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| Furman tight end Jackson Pryor makes a leaping catch during the Paladins' 19-13 loss to Wofford. Photo courtesy of Furman |
Furman enters the final two weeks of the football season in the unfamiliar position of spoiler. A victory Saturday at No. 21-ranked East Tennessee State, where the Paladins and Buccaneers kick off at noon, would likely end ETSU's FCS playoff hopes. A win in the season finale next Saturday at Mercer could wipe out the Bears' chance of an opening round bye in the FCS playoffs.
Much more important than spoiling, Furman probably just wants to know what it feels like to win again. The Paladins (2-7, 1-4 Southern Conference) head to ETSU (6-4, 4-2) on a four-game losing streak, it's longest in Clay Hendrix's eight-year tenure as head coach. It's the longest skid since the 2016 team opened the season 0-6 for a nine-game streak dating back to the previous season.
The Paladins will try to build off things it has done well lately. Obviously, they have played better - albeit against lesser competition - in close losses the last two weeks than they did in blowouts to Chattanooga and Western Carolina to begin this streak. Little mistakes just keep snowballing into big ones, which every opponent has made Furman pay for during this skid. That theme continued last Saturday in a 19-13 home loss to Wofford.
"Our kids' attitudes have really been phenomenal. We've just got to continue to try fix things where we hurt ourselves," Hendrix said Monday during his weekly press conference. "Certainly we could do some things better as coaches, put them in better position and make some better calls.
"We've go to go play against a really good East Tennessee team. It's like you're playing against a completely different team from a year ago. ... They had a big win against Western Carolina last Saturday, so it will be a huge challenge for us."
Last Saturday, the Paladins were coming off perhaps the most frustrating setback of the season at VMI. Furman dominated the Keydets statistically but still found a way to lose, 21-17. It appeared that the Paladins had put that all behind them when they opened the game against Wofford on a 68-yard scoring drive. Carson Jones, who went back in the starting lineup at quarterback, guided Furman down the field before Myion Hicks carried for a seven-yard touchdown.
Furman's defense then turned in a three-and-out capped on a third-down sack by true freshman Ty Kauserud. For the third time in as many tries, Jones converted a third-and-long with a long pass on the Paladins' next possession as they reached the Wofford 23.
Then it happened. Another turnover.
While everything had been going great for Furman to that point, there had to have been a feeling of "well, here we go again," after yet another turnover which has plagued the Paladins all season. Sure enough, four plays later Wofford was in the end zone and the game was tied 7-7.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Amari Odom, who made his first career start in Wofford's stunning 19-13 upset of Furman last season, completed 3-of-3 passes for 46 yards and a touchdown on the drive.
It was still 7-7 midway through the second quarter when Furman faced third-and-three at the Wofford 50. A low shotgun snap threw the timing off and Grant Robinson had a two-yard gain. Another low snap occurred on fourth-and-one and this shotgun handoff to Robinson resulted in a one-yard loss. The Terriers took advantage of the field position, but settled for a 29-yard field goal with 1:06 left.
The Paladins came to life on their next possession and reached the Wofford 20. But on second down with 15 seconds and two timeouts left, Furman had another shotgun handoff to Robinson. Robinson did have runs of 17 and 13 yards, respectively, on the drive but a throw to the end zone seemed like a more likely call. Robinson lost a yard on the play. Furman called timeout with two seconds left and settled for a 39-yard field goal by Ian Williams to go into halftime tied 10-10.
"We popped a couple of runs on that drive and thought we could pop another," Hendrix said in the postgame press conference.
A 45-yard completion by Odom on the third play of the second half led to a field goal that put Wofford back on top 13-10. The Paladins answered with yet another horrific opening possession after halftime as it went three-and-out with no yards gained.
Against Charleston Southern, Furman had a 79-yard touchdown drive to start the second half. Against Stetson, the Paladins had a 90-yard touchdown drive coming out of halftime. Against the other seven opponents combined, Furman has had 21 plays on its first possession of the third quarter. The longest of those has gone six yards and the net total of those 21 is four yards.
Like it did on its second drive of the first half, Wofford marched for a touchdown on its ensuing possession. The Paladins appeared to have held the Terriers out of the end zone on an incompletion on third-and-goal from the five, but was flagged for an obvious roughing the passer. Two plays later, Ryan Ingram scored from a yard out to push the lead to 19-10.
"We make a really dumb penalty after we lost contain and missed a sack," Hendrix said. "I think that's the third straight game we've had a roughing the passer and it's been a critical part of the game."
Furman advanced to Wofford's 15 on its next possession, but a low shotgun snap on second down resulted in no gain on a Hicks' run to begin the fourth quarter. On third down, Jones was sacked and Furman settled for a 41-yard field goal to cut the lead to six.
On the Paladins' next drive, they were faced with a third-and-one. With backs on either side of Jones in the shotgun, Jones kept and was forced out of bounds for no gain and Furman punted.
Furman had second-and-one at the Wofford 21 on its next drive, but Jones was sacked for an 11-yard loss. On third down, Jones was sacked again back to the 38. The Paladins passed on letting Williams try a 55-yard field goal and he punted again. His kick was downed at the six.
Wofford converted a pair of first downs before it had to punt. Colton Hinton was back deep to field the punt for the Paladins, but it bounced and rolled to the Furman 18 taking precious time off the clock. Furman's final drive began with 57 seconds left and the Paladins out of timeouts. On third-and-three, Jones completed a two-yard pass to Robinson. On fourth-and-one, a shotgun handoff to Robinson resulted in a one-yard loss to seal the Terriers' win.
After outgaining Wofford 135-53 in the first quarter, Furman was outgained 332-149 the rest of the way. Jones finished with 229 yards on 21-of-33 passes with no interceptions. Hinton caught five passes for 77 yards. Hicks and Robinson rushed for 41 yards apiece. After a breakout performance at VMI the week before, Hall was held to 12 yards on four carries and had that first quarter fumble, which turned out to be Furman's lone turnover.
"We're just trying to stick together and stay the course. I think that's how we won as many games as we have the last few years," Hendrix said. "We certainly want to finish strong for these seniors that we have. The frustrating part is the number of times we've hurt ourselves.
"If you look at that game Saturday we had all kinds of opportunities (to win it). Just as we had the week before. ... We just have a very, very slim margin of error and we're just not making enough plays to get us over the hump."
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