Furman to face familiar foe in FCS playoff rematch against Chattanooga
As Perry Como once famously sang, there’s no place like home for the holidays, and with Thanksgiving weekend just behind us and Christmas looming just ahead, there’s no place like Paladin Stadium for a Furman Paladins FCS Playoff Game.
The Furman Paladins (record) will host a playoff game in Paladin Stadium this Saturday, with kickoff scheduled for noon eastern. The opponent? None other than Southern Conference runner up Chattanooga (record), who the Paladins knocked off in Tennessee a mere four weeks ago by a 17-14 margin.
But four weeks in college football can feel like an eternity, and much has changed for both of the two teams.
Furman comes into Saturday’s contest licking their wounds after a shocking upset loss at the hands of the 2 win Wofford Terriers to close the regular season. While the Paladin defense held the Terriers to only 18 points, backup QB Carson Jones and the offense couldn’t crack the Wofford defense, only scoring 12 points in the loss.
Despite the loss (Furman’s first conference loss in a calendar year), the Paladins managed to grab the 7th seed and a bye from the first round of the FCS Playoffs.
Reinforcements are on the way for the Paladins as senior QB Tyler Huff is set to make his return to action after a shoulder injury suffered in the first half of the previously mentioned game in Chattanooga on November 4th forced him to miss 2 games. Starting RB Dominic Roberto is also expected to play after missing the game against Wofford with an injury.
“Certainly the bye helped us a lot health wise,” Furman Head Coach Clay Hendrix told the media including Furman Joust on Monday. “I think we’ve had 7 straight [games], 4 out of 6 on the road. I thought we had as tough a stretch as anybody’s had.”
On the flip side of the coin, Chattanooga comes in firing on all cylinders fresh off of a 24-21 first round playoff victory on the road against Austin Peay.
“We’re playing an outstanding Chattanooga team,” Coach Hendrix said. “I’ve said it before, they’re the most complete team that we’ve played when you look at them offensively, defensively, and special teams wise.”
The winner of Saturday’s game will advance to the third round, where they will face the winner of the Delaware-Montana contest next weekend.
Furman owns the all-time series between the two teams, as the Paladins hold a 32-21 all time advantage over the Mocs. The last time Chattanooga visited Paladin Stadium came in 2022, when Furman knocked off the then #7 ranked Moc’s 24-20.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year- FCS football playoffs time. With kickoff set for 1 PM EST in Greenville tomorrow afternoon, the festivities of football are right around the corner.
2023 statistics:
Furman Football
PPG: 27.45
Points allowed (per game): 17.73
Rushing Yards (team): 1760 yds
Passing yards (team): 2082 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 (542 yds, 7 TDs)
Receiving leader: WR Joshua Harris (39 rec, 346 yds, 2 TDs)
Tackles leader: LB Braden Gilby (75 tot, 38 solo)
Chattanooga Football
PPG: 29.17
Points allowed (per game): 24.42
Rushing yards (team): 1693 yds
Passing yards (team): 3105 yds
Rushing leader: RB Ailym Ford (485 yds, 4 TDs), RB Gino Appleberry (695 yds, 8 TDs)
Passing leader: QB Chase Artopoeus (2672 yds, 20 TDs)
Receiving leader: WR Jamoi Mayes (59 rec, 999 yds, 4 TDs)
Tackles leader: LB Alex Mitchell (74 tot, 37 solo)
Television information:
ESPN+ | 12 CST/1 EST
Furman vs Chattanooga will be available to be streamed over ESPN+ with kickoff scheduled for 1 PM 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.
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, or visit our website at furmanjoust.com.
