Throughout this preseason, Purple & Gold will preview all of Western's 2019 football opponents.
For the eighth game of the season, the Paladins travel up the mountain and into the valley to Cullowhee, NC in the 2019 football edition of The Battle for Purple Supremacy.
The Cats have dropped three straight to the Paladins and are looking for a Homecoming victory.
Game #8 - Furman Paladins
Where: E.J. Whitmire Stadium/Bob Waters Field, Cullowhee, NC
Radio: Catamount Sports Network
TV/video: ESPN3 or ESPN+
The Series: The Cats are 12-31-2 overall against the Paladins in the series in a series that started back in 1972. The Cats have lost 3 in a row to Furman, with the last win coming in 2015 in Cullowhee, by a final score of 48-10. Coach Speir is 2-5 vs. the Paladins.
The last game played vs. Furman: September 29, 2018 - Second Half Comeback Falls Short at Furman, 44-38 - Greenville, S.C. – Tyrie Adams tossed a career-high-tying five touchdown passes including two apiece to Daquan Patten and Owen Cosenke while accounting for 472 yards of total offense on Saturday afternoon, but Western Carolina was unable to overcome a 21-point halftime deficit, falling to the Furman Paladins, 44-38, in Southern Conference action at Paladin Stadium. Two fumbles inside the red zone thwarted would-be scoring drives for the Catamounts while the Paladins cashed in a 97-yard kickoff return for a TD and a blocked punt that led to a field goal in special teams in picking up their first victory of the season. Adams just missed his career-high with 424 passing yards on 25-of-36 passing, adding 48 rushing yards despite missing the closing drive of the first half due to injury.
Games that will be played by the Paladins this season before the WCU contest: (7 games) The Paladins open the season at home against Big South foe, Charleston Southern, then play back-to-back FBS opponents. The Paladins travel to Atlanta to play Georgia State, then it's up to Blacksburg, VA to meet Virginia Tech. Furman opens it's conference season at home against Mercer, then remain at home to meet ETSU in Traveler's Rest. The Paladins then hit the road to Birmingham to play Samford before returning home to play the Citadel.
Head Coach: Clay Hendrix - Introduced as Furman’s new head football coach on December 19, 2016, Clay Hendrix in two seasons has already reinvigorated a Paladin football program long accustomed to success. Hendrix, a former standout Paladin offensive guard and assistant coach who returned to his alma mater following a decade as an assistant coach at the United States Air Force Academy, directed Furman to an 8-5 campaign and Football Championship (FCS) playoff appearance in 2017, improving on a three-win 2016 season and defying a preseason No. 7 Southern Conference tab by playing for a share of league title in the regular-season finale en route to finishing a consensus No. 20 in two major FCS polls.
Last Season's Record (Furman): 6-4 overall, 3-1 home, 3-3 away, 6-2 in the SoCon - In 2018, the Paladins had wins over WCU, Wofford, the Citadel, Chattanooga, VMI, & Mercer (winning last 4 games played giving the Paladins a share of the 2018 SoCon Championship)
Offensive Formation: Multiple (option - flexbone look)
-2018 Offensive: 27.2 ppg. (64th in FCS)
Defensive Formation: 3-4
-2018 Defensive: 28.2 ppg. (61st in FCS)
Starters returning/lost: 17 / 7
Offensive starters - Returning/Lost: 8 / 3
Defensive starters - Returning/Lost: 7 / 4
Specialist - Returning/Lost: 2 / 0
Lettermen - Returning/Lost: 41 / 18
Defending co-champion Furman was the second-place pick in a pair of preseason polls by the SoCon coaches and media. In other honors, first-team all-conference tabs were redshirt junior offensive tackle Bo Layton, redshirt sophomore bandit Adrian Hope, and junior placekicker Grayson Atkins. Named to the second team were junior tailback Devin Wynn, redshirt senior offensive tackle Andy Godwin, senior wide receiver Thomas Gordon, and junior linebacker Elijah McKoy.
The Paladins were picked #15 in the Hero Sports preseason FCS poll, and #17 in the AGS preseason top 25.
On offense, with eight starters back, including all five linemen, the only question is, who will be their starting quarterback? The Paladins have 3 that will battle for that starting job, sophomore Darren Grainger has the most college experience as he saw action in four games and made one start (vs. Elon) in his first season in the program. Redshirt freshman Hamp Sisson saw some action in two late-season games as a reserve last year, and redshirt sophomore Jack Hardin has no playing time. As we know, the QB is the key in the triple-option attack, and by game 8 this battle should we well settled. Among the Paladins' key returnees on offense are redshirt senior All-SoCon offensive tackle Bo Layton, senior wide receiver Thomas Gordon (29 rec., 430 yds., TD in '18), and junior tailback Devin Wynn (113 att., 722 yds., 6 TDs in '18).
Furman's defense is led by a pair of inside linebackers, senior Donavan Perryman (75 tackles, 3 TFL in '18) and junior Elijah McKoy (91 tackles, 2 sacks in '18), redshirt sophomore All-American bandit Adrian Hope (FCS leading 15.0 sacks in '18), and senior safety Bryan Okeh, whose 24 career starts top all defenders.
On special teams, the Paladins junior All-American placekicker Grayson Atkins does it all (11x13 FGs, including four from 50+yards in '18), he also handles the punting (42.8 avg. in '18) and kickoff duties that saw him register a league-best 25 touchbacks in 2018.
In 2018, the Paladins were 4th in the SoCon in scoring offense, putting up 29.8 ppg and finished 6th overall in scoring defense, giving up only 30.3 ppg. Furman finished in 4th place in rushing offense with 203.4 ypg, and 4th in rushing defense, giving up 157.8 yards per game. In passing offense, the Paladins finished in 7th place with 149.4 ypg, and in passing defense, they gave up 250.7 ypg for 6th place in the conference.
2018 Furman Statistics
Rushing Offense: 2034 yards
Yards per game: 203.4
Yards per rush: 4.2 yards
Rushing 1st downs: 114
TDs rushing: 19
Passing Offense: 1494 yards or 149.4 yards per game
Avg. per pass: 9.2 yards
Passing 1st downs: 65
Passing Comp-Att-Int: 105-162-4
TDs Passing: 14
Total Offense: 3528 yards or 352.8 ypg
3d Down Conversions: 55/134
4th Down Conversions: 9-13
Field Goal: 11 of 13
On-side kicks: 0-0
Red Zone Scores: 28 of 32 (88%)
Red Zone Touchdowns: 23 of 32 (72%)
Avg per punt: 42.8 yrds
Fumbles-Lost: 20-10
Sacks: 27
Game prediction: Per the Massey Ratings, the Cats have only a 26% probability of winning (28-38) over the Paladins. According to Massey, Western Carolina should be 2-6 after this game. I'm going to disagree on the possible loss in Homecoming game in Cullowhee, the Cats win, and end the day with a 6-2 overall record after this game.
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