Defense powers Furman past Anderson

Furman's Caldwell Bussey sacks Anderson's Wilson Edwards during
the Paladins' 20-3 win Thursday. Photo courtesy of Furman

Running the football and stopping the run. That's Football 101 for many coaches and certainly would be chapter one in the textbook of Furman's Clay Hendrix. While the final score may not have lived up to expectations Thursday night, those two basic principles were aced by the Paladins in a 20-3 season-opening victory over Division II Anderson.

Furman rushed for 268 yards as a team, while holding Anderson to six yards on 23 rushing attempts. It's the fewest rushing yards allowed by Furman since NAIA member Point had one yard on 35 attempts on Nov. 23, 2019.

"I'm always happy to get a win and we always celebrate victories. There's certainly a lot that we've got to get better at, but I also thought we did a lot of things really well," Hendrix said. "Defensively, we played really well all night. ... We will certainly be challenged in more ways moving forward, but we kept their quarterback running the whole night.

"Give Anderson a bunch of credit. (Coach) Bobby (Lamb) and his staff had a good plan and his kids played really hard."

One major goal for Furman this season is to have more of a team effort across the board defensively, as opposed to the one-man show that All-American Joshua Stoneking put on last season. You're not going to determine if that goal has been met by one game. Certainly not by one game against a Division II opponent, nor by next Saturday's game when the Paladins face a team from the SEC - the major leagues of professional college football - in Tennessee.

You could say that at least the blueprint was created on Thursday.

While the Trojans obviously double-teamed Stoneking on one end throughout the game, new Furman bandit Eli Lipscomb cleaned up on the other side. The Wingate transfer had six tackles, including three tackles-for-loss, a sack, two quarterback hurries and a fumble recovery.

"Coming into tonight, I'd already played Anderson and I knew they were a physical team. I think most people overlook the D2 teams, so I just told our team all week that they're just like us," Lipscomb said. "I came out wanting to play against them like I did last year (seven tackles, two sacks and two hurries in a 30-3 Wingate win). I played as well as I did because Josh Stoneking took the double and the chips. It's a testament to how great he is and it really freed me up on some plays."

Lipscomb wasted no time in making his Paladin debut a night to remember. On the first play of the game, Anderson hit a 15-yard pass play, but new starting cornerback Caleb Easterling forced a fumble that Lipscomb pounced on at the Trojans' 40.

Furman's offense could not take advantage though as new quarterback Jake Garcia and new placekicker Nathan Chapman each had more of an uneven start. Garcia's first pass was an incompletion on third down. That led to a 42-yard field goal attempt that sailed wide right.

Anderson drove from its own 25 to the Furman 30 on its next possession before Lipscomb came up big once again. His sack on second down resulted in a seven-yard loss back to the 37. Lipscomb's quarterback hurry on the next play forced an incompletion that led to a Trojans' punt.

Garcia's first five passes were incomplete. His sixth was a screen pass to Ben Croasdale on 3rd-and-20 that resulted in a four-yard gain early in the second quarter of a scoreless game.

After Lipscomb's third-down tackle forced an Anderson punt on its first possession of the second quarter, Furman's offense finally got a much needed big play. CJ Nettles' 47-yard run led to a 40-yard field goal by Chapman for the first points of the season.

Finally cracking the scoreboard seemed to give the Paladins momentum. Anderson's next possession was a three-and-out thanks to a second-down sack by Caldwell Bussey and a tackle-for-loss by Stoneking on third down.

Three plays later, Garcia threw a deep pass to Dartmouth grad transfer Daniel Haughton for a 49-yard gain to the Anderson four-yard line. Croasdale ran for Furman's first touchdown of the season on the next play to help push the lead to 10-0.

The Trojans got 64 of their 160 yards for the game on their ensuing possession. The only really big play for Anderson all night came on a 37-yard deep ball from Wilson Edwards to Kenneth Brown down the right sideline on a 3rd-and-4 play. That led to a 28-yard field goal by Ross Burnette with 1:16 left.

Garcia followed with his best drive of the night in the two-minute offense. He completed his first four passes of the drive for 40 yards before Croasdale ran for 12 yards to the Anderson 21-yard line with 22 seconds left. Two plays later, Garcia had a terrific scamper where he withstood a hit near the goal line for what was initially ruled a 21-yard touchdown run.

After video review, the ball was placed inside the one. It appeared that Croasdale took a shotgun snap into the end zone on the next play, but he was ruled down short of the goal line and Furman took a timeout with four seconds left. On the next play, Croasdale got in as the clock expired and the Paladins took a 17-3 lead into halftime.

"Our guys can tell you how many two-minute drills we did in camp and I thought we did a great job of executing there before the half," Hendrix said. "Obviously, getting a touchdown there was huge."

Coming out of halftime, Furman appeared to be poised to keep up the momentum. On the opening possession of the third quarter, the Paladins marched to Anderson's 19. On 3rd-and-9, Garcia threw to a wide open Jackson Pryor in the end zone but Anderson's Carter Wit made a fantastic leaping interception at the four.

Furman's next possession went from the Paladins' 10 to the Trojans' 12. It ended when Chapman's 29-yard field goal went straight but unfortunately for the Paladins, the snap came on the right hash mark.

The Paladins had 132 yards on 23 plays in the third quarter and no points to show for it.

The lone points of the second half came on a 30-yard field goal by Chapman with 9:05 remaining.

"Leaving points out there was a little frustrating. We had three really good drives to start the second half and we get three points," Hendrix said. "But it did just feel different offensively tonight. I told our running back group that they played really well, as did the guys up front. ... I think the pieces are there and our group is going to keep working to do things they have to do to get better."  

Furman outgained Anderson 451-160 for the game, including 215-30 in the second half.

Nettles led the Paladins' rushing attack with 99 yards on 10 carries. Croasdale had 67 yards on 11 carries, while Garcia finished with 51 yards on nine attempts. Garcia completed 15-of-28 passes for 183 yards. Haughton led Furman's receivers with 87 yards on five catches, while Ethan Harris had three receptions for 49 yards.

"I think the biggest thing for Jake was the toughness he showed and the ability to go make plays with his feet. I know he'd like a couple of those throws back, but he also made some terrific throws," Hendrix said. "You know, Jake hadn't played football in two years. Until that first run he had, he probably hadn't been tackled in two years because didn't tackle our guys at all (in the preseason). ... We had 25 practices in August and that's all he's been with us.

"Tackling was a concern I had coming into the game because of not doing it in a team setting, but I thought we tackled pretty well defensively."

The last time the Paladins held an NCAA opponent to single digits in rushing was Oct. 7, 2017 when Chattanooga had seven yards on 17 attempts. The most impressive part of Thursday's rushing total allowed was the fact that Furman had just two sacks. More times than not, a rushing total of something like six yards comes as a result of a sack total of seven or so. The overall defensive numbers could've been even better if not for third down penalties that gave the Trojans an automatic first down three different times, one of which was complete buffoonery on the part of officials. 

Lipscomb and captain Raleigh Herbert led the defense with six tackles apiece. After leading the country with 23 tackles-for-loss last season, Stoneking had one Thursday as well as a quarterback hurry. Trevor Short had four tackles and two hurries also for the Paladins. True freshman safety Braylon Peebles helped set a tone with a couple of big plays early on and he had two of Furman's four pass breakups. 

"I think collectively as a group, we were just itching to hit all fall," Lipscomb said. "When we finally got the chance tonight, we took it."

Furman returns to action Saturday at Tennessee. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. on the SEC Network.

New-look Paladins set to open new season

Ethan Harris (0) is one of many fifth-year seniors at wide
receiver for Furman this season. Photo courtesy of Furman 

Plenty of new Furman football players will ring in the new season when they take the field under the new lights of Paladin Stadium Thursday. Kickoff against Anderson is set for 7 p.m.

It may very well be the norm from now on, but it's still unusual to see all the new names set to start on offense for the Paladins. Among those who started in Furman's season finale at Clemson last November, senior center Chris Luna is the only offensive player listed as a starter on this week's depth chart. On the two-deep on offense, CJ Nettles is the only Paladin who started that 2025 finale. He's listed as Ben Croasdale's backup at running back.

There will be a lot of new faces to Furman, but not new to college football. There are nine grad transfers with one year of eligibility left on the depth chart, including seven on offense. None will be in the spotlight more than new starting quarterback Jake Garcia, who spent last season at Michigan. Garcia's backup is another new transfer, junior Connor Ackerley from Western New Mexico.

"Jake joined us at the start of the summer. ... He's a really talented guy. He's had kind of an unusual track here, although I'm not sure if it's that unusual nowadays. The thing I enjoyed most about Jake in this whole process has come from having a chance to sit down and have conversations with him," Furman coach Clay Hendrix said during a press conference Monday. "He plays a tough position and he's been in some really good places where one guy plays. During the time I've had Jake here, I've never heard him make one excuse. He came in and just went to work. He had a terrific offseason, both with the workouts we did and offseason study, and then had a solid August.

"We had a great competition with all four of those guys (Garcia, Ackerley, senior Nehuel Garcia and true freshman Trey Smith). Nehuel is a fourth-year guy and this was his best August by far. ... You may see some other guys in there from time to time. We'll see how that goes but we've got a lot of confidence in Jake and his grasp on what we're trying to do. ... He's got all his priorities in order."

Offensive weaponry

Garcia has a lot of experienced targets. Of the six wide receivers on the two-deep, five are fifth-year players. Projected starters at those three receiver spots are grad transfers Luke Shields (Tennessee Tech) and Daniel Haughton (Dartmouth), and Furman veteran Ethan Harris, who played just four games last season due to injury. Backups are grad transfer Dwartney Wortham (UCF), fifth-year senior Gram Smithson and sophomore Connor Morin.

Of all the names on this week's depth chart, Smithson - who has one catch in his career - may be the most intriguing. After redshirting in 2022 and not seeing the field at all in 2023, most of his game action has come on special teams since 2024. He was limited to just three games last year due to injury.

Losing freshman All-American Evan James to Iowa was a tough, though not unexpected blow, but that position seems pretty deep on paper. It was deep enough to not have Devin Hester Jr., who's had nine starts in his career, or freshman Banks Bouton, who coaches have raved about this offseason, not on the two-deep. Hendrix said both will still play.

"I just really like that group. They're fun to watch and there's a lot of guys to throw to," Hendrix said. "Getting (tight end) Jackson Pryor back, who we didn't have a year ago (due to injury), is big. (Freshman) Cameron James is a guy with a similar skill set and I think all of our running backs are good receivers. It's a big part of having more diversity in our offense. Hopefully, it will show up."

Up front for Furman's offense, projected starters to the right of Luna are grad transfers Alofaletauia Maluia (West Georgia) at guard and Parker Peterson (Memphis) at tackle. Another fifth-year senior is slated to start at left tackle in Eli Brashier, who's made 18 starts the last two years but missed the final four games of 2025 due to injury. Sophomore Bryce Rainwater, a former Hillcrest High standout, is projected to make his first collegiate start at left guard.

Complementing the sack king

There's quite a bit more familiarity on the defensive side of the ball. Six defenders who started last year's finale are expected to start on Thursday, headlined by All-American Joshua Stoneking. Stoneking led the country in sacks (14.5) and tackles-for-loss (23) last season. Maybe just as amazingly, Stoneking led the team in tackles with 79 from his defensive end position.

While Stoneking's year was phenomenal, it didn't equate to as much defensive success as one would've thought. After a 4-1 start last season, the Paladins allowed at least 45 points four times over the final seven games. The offense was held to 13 or fewer points three times during that same stretch, all of which added up to a 6-6 season.

There just weren't enough big plays on defense outside of Stoneking's work. No other Paladin had more than two sacks and only two had more than one. The defense also forced just 11 turnovers. For comparison sake, Furman's 2023 team forced 27.

"The ability to rush the passer has to become more of a group effort than a one-man show," Hendrix said.

A newcomer who might make the most immediate impact of taking pressure - and multiple blockers - off Stoneking is sophomore bandit Eli Lipscomb, a transfer from Wingate. Lipscomb had 33 tackles, including 9.5 tackles-for-loss and seven sacks, last season. Hendrix said Lipscomb and junior Trevor Short should rotate "quite a bit" at that other end opposite Stoneking.

Hendrix said having Ryan Earl back and healthy will certainly help. Earl was a preseason All-Southern Conference selection last season before suffering a season-ending injury in week two. Earl is currently projected to backup sophomore Caleb Ellison at one inside linebacker. 

"Caleb was going to play a year ago, but had an injury," Hendrix said. "I don't know if we had a guy who had a better summer than him."

Junior Raleigh Herbert, who along with Luna were elected team captains by their teammates this season, will start at the other inside linebacker spot.

Hendrix believes cornerbacks could hold the key to help getting consistent pressure on the cornerback. Along with returning starter Jordan Miller at one corner, sophomore Caleb Easterling is slated to start at the other. Easterling made a splash on special teams last season, displaying electrifying speed on kickoff returns.

There's a mix of young and old throughout the secondary. Seniors Billy Lewis and AK Burrell return to start at two safety spots, where they're currently set to be backed up by grad transfers Aaron Davis (Bucknell) and Joshua Tarver (Yale). Freshmen Braylon Peebles and Trae Williams are the two-deep at the other safety spot.

"Getting a healthy AK Burrell back is big. He played all (last) year at probably 80 percent," Hendrix said. "It's got to start over there (on defense). Hopefully we can help each other out much more than we did a year ago." 

Chapman claims kicking job

In addition to backing up Pryor at tight end along with senior Preston Ross, Cameron James will handle long and short snapping duties. Gray Gitter returns at holder, but he will also be replacing Ian Williams at punter. Replacing Williams at kicker and on kickoffs will be junior Nathan Chapman.

"I don't know if we had a guy that had a better camp than Nathan, for what his job is," Hendrix said. "Ian had a great career here and a huge leg. I think if you looked at the numbers weekly (in practice) and tracked it, Nathan might've had a better percentage (of making kicks) a year ago."

Old friends face off again

For the fourth time ever and first time since 2019, Furman legendary Hall of Famer Bobby Lamb will be on visitor sideline at Paladin Stadium Thursday. Like he did at Mercer, Lamb has built Anderson's football program from the ground up. After hiring Lamb in 2021, the Trojans are about to begin their third season.

Growing up just across the street from each other in Commerce, Ga., Hendrix and Lamb have been friends since the age of seven. They went on to be teammates in high school and college. From his offensive guard spot, Hendrix helped provide protection for Lamb, who quarterbacked the Paladins to the 1985 I-AA (FCS) national championship game.

Furman went 39-10-1 during Hendrix and Lamb's playing days, which was just a sign of things to come for them as future Furman assistant and head coaches. Out of Furman's 194 wins in Paladin Stadium history, Hendrix or Lamb have been a part of 177.

"We played each other in 2017, 18 and 19 (with Lamb head coaching Mercer), but this one feels a little different now," Hendrix said. "We needed a game and they were looking for a game, so it just kind of worked out. I think it's great for Furman and I'm thrilled to get him back here."

Hendrix seemed to have a bit of a choked up pause and a smile when he mentioned that both of their fathers will be at Thursday's game. Then he returned with some levity.

"Once it gets going, thank goodness neither one of us has to make a play."

After solid spring, Paladins prepare for season

FCS All-American Joshua Stoneking (95) is one of eight starters
returning on Furman's defense. Photo courtesy of Furman

As the professionalization of college football - especially at the Power Four level - continues, it has ripple effects across all levels. For most FCS teams and conferences, that leads to a greater unknown going into each season.

Furman was picked to finish sixth in the Southern Conference this year by the league coaches. That's probably fair considering the Paladins tied for fifth place last season and the fact that there's a new team joining the league in reigning Ohio Valley/Big South champion Tennessee Tech. Given the roster overhauls at every SoCon school, what else do you really have to base a prediction on other than last year's results?

While not as many as most, Furman had its fair share of roster turnover. Last year's top offensive Paladin, FCS freshman All-American receiver Evan James, is now at Iowa. Last year's quarterback, Trey Hedden, is now the starter at New Mexico State. Last year's leading rusher, Gavin Hall, entered the transfer portal and doesn't appear to have landed anywhere.

The Paladins managed to retain the All-American services of defensive end Joshua Stoneking, who led the FCS in sacks (14.5) and tackles-for-loss (23.5) last season. Stoneking is one of eight starters returning on Furman's defense, but that unit could also have a bit of a different look under new solo defensive coordinator Chad Byers. For the past four seasons Byers and Duane Vaughn served as co-defensive coordinators before Vaughn left for Western Michigan this offseason.

At the SoCon Media Day event in late July, Furman coach Clay Hendrix pointed out that changes aren't always a bad thing. He's been encouraged by what he's seen since thus far in 2026.

"I think it's been one of the best offseasons we've had since I've been back here. That's just in terms of kids being into it, being dependable, low maintenance and hard working. " Hendrix said. "We've had really good production and a great spring.

"We've made lots of changes - X and O and every individual technique stuff. We've really done that at every position and I think it's all been really good for us."

Hendrix said among the areas that were musts for getting better at was quarterback.

"We've just got to be more productive there and take care of the ball better," Hendrix said. "We lost too many games from turning the ball over."

Those competing for that starting quarterback job include Jake Garcia, a 6-foot-2, 210-pound grad transfer from Michigan who was a starter at East Carolina and fellow California native, Nehuel Garcia, who's been in Furman's program since 2023. Sophomore Connor Ackerley threw for 2,999 yards and 30 touchdowns at Western New Mexico last season. The youngest newcomer in the mix is 6-foot, 205-pound true freshman Trey Smith, who enrolled in January.

Following a practice last Saturday at historic Sirrine Stadium, Hendrix felt that separation in that quarterback competition could really take shape this week.

"By next Saturday, we'll have 12 days before we play. ... At some point, you have to reorganize your reps," Hendrix said. "We've got a bunch of guys competing and doing good things, but we will need to figure that out as well as a few other positions."

A couple of new faces to Furman, but not to FCS football, provided probably the two biggest plays of last Saturday's scrimmage at the Paladins' old home. Wide receiver Daniel Haughton, a grad transfer from Dartmouth, went up among tight coverage along the sideline to make a haul in a difficult catch. The defensive play of the day came from Aaron Davis. The grad transfer from Bucknell came flying up from his safety position to blow up a screen pass to the right flat.

Haughton played just two games for Dartmouth last year before suffering a season-ending Achilles injury.

"He's been totally cleared from the injury, but we've still tried to be smart. Today was one of the few times we really cut him loose," Hendrix said. "He's certainly shown the ability to help us."

Another newcomer should also help the passing game this season, just not like some might have originally thought. Banks Bouton, who played quarterback at Greenville and Gaffney during his high school career, came in competing at quarterback. Now the 6-foot-2, 217-pound freshman, who's the son of Furman Hall of Fame linebacker Will Bouton, is on the roster at receiver.

Just a few weeks after his high school career ended, Bouton enrolled at Furman in January. It quickly became evident to coaches that the question wasn't if Bouton would play this season, but where would he play?

"The way the (eligibility) rule is now, he's just too valuable not to get on the field somewhere. I think he's going to play a big role in special teams," Hendrix said. "He was one of the most impressive guys on our entire team this spring and he's had a really solid August.

"There's been some good freshmen that have clearly shown up. There's no reason not to play them and a couple of them are going to play a lot of significant reps. The other new guys we've added have all shown that they're going to be contributors."

Furman Fan Day set for early start

Furman's annual Football Fan Day festivities for Saturday have changed a bit due to forecasted hot temperatures. Gates are now set to open at 9 a.m. and practice will begin at 9:30 a.m. at Paladin Stadium. Music, inflatables and a food truck are still planned for the event.

Fans will have the chance to take pictures and get autographs as they interact with Paladin players and coaches after practice.

Furman opens the season Aug. 27 against Anderson. Kickoff at Paladin Stadium is set for 7 p.m.