Furman seeking undefeated SoCon season on the road in annual rivalry game with Wofford
The #2 ranked Furman Paladins will travel to Spartanburg, SC to put the cap on what has been an extremely successful 2023 campaign against the Wofford Terriers on Saturday afternoon.
The Paladins (9-1, 7-0) will be pursuing a perfect record against Southern Conference and FCS opponents, with the only blemish on their record coming against FBS South Carolina in September. The Terriers (1-9, 1-6) on the other hand will be gunning for only their second win of the season after they narrowly secured their first win against the Citadel last weekend.
The contest will be the latest edition of a rivalry that dates back to 1889 that has seen 96 contests. Furman maintains a healthy 56-33-7 advantage in the series to date.
Last weekend saw Furman romp to a 37-3 victory over VMI, securing sole possession of the Southern Conference championship. Backup QB Carson Jones maintained his solid play in the injury absence of starter Tyler Huff, throwing for four touchdowns in Furman’s blowout win.
“We were certainly thrilled to get a win Saturday,” Furman head coach Clay Hendrix told the media including Furman Joust on Monday. “Secured an outright conference championship, which has been one of our team’s goals from the very beginning. It’s been a challenging road, and it was certainly nice to get that done at home.”
The victory clinched every possible SoCon accolade the Paladins could have earned this season, rendering their contest against Wofford meaningless in terms of conference achievements.
But while Saturday’s contest won’t have meaning in the Southern Conference, a loss would affect FCS playoff seeding, and a rivalry game will always have meaning.
Wofford will enter riding high after finally breaking through with their first win of the season against the Citadel last weekend. Additionally, despite their dismal 1-9 record on the season, the Terriers have lost 3 games by one score including a close loss to a very solid Western Carolina team. While it’s been a long season for Wofford, they’ve kept some games close and have shown flashes of good football.
“We’re certainly excited to go play a really good Wofford team, who’s been really close to winning a number of games,” Coach Hendrix said. “We’ll have to be at our very best to go to Spartanburg and get a win this week.
While Furman holds every possible advantage on paper, you can never take any game for granted in college football. And in a rivalry game, all bets are off.
Furman Football
PPG: 28.90
Points allowed (per game): 17.60
Rushing Yards (team): 1671 yds
Passing yards (team): 1983 yds
Rushing leader: RB Dominic Roberto (704 yds, 7 TDs), QB Tyler Huff (488 yds, 5 TDs)
Passing leader: QB Tyler Huff (1489 yds, 9 TDs), QB Carson Jones (443 yds, 7 TDs)
Receiving leader: WR Joshua Harris (36 rec, 321 yds, 2 TDs)
Tackles leader: LB Braden Gilby (63 tot, 36 solo)
Wofford Football
PPG: 13.30
Points allowed (per game): 26.50
Rushing yards (team): 1272 yds
Passing yards (team): 1276 yds
Rushing leader: RB Ryan Ingram (726 yds, 5 TDs)
Passing leader: QB Pauley Seeley V (910 yds, 3 TDs)
Receiving leader: WR Alec Holt (20 rec, 202 yds, 1 TD)
Tackles leader: LB David Powers (96 tot, 46 solo)
Television information:
ESPN+ | Nexstar Network | 11 CST/12 EST
Furman vs Wofford will be streamed on both ESPN+ and the Nexstar Network with kickoff slated for noon EST.
Radio broadcasts 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.
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, or visit our website at furmanjoust.com.
