(09-28-2019 04:21 PM)Buc76 Wrote:  The QB doesn't call the plays. The Furman defense played run on first and second down and pass blitzed on third the whole game and Sanders obliged them doing exactly what their defense expected 85-90% of the time. Furman put 8 guys in the box on 1st and second down and constantly kept the Bucs behind the chains. The only time our RB's got to the outside was the hole was clogged and they bounced outside.
Sanders ran a slip screen and gained big yardage, he called a seam route to the TE, again big yardage. Never called either play again. He called one deep sideline, ball was perfectly thrown, receiver dropped it. 89 was open all day, caught several, but didn't call his number down the stretch. No screens, no drag routes, no sweeps, nothing to make the defense play honest. Sanders told everyone that he has a package for Mcgue. He said they needed to get the ball in his hands. To my knowledge, he had one play from scrimmage, a run for 5yds.

His playcalling put the QB in obvious pass situations which allowed Furman to blitze and play pass defense all the way, No QB can be effective being pressured and harrassed on every pass play. Furman totally ignored the pass on 1st and second downs, that's why the Bucs had success passing on the few times they passed on 1st and 2nd downs.

The same old vanilla, predictable offense needs to change.

Hats of to the defense and offense for doing as well as they did. The defense played them better than either Va Tech or Ga. State.

Either way offense needs to improve.

And this close SoCon loss on road magnifies losing to VMI at home.

I agree the offense is once again the problem and entirely too predictable.

This was a winnable game. Is it Mike Rader or Sanders that calls the plays? Regardless ETSU always runs on first down, and typically between the tackles. When Holmes or Saylors get outside they’re really dangerous. Holmes has to be gang tackled to get him down. So why not get these guys outside, at the very least? And yes - pass on first down - it works!

Also Mitchell isn’t bad, but his accuracy isn’t great. I thought Thrasher’s accuracy was better? I know Thrasher is more mobile.

McGue can only run the ball in the wildcat. It’s like a rule or policy or something. He can’t line up as a tailback or WR. It’s against the law. LOL

I agree with everyone that the quarterback position needs to improve, though I can't be mad at a third string quarterback that is coming in and giving us what he has. I am hopeful that Sanders isn't too hesitant to pull the trigger on a change. Thrasher needs to be back in if he is healthy, or put McGue or Lewis in there full time and change our offensive strategy accordingly to accommodate their strengths.

Outside of that, the game was much closer than most of us expected which should give us some hope. There is really no true powerhouse in the conference this year, and the winner of the league might have 2-3 conference losses. If we win out in conference play from this point, we could still get the auto bid to the playoffs. If we can get past Wofford, we have a bye week to get prepared for some very important games.

Let's look at the positives- we have a championship level defense, a solid offensive line and two quality running backs. Also, we seemed to have cleaned up the penalties (Player's facemask came at a bad time), kicking game, and dropped passes that plagued us early in the year.

(09-29-2019 09:47 AM)etsubuc Wrote:  I agree with everyone that the quarterback position needs to improve, though I can't be mad at a third string quarterback that is coming in and giving us what he has. I am hopeful that Sanders isn't too hesitant to pull the trigger on a change. Thrasher needs to be back in if he is healthy, or put McGue or Lewis in there full time and change our offensive strategy accordingly to accommodate their strengths.

Outside of that, the game was much closer than most of us expected which should give us some hope. There is really no true powerhouse in the conference this year, and the winner of the league might have 2-3 conference losses. If we win out in conference play from this point, we could still get the auto bid to the playoffs. If we can get past Wofford, we have a bye week to get prepared for some very important games.

Let's look at the positives- we have a championship level defense, a solid offensive line and two quality running backs. Also, we seemed to have cleaned up the penalties (Player's facemask came at a bad time), kicking game, and dropped passes that plagued us early in the year.

Every one is making some good points here. This is not like some other teams where we just do not have the talent. We have the talent to be very good and if the offense improves whether it is with Trey or Chance, we can be as good as any other SoCon team.

Good highlights:

https://twitter.com/ETSUFootball/status/...4121203715

(09-29-2019 02:11 PM)Bucc18 Wrote:  Good highlights:

https://twitter.com/ETSUFootball/status/...4121203715

Anybody’s game. Break here, break there — we win this game. We won in the trenches 290 total yards to 268. We matched right up with them. That turned out to be a toss up game.

See what AP did to JSU? Somebody else pointed out how much we held FU under their usual point totals. And, that App State scoring machine has been piling on points exceeding the 42 on us against FBS folks. - not to mention that Carolina win. They could go undefeated.

Anyway, , you all point out our defense and the need for the offense to catch up. Let’s hope Sanders has a plan to get the offense cranking and getting into that end zone. Some are questioning the play calling given our talent — meaning we’re not getting the full benefit of our talent? Will Sanders adjust and discontinue what’s not working? Isn’t he offense minded and putting up points? They’ve got to start putting up points, enjoying it, and going out and doing it again. As someone pointed out, it would sure help the defense catch their breath and pump them up even more.