Saturday, October 5, 2024

Paladins set to return to action at The Citadel

Furman tight end Brock Chappell runs against
William & Mary. Photo courtesy of Furman

After having its Southern Conference opener postponed - and more than likely cancelled - last Saturday, Furman will begin conference play this Saturday at rival The Citadel at 2 p.m. When I wrote about this season being eerily similar to 2018 a few weeks ago (http://www.furmansportsreport.com/2024/09/freshman-hedden-set-for-first-start-for.html), I had no idea how stronger that feeling would become.

There doesn't seem to be a clear path for the Paladins (1-3) to be able to reschedule last week's home game versus Samford, which was wiped out by the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. That would make it Furman's third game - all at home - to be cancelled during Clay Hendrix's eight-year tenure as head coach. The threat of a hurricane cancelled Colgate's trip to Greenville in 2018, while the 2020 spring COVID season finale against Wofford was called off after the Terriers ended their season early due to a decimated roster.

"When Samford's team got here Friday, their hotel had no power and they were told it would be at least 24 hours without it. I get it. I wouldn't want for us to go to Birmingham with no power and nowhere to stay," Hendrix said. "And we didn't know what our campus was going to look like (last Saturday)."

Hendrix said by Friday afternoon, it was evident that Saturday was no longer an option. The possibility of playing around noon Sunday was explored, while still trying to find a place for Samford to stay. Hendrix said they even looked at eastern Atlanta with the thinking that the Bulldogs could arrive back in Greenville in a couple of hours Sunday morning.

"We just could never find them a place. We were hoping to get power back on campus Saturday night, but we didn't," Hendrix said. "After being told we'd likely get power back on Tuesday, we just decided to send our players home for a couple of days."

Hendrix said that outside of a couple of players from the Asheville area, most of the team was able to make it back home. The next task was finding a place for the coaching staff to work and Hendrix finally found one in downtown Greenville.

"The Westin (Poinsett) was great to us. They offered us a ballroom area, so we could at least have power and internet. We spent all day there Sunday and all morning Monday, thinking we'd have power (on campus) Tuesday," Hendrix said "Then we're told we may not have power until the end of the week, but they were going to try to have power in the dining hall and the PAC. I knew we could make that work to get our players fed and to be able to work and meet."

Hendrix said he thought that power situation would be manageable until Thursday, when the Paladins might go ahead and leave a day earlier for Charleston. After the players returned to campus Monday morning, they gathered in the team meeting room with the only light coming from the windows.

"I'm laying out the plan for the week and all of sudden, one side of the room lights up. Everybody was kind of quiet, just looking at each other," Hendrix said. "(Offensive coordinator) Justin Roper is in the back of the room and (special teams coordinator) Tommy Spangler is sitting on the other side of the room next to a light switch. (Roper) hollers at (Spangler), 'Coach, hit that light switch.' When he does, the other side lights up and the room erupted."

Many of the dorms also got power back that day. So outside of classes being cancelled and unusual dining hall hours, it wasn't as abnormal a week as Hendrix first expected.

"It was an interesting week," Hendrix said Thursday. "2024's been a challenge for the Furman Paladins, all the way back to January."

Another unusual moment took place as the team was preparing to leave for Charleston Friday morning. One of the bus drivers had a medical emergency, so the team ended up traveling in two buses rather than three.

In preparation this week, Hendrix said that Citadel's defensive approach is fairly similar to Samford's. A big plus this week was the fact that the offensive differences between Samford and Citadel are not nearly as night and day as they used to be.

Led by grad transfer quarterback Johnathan Bennett, the Bulldogs (2-3, 0-2) have more passing yards (955) than rushing yards (688) this season - and two more wins than they had in a winless 2023 season. Bennett, a Summerville native who previously played at Liberty, has completed 65-of-126 passes for 921 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions. He's rushed for 93 yards and two scores as well.

"I think the biggest difference for them this season is the quarterback. That's our sport," Hendrix said. "He just gives them some balance and has the ability to make throws. I don't think he's really a runner, but he has the ability to make plays with his feet. They kind of started this (offensive) evolution last year.

"They've got a lot of guys back from last year and they're playing better on defense. They're creating turnovers and been solid in the kicking game."

Furman is coming off a 34-24 loss at No. 12 William & Mary two weeks ago. While the Paladins had some big plays offensively, it didn't play very well overall. Yet they still had a chance for a road victory over a highly-ranked team.

While everyone was disappointed to not get to play last week, Hendrix said he was thankful to have a full week of practice each of the last two weeks. 

"We're that team that needs to practice. We need the reps. We had some curveballs this week, but we got everything in. ... We had a good week of prep. I think we've have a good week of prep every week and gotten better each week," Hendrix said. "The biggest thing holding us back is us. It's things we can fix. ... We've got to be better at the routine stuff. I think all the pieces are there.

"I think our league is wide open. I think there's some good teams that have played brutally tough schedules. ... I think it's who can play well down the stretch and who can stay healthy."

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