Know Your Foe: Furman Paladins
2024 record: 1-3
Last week: L at #12 William & Mary, 34-24
Head Coach: Clay Hendrix (8th season)
Last meeting: Furman W, 27-21 (October 14, 2023)
Spread: Furman -5.5, O/U 49.5
TV: ESPN+
Kick off time: 1:00pm CT
Fun Fact?: Furman has won four of the last five matchups against Samford.
Samford is officially back in action off of a bye week. Last time Samford was on the football field it resulted in a 12-7 home win over Alabama State. The Bulldog defense shined while the offense struggled to sustain drives and did just enough to win. Samford has had three games to evaluate their football team off the bye week.
There is no easing back into the season as Samford will open their 2024 Southern Conference season against the reigning champs in Furman. The Paladins came into Homewood last season and left with a six point victory knocking Samford out of the conference title race.
The last four matchups have been decided by seven points or less as Samford won at Furman in 2022 when Samford went undefeated in SoCon play.
Both teams are different this season. Both are starting new quarterbacks and added many transfers. Furman has also had a slow start to the season losing three of their first four games. Samford and Furman are the past two Southern Conference champs and this early test can set up either team to contend for the title once again.
Furman’s offense has averaged 23 points per game while the Furman defense has allowed 35 points per game. That 35 number is inflated due to the Ole Miss Rebels putting up 77 points on the Paladins in the season opener.
Samford has a great test on the road for Furman’s family weekend. It will be a great environment, so what does Furman have to offer? Let’s dive into it.
Just like Samford, Furman has a different starting quarterback than the SoCon title team from last year. QB Tyler Huff has transferred to Jacksonville State and it was thought that Carson Jones would assume the starting role. Jones was the 2023 SoCon Freshman of the Year, he even started the opener against Ole Miss.
Furman has turned to true freshman QB Trey Hedden as their starter. Hedden, a former three-star recruit, has thrown for 751 yards, 5 TDs, 3 INTs, with a 58% completion. In his first career road start, Hedden has a back and forth day throwing for 264 yards with 2 TDs and 2 INTs.
RB Myion Hicks leads the Paladins in rushing with 151 yards on the season with a TD. WR Joshua Harris is the Furman leading receiver with 257 yards and 2 TDs. He had 164 of those yards two weeks ago against Stetson. Harris, however, did not play last time out against William & Mary.
WR Ben Ferguson has also played well going over 100 receiving yards against Charleston Southern in week two.
Over to the defense in games not counting Ole Miss, Furman has given up 21.6 points per game. As a unit, they sit second in team total tackles. In the loss to William & Mary, the Furman defense allowed 384 yards on the ground.
Even though the Paladins did give up that much rushing yardage, they did have three sacks and forced two turnovers. Through four games, Furman has four INTs which is tied for second in the conference.
LB Evan DiMaggio is back for his redshirt senior season and he leads the team in total tackles with 32. S Tre’ McLeod is second in total tackles with 25 tackles.
Along the defensive line, DL Xavier Stephens is an extremely impactful player. Stephens leads the Paladins in tackles for loss with four. He is a force at the nose tackle position sitting at six-foot, three-inches and 297 pounds. Stephens was on the preseason All-SoCon first team and will be a tough matchup for Samford.
Samford is in for a tough test, going on the road, against the reigning Southern Conference champions. The schedule makers knew what they were doing, pinning the last two SoCon champions in the first conference game of the season.
Can this Samford offense sustain drives against this solid Furman defense? Not counting the Florida game, Samford has had 15 possessions that did not result in points. Of those 15, each drive did not last longer than four minutes and 14 seconds. Especially on the road, can Samford put up enough points to win?
12 points is not going to cut it against this Furman team. The Paladins do have explosive play capability on offense. Samford should be able to find success running the football after Furman gave up over 380 yards to William & Mary. The Samford defense should be refreshed coming off of a bye week. Can they make life difficult for true freshman QB Trey Hedden?
Those are some of the questions that remain for this game. Both teams need this win after slow starts to the season. That should make for an interesting game and atmosphere, here we go.
