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| Furman freshman Caldwell Bussey had two sacks, but the Paladins fell at VMI, 21-17. Photo courtesy of Furman |
LEXINGTON, Va. - Two out of three might not be bad, but it wasn't enough for Furman to beat a previously winless VMI team Saturday. The three biggest problems for the Paladins this season have been an non-existent running game, an inability to convert on third down and turnover ratio. They rank near the bottom in the country in all three categories.
On Saturday, Furman rushed for 195 yards, converted 10-of-18 third downs - and 2-of-4 fourth downs, but lost three turnovers and didn't force any. The Paladins had twice as many offensive plays as VMI (87 to 43), outgained the Keydets 412-177, had 26 first downs and allowed nine, and held the ball nearly twice as long (39:35 to 20:25).
None of those stats mattered. The only one that did was on the scoreboard, where Furman lost 21-17. The Paladins (2-6, 1-3 Southern Conference) could not overcome the big mistakes like turnovers and all the little mistakes like multiple low snaps to the quarterback sprinkled along the way. In Furman's six losses this season, it's lost 17 turnovers and forced four - two against William & Mary and two against Western Carolina.
In a season filled with frustration, Saturday was a whole new slice of it.
"I'd rather play worse and win," Furman coach Clay Hendrix said. "Our team hangs in there and fights. They didn't give up, but we just invent ways to hurt ourselves.
"We had three turnovers and we don't get one. Two possessions inside the 10 and we get three points. We had a bad snap at the three-yard line and then don't give ourselves a chance because we take a sack. We give up a seven-play drive to start the game. ... It's just the details that we're not very good at and that falls on me."
Entering Saturday, VMI (1-8, 1-4) had more than one offensive touchdown in a game just one time this year - against Bucknell eight weeks earlier. But on the opening possession, it looked like Halloween was still going and the Keydets were cosplaying as Western Carolina's offense that torched Furman two weeks ago.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Chandler Wilson threw a 17-yard touchdown to freshman Ethen Horne to cap the Keydets' seven-play, 75-yard drive. After going 5-for-5 for 70 yards on that opening possession, Wilson completed 4-of-11 passes for 65 yards the rest of the way. Furman held VMI to just 102 yards of offense after that first drive, but for the fourth time this season it didn't force a turnover.
Furman's opening drive lasted 14 plays, reached the Keydets' 17-yard line and resulted in zero points. After freshman quarterback Trey Hedden lost his footing before he ever got going on a third-and-four run, the Paladins had to settle for a 38-yard field goal attempt. After a high snap on the try, VMI recorded its fourth blocked kick of the season.
Things then started looking like the more recent history of this series in which Furman had won the last two meetings by respective scores of 41-3 and 37-3. Its defense forced a three-and-out in which Tanner Schuck got a second-down sack and Caldwell Bussey just missed one on third down. With Bussey charging hard at Wilson, he just tossed the ball down for an intentional grounding penalty instead of getting sacked.
The Paladins' ensuing possession began with three consecutive runs by Myion Hicks before they took a deep shot and Hedden hit a wide open Colton Hinton for a 43-yard touchdown.
Furman's next drive reached the VMI 38 before a fumbled handoff on first down was recovered by the Keydets. On the Paladins' next possession, freshman Gavin Hall made the most of his first touch. After taking a handoff, Hall faked an end-around pitch and for a split-second looked like he was about to look for a receiver to throw to. Instead, Hall took off for a 46-yard run to the VMI seven-yard line.
While Furman gladly took its longest running play of the year, Hall really should've scored as there was one defender and one blocker between Hall and the goal line when he reached the 15. VMI's Joe Comello did a nice job of shedding that block and Hall happened to cut the same direction that Comello did and he was tackled.
On the next play, Hedden somehow avoided a sack and somehow got the ball to Brock Chappell's outstretched hands amongst a group of defenders in the end zone. Chappell couldn't hang on though when he was hit by a pair of Keydets. A delay of game further foiled the drive and Furman settled for a 29-yard field goal by Ian Williams to take a 10-7 lead.
Of the 102 yards VMI posted after its first drive, half came on the next play as Wilson's 51-yard pass to Egypt Nelson reached the Furman 24. Furman was later flagged for pass interference in the end zone on a ball that Nelson caught at least one yard to the left of the end zone out of bounds. I'd be interested to know how a ball that was caught well out of bounds would've been catchable in bounds, but nobody asked me and the ball was automatically placed at the two. Hunter Rice scored on the next play to put the Keydets back on top 14-10.
On a first down on Furman's first play in VMI territory on the next drive, Hedden took a big hit from Eric Rankin as he was about to pass and fumbled. Rankin scooped up the fumble and returned it to the Paladins' four-yard line. It was similar to a play at The Citadel a month earlier, which was reviewed and reversed to an incomplete pass. Fumble appeared to be the correct call Saturday, but there was never an official review.
Two plays later, freshman quarterback JoJo Crump checked in for his only snap of the day and kept for a three-yard touchdown. VMI, which was averaging 11.4 points per game this season entering Saturday, led 21-10 with 1:56 left in the half.
For the sixth time in as many drives, the Paladins entered VMI territory on their next possession. On third down from the Keydets' 32, Hedden rolled to his left and was able to set his feet for a throw but could not get rid of the ball before being sacked by a gang of Keydets for a nine-yard loss. That left Furman with a 59-yard field goal attempt by Williams that had enough leg, but just missed wide right and the Paladins trailed by 11 at the break.
"We've harped all week, 'Throw it to the flat. He's wide open. It's going to be a five- to 10-yard gain probably.' And also, 'They can hit you. You don't have a red (practice) jersey on,' " Hendrix said. "We just don't have the urgency to get that done."
On a day in which all but one true Furman drive reached VMI territory, the only one that didn't was unsurprisingly its first of the second half. Unsurprising because the Paladins seem unable to do anything offensively coming out of halftime anymore.
In their first possession of the second half against Charleston Southern and Stetson, the Paladins had touchdown drives of 79 and 90 yards, respectively. In the other six first possessions of the second half this season, Furman has had 18 offensive plays net zero yards and one first down thanks to a facemask penalty against Western Carolina.
After Rice ran for 10 yards on VMI's first play of the second half, Furman's defense allowed 19 total yards and one first down - on a roughing the passer penalty - the rest of the way.
"You win and lose as a team. Individual stats really don't matter. It's winning as a team. We're close, but we've got to continue to figure that out," said Bussey, who finished with two sacks. "We're always going to miss the guys we've lost (to injuries on defense), but I think we're a gritty group that continues to fight. That's something we can definitely build off of."
Furman's second possession of the half was a 16-play, 87-yard effort capped off by a great play after taking points off the board when the Keydets were flagged for an offsides penalty on a field goal. On fourth-and-one at the VMI four, the Paladins lined up in an I-formation with Chappell at fullback. After faking a handoff to Hicks, Carson Jones rolled right and tossed to Chappell who could've walked into the end zone for a touchdown. That helped cut the lead to 21-17 with 3:39 left in the third quarter.
Despite multiple golden opportunities, the Paladins got no closer. A 12-play drive on their next possession ended on fourth-and-two at the VMI 23. Jones found a wide open Ja'Keith Hamilton in the end zone, but the overthrown pass bounced off the fingertips of the diving Hamilton.
"I think he makes that throw eight out of 10 times, but didn't make it that time," Hendrix said. "That's just kind of who we are right now."
While a 40-yard field goal there would certainly be in Williams' range, VMI's proclivity for blocking kicks this season was likely a factor in the decision to go for it. The way the defense was playing, it felt like Furman would have plenty of opportunities left with more than 12 minutes remaining and it did.
The Paladins had a 14-play drive on their next possession. On second-and-goal from the three, a fumbled snap resulted in a two-yard loss. On third down, Jones was sacked for a five-yard loss. On fourth down, Jones' pass to Ben Ferguson was broken up. The pass went to the two, so it likely wouldn't have resulted in a touchdown had it been caught anyway.
That gave the ball back to VMI with 2:45 remaining and Furman with only one timeout. In one of the worst possessions you'll ever see, including a deadball unsportsmanlike conduct after a second-and-one play and running out of bounds on third down, the Keydets punted.
Furman got the ball back at its own 34 and somehow still had that one timeout with 1:41 left in the game. On the first play, Jones' pass into double coverage was picked off by Shamus Jones. VMI didn't screw up this time, taking a knee three times to end the game.
"It's frustrating. ... I'm trying to be the positive guy and there are things to be positive about, but the name of the game is finding a way to get wins," Hendrix said. "I haven't done a good enough job of doing that."
Hall averaged 9.3 yards per carry as he had 121 yards on 13 attempts to become Furman's first 100-yard rusher since Dominic Roberto had 154 at Western Carolina last October. Hicks also ran 22 times for 59 yards Saturday.
"The running game was a lot better today. The o-line looked good and we had a lot of things wide open there. We just didn't execute when we got to the red zone," Hall said. "I'm extremely appreciative for the opportunity the coaches have given me as a freshman to go out there and play football."
Jones, who came on to start the second half in relief of Hedden, completed 14-of-21 passes for 110 yards. Hedden finished with 78 yards on 9-of-15 passing. Hinton caught eight passes for 88 yards and also completed a 29-yard pass on a trick play in the fourth quarter.
"I'm proud of Carson Jones. That's not an easy position to be put in and I'm proud of how he's handled it," Hendrix said. "He gave us a boost, but we left a bunch of points out there.
"I don't want to hear another word from anybody about youth. We've played eight games now. We've been to an SEC stadium. We've actually played some of our best football on the road. It's about going and expecting to make plays and do the things we have to do to give ourselves a chance to win. We did a lot of those, but just so many mistakes."
Furman will host Wofford at 2 p.m. next Saturday in the home finale.
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