2010 Record: 5-6 (3-5), 6th Southern2010 Postseason: None
2010 Schedule/Results: Colgate, W 45-15, @ South Carolina, L 38-19, Citadel, W 31-14, @ Wofford, L 38-17, Howard, W 56-14, @ Samford, W 27-10, Chattanooga, L 36-28, @ Appalachian State, L 37-26, Western Carolina, W 31-17, @ Elon, L 30-25, Georgia Southern, L 32-28
REVIEW
Two things killed the Paladins in 2010. First was an underproductive offense. Second was a rush defense that was almost nonexistent. If you wanted to add a third item, it was that the Paladins could not close the deal in the final two weeks of the season, and they lost both games by a total of 9 points.
The ball was placed firmly in the hands of Cody Worley to lead this team at QB, and he did ok, but nobody's jumping around about what he was able to do. Worley passed for 1496 yards and 14 TDs on the season after beating out UCLA transfer Chris Forcier for the job. Worley was a senior in 2010, so he moves on, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Furman needs a fix at QB in a big hurry.
The rin game, in a nutshell, was a freaking joke. Jerry Williams was the team leader with only 373 yards on 84 carries. He rushed for 6 TDs on the season, but Tersoo Uhaa beat him with 7 of his own. The Furman cannot develop a run game next fall, they may as well just accept that they will not win, which is a highly questionable prospect as it stands now anyway.
Adam Mims was the only receiver even worth mentioning in 2010. Mims was the only receiver to go over 20 receptions for the Paladins, having picked up 55 grabs for 724 yards and 5 TDs. Everyone else failed to provide any kind of support or productivity to a less than stellar passing attack.
The Paladins only gave up 160.9 yards passing per game last season. That's quite good. But the reason may have more to do with the rush D being morbidly terrible than anything else. Furman gave up 211.7 yards rushing per game in 2010, and that's no laughing matter to Furman fans.
Kadarron Anderson was a very active LB in 2010,as he led the team with 121 tackles, good for 3rd in the SoCon last fall. He averaged 11 tackles per game, one of only 5 conference defenders to average in double digits per game. Max Lerner finished 7th in the conference with 86 tackles on the season, whle Chris Whaley had 72.
Furman was not getting it done up front, which was indicated by the horrid amount of yards that they gave up to opposing run games. Josh Lynn had 11 TFLs on the season as a sophomore, and Anderson had 9, but they were all alone in attacking opposing backfields, allowing for huge gains and lots of time to allow for holes to develop. Nobody had more than 3 sacks, so you can see why it was so easy to move the ball against Furman in 2010.
Ryan Steed stayed busy in the secondary, as he defended 9 passes. He was better than any of his teammates by 3 times last fall, and will return to anchor the secondary in 2011. Steed picked off 4 passes in 2010, and returned 2 of those for TDs. Nathan Wade and Max Lerner both picked off 3 passes, but neither of them scored on any of them.
Ray Early was as good as can be at PK, having made 11 of his 12 FG attempts. Early was only a freshman last fall, so look out for this guy as he continues to develop as a sophomore in 2011. Hopefully, the offense will be able to get him close enough to score. Chas Short failed to get it done at Punter, as he averaged just over 38 yards per punt, good for 6th in the SoCon, which is nothing to be excited about.
FINAL NOTES
Furman had issues in 2010, and they may have even more in 2011. The offense is in pieces, and the defense cannot stop the run, and if playmakers are not found quickly, things may start to get uglier than they already are. As bad as this team was, they were still very close to a winning record. Coaching can only do so much. laymakers have got to be found and used in a manner that make this team succesful. The question is, are there any playmakers on the roster?
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