Paladin Football hitting the road to take on Kennesaw State
For just the second time in history, the FCS 8th ranked Furman Paladins are all set to face the Kennesaw State Owls on the road in Georgia on Saturday night.
The Paladins (1-1) will travel to Kennesaw, Georgia to take on FCS-to-FBS transitioning Kennesaw State (1-1) on the road at 5 PM EST tomorrow evening.
Coming off a deflating 47-21 loss to the SEC’s South Carolina last Saturday, Furman will be looking to right the ship on the road this weekend. Despite falling two spots in the AFCA FCS Poll (from #6 to #8), head coach Clay Hendrix seemed to indicate that his Furman squad was not crushed by the Gamecocks’ blows.
“We did a lot of things well (against South Carolina),” Hendrix told the media. “We’re nowhere near a finished product.”
While Furman will be fine after the South Carolina loss, beating a Kennesaw State program good enough to play in the FBS starting in 2024, especially on their home turf, will prove to be a major task.
Coming off a close loss to Chattanooga last week, Kennesaw State will be looking to defend their home field and vault back up above .500 on the year.
The Owls are in their first year of procedural transition from the FCS to the FBS in 2023 as they head to the FBS Conference USA, leaving the FCS Atlantic Sun Conference behind.
“If you look at them (Kennesaw State) over the past ten years, they’ve gotta be one of the winningest programs in the FCS,” said Hendrix.”They’ve done a phenomenal job transitioning to the FBS, (we’re) kinda playing two FBS (teams) back to back”
Saturday’s game will mark only the second meeting between the Paladins and the Owls, the inaugural game occurring in 2016 in Greenville, N.C. Kennesaw State won that game 52-42, and as a result leads the series between the two schools 1-0.
Kennesaw State is a more than capable opponent, and going into Kennesaw and getting a victory is no small task. The Owls will assuredly give the Paladins all they can handle on Saturday. The contest will be a major test of Furman’s mettle, but high pressure reveals the true nature of any football team.
2023 statistics:
Furman Football
PPG: 33.0
Points allowed (per game): 28.5
Rushing yards (team): 316 yds
Passing yards (team): 433 yds
Rushing leader: RB Dominic Roberto (79 yds, 3 TDS)
Passing leader: QB Tyler Huff (301 yds, 1 TD)
Receiving leader: WR Kyndel Dean (6 rec, 107 yds)
Tackles leader: S Hugh Ryan (22 tot, 13 solo)
Kennesaw State Football
PPG: 29.0
Points allowed (per game): 17.0
Rushing yards (team): 357 yds
Passing yards (team): 299 yds
Rushing leader: QB Johnathan Murphy (122 yds, 2 TDs)
Passing leader: QB Johnathan Murphy (400 yds, 3 TDs)
Receiving leader: RB Gabriel Benyard (3 rec, 123 yds)
Tackles leader: DB Deontre Morris (11 tot, 10 solo)
Television information:
ESPN+ | 4:00 PM CST/5:00 PM EST
Furman vs Kennesaw State will be available to be streamed on ESPN+ with kickoff slated for 5:00 pm EST.
Radio broadcasts of the game can be found on The Fan Upstate and its four main stations: 97.7 FM/1330 AM in Greenville, and 97.1 FM/950 AM in Spartanburg.
Additionally, radio broadcasts can be found on Audacy.com, as well as through furmanpaladins.com.
For more news and coverage of all Furman Paladin athletics, be sure to follow The Furman Joust podcast on Twitter/X, or visit our website at furmanjoust.com.
