it's worth.
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Post by FUBeAR on Nov 20, 2018 21:04:45 GMT -5
The comments about Furman and their playoff potential are irrelevant and actually stupid given this platform. Mercer is the focus. If you root for someone else, great for you, but talk them up or down somewhere that's of importance to them. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours 96! Your guidance as to what should and should not be discussed here is greatly appreciated and will certainly be considered with the corresponding weight of your level of contributions to this Mercer focused forum over the years. |
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Post by jackal on Nov 21, 2018 7:25:45 GMT -5
I hate these platforms, but perhaps someone with influence at the University (i.e. Pres. Underwood or A.D. Cole) will see it. The comments about Furman and their playoff potential are irrelevant and actually stupid given this platform. Mercer is the focus. If you root for someone else, great for you, but talk them up or down somewhere that's of importance to them. The issue here is Mercer has failed again on the season-long gridiron. Injuries and academic standards are not an excuse. Wofford has 1500 students for Christ's sake and always competes for the conference title. ETSU and KSU are also new programs and have figured out how to win. MERCER --Count the blown 4th quarter leads. Count the highly regarded recruiting classes. Count the funds spent on the best stadium (and other facilities) in the conference. Coach Lamb and his guys (plus his GA and SC connections) have been fabulous, but its time for new vision. Alumni contributions won't continue forever without progress. You are, perhaps, reading too much between an annual Bear/Jackal tradition wherein we overexaggerate the results of the game. As you may not be aware, Bear and I both attended Furman and have ties to Mercer as well (he a parent of a former player and myself an alumn and former Macon resident). Currently, the SoCon has a great deal more parity than it used to. Some might say it is "watered down," but I do not know if that is true. As you watch the contests, the difference between winning and losing each week is often very thin. Every team in the conference can point to one or two games each year that they probably should have won, but didn't. That used to not be the case, where if you were Georgia Southern/App State/Furman would routinely beat the crap out of the rest of the conference every Saturday until they played one of the other "big three." It's hard to judge Mercer's season in a year where they had so many key injuries at QB. FCS rosters just aren't deep enough to get down to the third or fourth player at a position and not see some pretty major effects in productivity. I like a lot of the current players. I have been really impressed with Devezin, who is an "old school" type running back that will be a handful for a long time. While they didn't get the headlines, to have a sort of rushing day like Devezin did against a pretty stingy Furman defense, that also tells me there are some talented players on that offensive line as well. Going forward, I don't think the SoCon is going to get any easier next year. I see a lot of talent in the league and if a few teams can get some things fixed (like UTC's offense and WCU's defense), it could be a really deep league. I think the margin of victory and the difference between winning and losing is still going to be pretty narrow. |
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