The Bobcat Nation

Cats foreign to Furman
By SCOTT MANSCH
Tribune Asst. Sports Editor

Furman coach Bobby Lamb says the Montana State offense reminds him of Elon or The Citadel.

Furman star fullback Jerome Felton says the Bobcat defense looks a little like Appalachian State's.

The truth, however, is that the MSU Bobcats of the Big Sky Conference are unlike any team from the Southern Conference. And Lamb, whose Mountaineers will be in Bozeman to battle the Cats Saturday in a Division I Football Championship Subdivision first-round game, knows it.

"That's the great thing about the playoffs," said Lamb, whose club finished second in the SoCon to defending national champion Appy State. "You get to travel to different parts of country, play different teams from different leagues and see different schemes."

Furman, 8-3 overall, is primarily an option team that loves to pound the ball with Felton, a 250-pounder, and several quick tailbacks. Quarterback Renaldo Gray, a 240-pounder, is not an overly talented passer. But he's adept at giving to Felton on the dive or pitching to quick halfback Cedrick Gipson.

Felton, who has 670 yards and 22 touchdowns this year, said he's impressed what he's seen on tape of the Montana State defense, a unit that yields only about 107 yards rushing per game.

"They kind of remind me of Appalachian State," he said. "Not huge but really fast. And they run to the football. Montana State puts a lot of people in the box and tries to get to the football. And they did a good job of it."

The Furman defense has been solid against the run (foes average just 3.8 yards a carry) and effective vs. the pass (162-yard average). But then again, the Southern Conference is not a league with a lot of sophisticated passing attacks.

"Montana State runs a standard Big Sky offense," said Lamb, a former Furman quarterback. "A lot of 12 personnel (one back, two wideouts), with two tight ends and a lot of zone blocking with the running back. The thing about it is we've seen a little bit of this out of Elon and The Citadel, which I think is a positive for us."

The Bobcats have run the ball effectively at times this season, but not lately. On Saturday, it wouldn't be a shock if coach Mike Kramer's club went to the air early and often with quarterbacks Jack Rolovich and Cory Carpenter looking often to talented receiver Michael Jefferson.

"At one time we were strictly an option league," said Lamb. "But now Elon and The Citadel have new coaches. And Georgia Southern is running the spread offense. We've been predominantly a running league over the years and they're a passing league. That's what makes the playoffs exciting. You take your league and what you do and go out and play a Big Sky team and see what happens."

Furman defeated Elon (24-13), The Citadel (23-17) and Georgia Southern (13-10) this season.

Kickoff is Saturday morning at 11:30 at Bobcat Stadium. Tickets are still available, and MSU officials expect a crowd of more than 10,000.

Eastcoastgriz wrote:Cats foreign to Furman

Furman star fullback Jerome Felton says the Bobcat defense looks a little like Appalachian State's.

The truth, however, is that the MSU Bobcats of the Big Sky Conference are unlike any team from the Southern Conference. And Lamb, whose Mountaineers will be in Bozeman to battle the Cats Saturday in a Division I Football Championship Subdivision first-round game, knows it.


Kickoff is Saturday morning at 11:30 at Bobcat Stadium. Tickets are still available, and MSU officials expect a crowd of more than 10,000.

Does that same writer think the Furman Paladins are somewhere playing the Grizzlies?

Scott is usually a very thorough writer. I'm sure he's mortified by his mistake.

Lamb knows playoffs well
Coach has been there for all 30 Div. I-AA games

Published: Friday, November 24, 2006 - 6:00 am



By Ann Green
STAFF WRITER
agreen@greenvillenews.com


What's your view? Click here to add your comment to this story.

On Thanksgiving morning, Furman head coach Bobby Lamb had the look of a man very much at home in the playoffs, even if his team won't be at home for Saturday's first-round matchup at Montana State.

If you're a part of Furman football, you want to be practicing and playing Thanksgiving week while most of the nation takes a holiday break. That usually means one thing: You're in the postseason.

At age 43, Lamb has been a part of all 30 of Furman's playoff games in Division I-AA football. That's a string of playoff appearances extending to 1982, when he was freshman backup quarterback and the Paladins lost to South Carolina State, 17-0.

From player to assistant to head coach for the past five years, Lamb has 25 years of his life invested in Furman football.
Advertisement


On the practice field Thursday, he got after his players to restore a bit of intensity to the holiday mood.

"We wanted to get a lot done because we won't be able to practice (today)," said Lamb, who with his team will board a chartered jet for the 4-hour flight to Bozeman, Mont., this morning.

The players will have a walkthrough at Bobcat Stadium this afternoon, but no practice.

Afterward, Lamb pronounced starting quarterback Renaldo Gray recovered from his latest ankle injury, sustained in the regular-season finale against Georgia Southern on Nov. 11.

"Knock on wood, he looks as good as he has since Coastal Carolina," Lamb said, referring to the Oct. 7 game in which Furman not only lost to the Chanticleers but also saw Gray significantly hobbled for the second of three times this season.

Lamb said that fullback Jerome Felton, a key to Furman's rushing attack with a record-shattering 22 touchdowns this season, is "probably 95 percent" recovered from his leg injury.

Combine Felton's 95 percent with Gray's 100 percent, and Lamb noted, "I'll take that any day."

Furman's record in those 30 playoff games is 17-13. The Paladins are 7-5 in first-round games, 6-3 in quarterfinal games, 3-3 in semifinal games and 1-2 in the national championship game, which instead of flying under the Division I-AA flag will be known in the future as the Division I Football Championship.

As for that first playoff loss to South Carolina State when he was a young quarterback, Lamb said that he's not sure Furman would have scored to this day if that game were still in progress. "That was an unbelievable defense," he said.

Thirty games include the highs and the lows, from the heartbreaker of a loss to Georgia Southern in 1985 in the national championship game with Lamb at quarterback. Later, he was an assistant coach when Furman beat Georgia Southern for the I-AA national championship in 1988, becoming the only private school to ever win the title.

Lamb said he has stayed at Furman for a variety of reasons: chiefly the type of player that Furman recruits, the support his program receives from the administration, his love of Greenville as a place to live and his loyalty to his alma mater.

"I really enjoy driving onto this campus every morning. It's so beautiful, number one. You get a calm feeling about this place," he said.

Coming from the coaches, it sounds like Furman is a lot like Weber and Sac State in their offense.