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| Furman's Gavin Hall had 64 yards rushing and two touchdowns before an injury forced him out after the first series of the third quarter Saturday. Photo courtesy of Furman |
Among the many things Furman was looking to fix from last football season, turnovers were at the top of the list. Namely, ones that Paladins coach Clay Hendrix described as "catastrophic." In the 2025 season opener, Furman's only giveaway hampered things but didn't reach a catastrophic level as the Paladins pulled out a win.
The victory over William & Mary was a redeeming one in many ways and may have given hope that all the stink of 2024 had washed away. That hope only grew stronger last Saturday at Paladin Stadium when Furman raced out to a 21-point lead over Presbyterian. But three catastrophic turnovers dashed those hopes. Two of those giveaways started an epic collapse by the Paladins and the third helped cap it as the Blue Hose rallied for a 39-38 win in overtime in a game that had a near two-hour lightning delay midway through the fourth quarter.
"It's certainly a disappointing end to a long day. Congratulations to Presbyterian. They just outcoached us and outplayed us," Hendrix said. "Offensively, we couldn't do anything in the second half after controlling the whole first half. ... Our kids fought and played hard. All those things, but that's no good if you don't execute at a high level and we're just not doing that."
After the teams traded touchdowns in the first quarter, Furman had three consecutive touchdown drives in the second quarter to take a 28-7 lead with 5:01 left in the first half. After forcing a three-and-out, the Paladins were looking for more. On a third-and-five play at midfield, Trey Hedden's wide receiver screen pass was batted at the line of scrimmage and picked off by PC nosetackle Terry Mikell at the Furman 41. Hedden had completed 18 of his first 19 passes prior to that pick.
Two pass plays from Collin Hurst to tight end Nathan Levicki followed. The second of those was a great one-armed catch in the end zone for a 17-yard touchdown as the Blue Hose cut the lead to 28-14 going into halftime.
"The way we ended the half with the turnover was just a big-time disappointment," Hendrix said. "To not only not score, but also give up points."
In the first half a week earlier, Furman led William & Mary 14-7 and drove to the Tribe's 18-yard line with 37 seconds left. Hedden was strip sacked and the fumble recovery was made 23 yards up the field. William & Mary proceeded to march to the Furman 10-yard line, but missed a 28-yard field goal on the final play of the half. Despite the miss, the momentum stayed with William & Mary as it scored touchdowns on each of its first two drives in the second half.
On Saturday, Furman looked to snatch momentum back when it drove to the PC 33 to open the second half. But on a third-down play, Hedden held the ball too long as a rusher came right at him. He was hit as he threw and the wounded duck landed in the arms of PC linebacker Jason Briones at the 26.
Hurst returned the favor on the next play when Billy Lewis had to likely make history as the only Paladin ever to have an interception on the opponents' first play of each half. Lewis returned the pick to the Blue Hose 12-yard line and once again Furman was in prime position to help begin putting the game away. But after a four-yard run by Gavin Hall was wiped out by an illegal formation penalty, Hedden was sacked for a loss of six on the next play. Hall was dropped for a loss - and knocked out of the game - on the next play and Furman ended up settling for a 34-yard field goal by Ian Williams and a 31-14 lead with 9:43 left in the third quarter.
Unfortunately for the Paladins, that was a sign of things to come offensively. The "R" part of the RPO had issues all day anyway. Without Hall, who accounted for 64 of Furman's 107 yards on the ground, Furman's offense simply vanished for the rest of the half. After 17 first downs and 274 yards of total offense in the first half, Furman had two first downs and 42 yards on that opening drive of the second half. For the rest of regulation, the Paladins had no first downs and a total of 29 yards on 18 plays.
"Gavin had a thigh contusion. He might have been able to go back, but we felt a little better off with other guys going," Hendrix said. "But we certainly missed having him in there because he had a really good first half. I thought he was finally starting to feel it again."
In the midst of all Furman's three-and-out shenanigans, the lightning that had caused delays at Georgia and Clemson reached Paris Mountain. That delay came with Furman leading 31-21 with 6:45 remaining in the fourth quarter and PC facing 2nd-and-6 at the Paladins' eight-yard line. As we sat in the press box for the next hour and 41 minutes, it was hard not to wonder if all of that 6:45 remaining would've already been gone had Furman taken a 28-, 31- or 35-7 lead into halftime as it appeared it was going to do.
It was eerily reminiscent of the team's last meeting 11 years ago in Clinton when the kickoff of that game was delayed for an hour and 47 minutes.
Unfortunately for the Paladins, it got even more like that last meeting once play resumed. Furman's well-rested defense held the Blue Hose to a 25-yard field goal with 6:25 left to cut the lead to 31-24. Less than two minutes later, Furman's defense was right back out there as freshman tailback CJ Nettles could never tuck away a handoff and PC recovered the fumble at the Paladins' 12-yard line.
On the next play, former Christ Church receiver BJ Atkins made a terrific catch falling down along the side of the end zone for a touchdown to help tie the game with 4:31 left. In that 2014 meeting that set offensive football back about 50 years, PC recovered a Furman fumble midway through the fourth quarter and drove for the game-winning touchdown in a 10-7 victory.
"If you score 31 points in regulation, you probably should win but those two (second half) turnovers were killers," Hendrix said. "I think if we punt the football those two times, we probably win the game. That's been a nemesis that we just kind of keep doing."
After the game-tying score Saturday, Furman answered with another three-and-out capped by a two-yard pass completion from Hedden to Joshua Burrell on 3rd-and-3. The Blue Hose' ensuing drive reached Furman's 41 before they took consecutive delay of game penalties on fourth down to run out the clock and force overtime.
In OT, Furman's offense finally woke up. A 12-yard run by Jayquan Smith set up a two-yard touchdown run by Smith. PC had an immediate response though as Hurst threw a 22-yard pass on the first play and then a three-yard touchdown pass - Hurst's fifth - to Levicki. The Blue Hose went for two and the win and Levicki came through with a spectacular diving catch to secure the 39-38 victory.
Saturday's 21-point blown lead tied for the second-biggest one in a Furman loss since 1973. The Paladins led the Citadel 21-0 in 1998 before falling, 25-24. Those were second to Furman's 28-6 third-quarter lead that evaporated at the 1985 Division I-AA national championship as Georgia Southern rallied for a 44-42 win.
"We've got to have better answers in some cases and that goes back to me. That's where it all starts," Hendrix said. "This group has some talent. I just wish our growth was a little faster than where we are right now."
In addition to his team-high 64 yards on 15 carries, Hall also had two touchdowns for Furman (1-1). Hedden finished with 263 yards on 29-of-40 passing with one touchdown. Evan James caught eight of those passes for 89 yards. After spending much of the previous Saturday in William & Mary's backfield, the Paladins' defense never sacked Hurst despite 41 pass attempts - and 275 yards passing. Joshua Stoneking led Furman with eight tackles, including a tackle-for-loss and a pass breakup.
The Paladins will try to get back on track this Saturday at 3:30 p.m. when they face Campbell in Buies Creek, N.C. It will be the first ever meeting between Furman and the Camels.
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