SoCon: Paladins return to the run

By Steve Behr
It’s not uncommon for a football coach, who used to be a quarterback, to want his team to throw the football more than they run it. In Furman head coach Bobby Lamb’s case, it is just the opposite.

Lamb, who quarterbacked the Paladins from 1982-85, has been head coach at Furman since replacing Bobby Johnson in 2002. He inherited a team that ran the football effectively enough to earn former standout running back Louis Ivory a Walter Payton award in 2000.

The Paladins won’t scrap the spread offense they’ve used the past few years. But Lamb said on the Southern Conference teleconference call that Furman is moving back to its traditional rushing attack. Furman actually ran the ball 422 times for 1,763 yards, an average of 4.2 yards per carry.

However, the Paladins attempted 378 passes, completing 229 for 2,576 yards in 2008.

“One thing that we’re going to emphasize at Furman is rushing the football,” Lamb said. “We did not rush the ball on offense effectively enough last year. It takes the pressure off the quarterback and the receivers and the play-callers. Hopefully it takes the pressure off all of us.”

There has never been a shortage of players capable of running the ball at Furman and 2009 is no different, even though the numbers were not overwhelming. Mike Brown returns from a season that saw him gain 823 yards and score five touchdowns, while Tersoo Uhaa gained an additional 420 yards and scored eight touchdowns, while losing just five yards on the ground all season.

“Those two guys alone can really tote the mail and get is where we want to be rushing the ball,” Lamb said. “Along our offensive line, we lost Joe Bell, but we’ve got good run blocking. We’ve got what it takes, it’s just a matter of getting it done.”

Lamb feels a better running game would take the pressure off returning starting quarterback Jordan Sorrells, (2,537 yards, 16 TDs) who enters his senior season. Also competing for the quarterback position is Chris Forcier, a sophomore who transferred from UCLA.

Forcier, who played sparingly in 2008 at UCLA after redshirting in 2007, completed 3-of-11 passes for 22yards and a touchdown. He also rushed 14 times for 33 yards. Coming out of St. Augustine High School in San Diego, Calif., he was rated the 17th top player in California and a four-start recruit by rivals.com and rated the No. 13 quarterback nationally by ESPN.com.

“He brings excitement to the table with his speed and ability,” Lamb said of Forcier. “We're excited because any time you can add speed to a team, particularly at the quarterback position, you've got a chance.”

Lamb said no matter whom plays quarterback, the emphasis of the Furman offense will be running the ball. He pointed to Furman's final two games last year, back-to-back losses to Georgia Southern (17-10) and Wofford (35-10) as games they needed to run the ball better.

The two losses left the Paladins with a 7-5 record and out of the FCS playoff picture. Combined with a 26-14 loss to Appalachian State and a 28-27 win over Samford, Furman lost three of its final four games of the 2008 season.

“We stumbled down the stretch,” Lamb said. “We were 7-3 and we faced two difficult games and we lost both of them.”