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| Furman tight end Jackson Pryor was set to have season-ending surgery this week. He will redshirt this season. Photo courtesy of Furman |
There may no longer be a shot at a Southern Conference championship or an FCS playoff bid left to play for Furman this season, but a winning record is. The Paladins (5-4, 3-3) can take a big step toward ensuring that with a victory at Chattanooga Saturday when the teams square off at noon. A reminder that a 6-6 record isn't a winning one. It's not a losing one either, but not winning.
As is often the case when Furman faces the Mocs, it's going to be a test. UTC (4-5, 3-2) has won three out of its last four games. Its only loss was last week, 35-28, to a Western Carolina team that obliterated Furman.
"They're always talented. ... I think they have a little bit of a younger group than they're used to playing with and they've had an incredibly tough schedule," Furman coach Clay Hendrix said about Chattanooga in his weekly press conference. "They've played (FBS member) Memphis, (9-0) Tennessee Tech and (9-1) Tarleton (State), who just got their first loss last week. Just kind of watching them, they've gotten a little better each week."
Getting to the quarterback and actually making sacks could obviously provide a much-needed boost for the Paladins. It obviously has had the opposite effect when they don't.
In last Saturday's 52-28 loss to Mercer, Furman didn't record a sack for the third time this season. The Paladins have lost all three of those games. In Furman's other loss, the Paladins had two sacks during a scoreless first quarter at Western Carolina. They had none the rest of the day as the Catamounts put 52 points up on the scoreboard.
What makes those numbers all the more maddening is the fact that Furman sophomore defensive end Joshua Stoneking still leads the entire FCS in tackles-for-loss (19) and sacks (12.5). With the amount of double teams - and uncalled holds by offensive linemen - that Stoneking faces every Saturday, you'd think someone else on defense would step up in the sacks department.
They haven't.
Sophomore captain Raleigh Herbert has 1.5 sacks and no other Paladin besides those two have more than one. Compare that to SoCon-leading Mercer, which has a tremendous pass rusher of its own in Andrew Zock (15 tackles-for-loss, 10 sacks). Nine other Bears have at least 1.5 sacks, including Kobe Mcinnis with five and two others with 2.5 apiece.
Every quarterback who hasn't been sacked in the final three quarters of any game this year has made Furman severely pay for it. Last Saturday, Mercer freshman Braden Atkinson completed 28-of-49 passes for 426 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions. It marked the first time in school history that the Paladins allowed 50-plus points to at least two SoCon teams in the same season.
"We just got to win more one-on-ones. That's the thing that keeps showing up - how many of those we keep losing," Hendrix said. "Our sport is a sport of one-on-ones and you're not going to win them all, but you've got to win your share.
"Looking back at the (Mercer) film, we actually hit him more than I thought we did. We just always seemed to be a half-step short. There were a couple of times it was a bang-bang hit and they ended up being big, big plays for them."
Mercer recap
Despite what ended up being a fairly lopsided loss and ridiculously lopsided stats, Furman got off to a fast start and only trailed by three in the third quarter against Mercer.
Furman's defense opened the game with a three-and-out and Taylen Blaylock returned the punt 35 yards to the the Bears' 20-yard line. Three plays later, Trey Hedden hit Evan James over the middle for a 14-yard touchdown. After the Bears were offsides on the successful extra point, Furman's offense came back out and went for two but Jayquan Smith lost his footing well short of the goal line.
On the Paladins' next possession, freshman CJ Nettles took a handoff, paused for a split second as he shifted right and then burst through a hole. He raced 67 yards to the end zone to push Furman's lead to 13-0. Mercer answered by converting four third downs on its next drive which culminated in a 21-yard touchdown pass by Atkinson.
The Bears outscored Furman 17-0 in the second quarter to take a 24-13 lead into halftime. The Paladins got right back in it when special teams sensation Caleb Easterling returned the second half kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown. Mercer had an immediate answer on a 63-yard touchdown pass by Atkinson three plays later.
The Paladins answered with essentially the same drive. On their third play, Hedden and Ja'Keith Hamilton connected for a 64-yard score. Hedden then found Kerry King on a two-point conversion to cut the Bears lead to 31-28 with 12:41 left in the third quarter.
Once again, Mercer answered with a touchdown on its ensuing drive and additional touchdowns on each of its next two to close out the scoring.
"I was proud of our effort. I thought we played hard and had all kinds of chances, but in the third quarter it just got away from us," Hendrix said. "We couldn't get stops and couldn't stay on the field on offense."
For the game, Mercer had a new Paladin Stadium-record 36 first downs, went 10-of-16 of third down, scored four touchdowns on four trips to the end zone and finished with 628 total yards of offense on 89 plays. Furman had eight first downs, went 3-of-13 on third down and finished with 227 total yards on 43 plays.
Nettles finished with 105 yards on 15 carries, the highest rushing output by a Paladin since Gavin Hall rushed for 121 against VMI last season. Despite the rare 100-yard rusher for Furman, it finished with just 72 total yards on the ground thanks to Hedden being sacked four times. Hedden finished with 155 yards on 12-of-18 passing with two touchdowns and one interception.
Injury update
Furman leading rusher Gavin Hall had wrist surgery last week and will miss the rest of the season. Tight end Jackson Pryor was scheduled to have season-ending surgery this week. Having only played four games this season, he will take a redshirt according to Hendrix. The weekly status of wide receiver Ethan Harris and safety Caleb Williams remain questionable. Hendrix said starting left tackle Eli Brasher could return this week after missing the Mercer game.
On a non-injury note, Easterling's last game this season will be Saturday at Chattanooga. That's because it will be his fourth game, which will allow him to also red-shirt this year.
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