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| Furman's Colton Hinton hauls in an 84-yard touchdown during the Paladins' 34-24 loss at William & Mary. Photo courtesy of Furman |
Note: Apologies for the delay in this game story this week. It was already delayed to begin with, but my plan was to publish Friday morning and then have a preview of the Samford game published Saturday morning. Those plans fell through when I lost power overnight Thursday and wasn't able to finish this until going out of town and getting my computer powered up again. Thanks as always for reading.
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - It took a few days to write this one as Furman's 34-24 loss at 12th-ranked William & Mary Saturday was one of the more unusual games I've seen. In about 50 years of watching the Paladins, I'm sure there's been a couple of times they've jumped out to a 14-0 lead only to go on to lose. However, I'm fairly certain Furman's never taken an early 14-0 lead and failed to rush for 100 yards and lose.
Running the ball and stopping the run have always been kind of a 1a. and 1b. in Furman's football textbook. Neither of those things happened last Saturday night at Zable Stadium. It was the Paladins' first game at William & Mary since rushing for 509 yards in a 52-6 win in 1999. On Saturday, Furman had 84 yards rushing on 30 attempts.
Meanwhile, William & Mary's senior backfield trio of quarterback Darius Wilson and running backs Bronson Yoder and Malachi Imoh accounted for 371 of the Tribe's 384 yards rushing. Yoder, a Walter Payton Award watch list member, proved to be a load to bring down in his 166-yard night, while the Paladins could never get a hold of Wilson as he ran for 155.
"We didn't tackle very good on defense, but I knew they'd be good. Their quarterback was fantastic. When you've got a guy like that, he just brings a whole new dimension to it," Furman coach Clay Hendrix said. "We're looking to get off the field (defensively). We have a perfect call and we don't do what we're supposed to do. Right now, that's the killer for us. We just make so many mistakes.
"It's one thing if you can't tackle their guy, but it's another thing when you're not doing what you're supposed to do."
Despite getting dominated on the ground and clock, missing two chip shot field goals and losing the turnover battle (3-2), Furman kept hanging around. The Paladins managed to stay within striking distance until the Tribe scored a touchdown with 57 seconds left to seal the 10-point win.
That speaks to how much this young Furman team fights. Of the 65 Paladins that made the trip, 31 are true freshmen or redshirt freshmen.
"Yeah, we're young. ... But our season (starting with August camp) - not our games - is about halfway over and we're making some mistakes we shouldn't be making," Hendrix said. "It's disappointing, but our guys hang in there and don't go aways. They keep coming back. We've just got to learn how to win against a good team."
The first five minutes of the game could not have been scripted any better for Furman (1-3). On the game's first play, Evan DiMaggio pressured Wilson to the left sideline. Wilson managed to get a pass off before getting nailed by DiMaggio, but it was right to linebacker Luke Clark for an interception at the Tribe's 27-yard line.
On Furman's first play, Myion Hicks rumbled for 13 yards. Much like William & Mary's first play turned out to be its lone turnover of the night, the Paladins' first play turned out to be their only run of more than 10 yards.
On a night when these two well respected institutions of higher learning combined for 247 yards worth of 21 penalties, officials set their tone for the game two plays later. Trey Hedden's four-yard touchdown pass to Colton Hinton was wiped out by a controversial chop block penalty on Brock Chappell. Chappell atoned for whatever he did wrong two plays later with a spectacular one-handed grab in the end zone for a 14-yard touchdown two plays later.
"It was a good play that we'd been drawing up all week and put in the game plan. We ran it a few times in practice ... and it paid off out there," Chappell said. "I came off the ball, hit the guy I needed to hit, got loose and just made a play on the ball."
After 18 yards on two carries that opening drive, Hicks carried eight times for 28 yards the rest of the way to lead Furman in rushing with 46 yards.
Backed with a lot of momentum off the turnover and touchdown, Furman's defense appeared to force a three-and-out on William & Mary's next possession, but Jalyn Moson was flagged for pass interference on 3rd-and-11. There was nothing controversial about this penalty as it was simply a horrible call. The Paladins did stop the drive three plays later when Imoh was tackled for a gain of one on third-and-two.
On Furman's first play after the Tribe's punt, Hedden threw deep to Hinton. The Paladins' fastest player pulled away from defenders on his way to an 84-yard touchdown to help push the lead to 14-0.
William & Mary's veteran team wasn't fazed by the early hole. The Tribe answered on its ensuing possession when tight end Sean McElwain made a fantastic 21-yard catch in the end zone. Furman linebacker Brandt Babin had blanket coverage on McElwain, but it was just another William & Mary senior making a big play.
Furman's ensuing possession began a stretch of three consecutive three-and-outs for its offense. By the time the Paladins got their next first down - with less than five minutes left in the first half - the Tribe had a 17-14 lead thanks to Wilson's 53-yard touchdown run.
"After that first play of the game, he didn't make many mistakes," Hendrix said. "His two long runs should never happen though. He was going to get his yards, but so much of it was us not doing what we're supposed to do."
That first down late in the first half came on a 43-yard pass to a wide open Jackson Pryor. It the first collegiate catch for the true freshman tight end. A targeting penalty against the Tribe put Furman in the red zone, but the Paladins had to settle for a field goal attempt. Fresh off earning Southern Conference Special Teams Player of the Week honors for made field goals of 48 and a school-record 57 yards the week before, Ian Williams missed a 29-yard try.
A 22-yard punt return by Hinton set up Furman near midfield with 1:43 left in the half. After Hedden was sacked on first down, he was picked off on second down. William & Mary, which was 0-for-2 on field goals entering last Saturday, made it 2-for-2 on field goals in the first half to take a 20-14 lead into halftime.
An offensive pass interference penalty on the second play of the second half effectively killed Furman's possession, which ended on Williams' 23-yard punt out of bounds that gave the Tribe the ball at the Paladins' 40-yard line. William & Mary pushed the lead to 27-14 when Wilson threw a 15-yard touchdown to senior Hollis Mathis on third-and-seven.
Furman's ensuing possession began with another long pass to a wide open Pryor, this time for 45 yards to the Tribe's 18-yard line. It appeared the Paladins had answered with a touchdown when Hicks scored from two yards out. However, officials determined that Furman was guilty of holding in the three-second time span it took Hicks to cross the goal line.
"It was the only holding call of the game, which is insane based on what I saw going on out there," Hendrix said. "Calls are going to get missed, but I really dislike calls that were made that don't happen. We have two holding penalties this year. Both were on touchdown plays. Both were inside the five-yard line. Neither one showed up on tape.
"But you've got to keep working and make your on luck. We had an offensive pass interference because it was such a bad throw on the screen pass that nobody touches it. We're downfield blocking because of that. Even if we throw it incomplete but touch it, it wouldn't have been a 15-yard penalty. So they back it up and we make a 23-yard punt to start the second half and they score a touchdown. That was a big difference in the game and that's where we are right now."
The Paladins did end up with points on the possession when Grant Robinson scored from four yards out, helping cut the lead to 27-21 midway through the third quarter.
William & Mary fumbled a field goal snap on its next possession setting the Paladins up at their own 33. On a fourth-and-one near midfield, Chappell made another great catch for a 12-yard gain. Furman was prepared to go for it again on fourth-and-one, this time at the Tribe four-yard line, but a false start nixed that plan. The Paladins settled for a 27-yard field goal try that Williams missed.
Furman's defense forced a three-and-out and got the Paladins the ball back at the William & Mary 44. But on the first play, Hedden's pass was picked off. Furman's defense ended the next drive on a fumble recovery by Caldwell Bussey at the Paladins' 40. Furman again had to settle for a field goal, but Williams finally got one to split the uprights as his 33-yard kick cut the lead to 27-24 with 6:18 left.
The Tribe answered with three third-down conversions - one more than Furman had all night - on their ensuing possession. The last one of those with a back-breaking 12-yard touchdown run by Yoder to seal the win with 57 seconds left.
William & Mary (3-1) entered as one of the best teams in the FCS on third down, while Furman (1-3) entered as one of the worst. Those trends continued Saturday. The Tribe converted 9-of-17 third downs, while the Paladins converted just 2-of-11. Furman has converted 13-of-52 (25 percent) this season, which ranks 109th in the country.
Furman's inability to run the ball consistently is undoubtedly a big factor in its third-down struggles. The running game issues were all the more frustrating Saturday considering that big pass plays should've loosened some of those running lanes up a little. Playing without reigning SoCon Offensive Player of the Week Joshua Harris, Hedden still threw for 264 yards on 13-of-26 passing. Of those 13 completions, seven went for double-digit gains by six different receivers.
"We've got a bunch of guys in that (receiving) group that came make some plays," Hendrix said. "We've had too many third-and-longs."
Harris was suspended for a violation of team rules. During his Monday press conference, Hendrix said there is no timetable for when Harris might be able to return.
"There's no update," Hendrix said. "We've got standards we go by here and nothing has changed this week."
With the non-conference portion of its schedule complete, Furman's attention turns to SoCon play. The last two conference champions were set to meet Saturday at Paladin Stadium, when the Paladins were scheduled to host Samford at 2 p.m. The game was postponed by the weather-related issues this past week. As of Sunday, Sept. 29, there's been no update on when or if that game will be played.
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