Football: Furman University

Next up is Furman.  Here's the preseason preview published back in the summer.

Game #4  The Paladins of Furman University 

A preseason preview of the  Catamount's fourth opponent of the 2011 football season, the Furman Paladins. 

The Catamounts second SoCon game (and first home conference game) will be played on October 1st 2011, when the Furman Paladins travel up the mountains to E.J. Whitmire Stadium to play the Catamounts on the gridiron for 39th time. The Paladins currently own a four game win streak and are 26-10-2 overall against the Cats. The Cats lost 10-27 last season in Greenville, SC.

Bruce Fowler, a 1981 Furman alum, is in his first season as Furman’s Head Football Coach.   Fowler served as an assistant coach on the Paladin staff for 16 years prior to spending the last nine seasons as the defensive coordinator and assistant head coach at Vanderbilt University. Fowler's last two seasons at Vanderbilt resulted in identical 2-10 records for the Commodores.  This is Fowler’s first head coaching position.

Fowler returns 45 lettermen and 16 starters from last season’s 5-6 team. Seven starters return on offense:  Colin Anderson (TE), Sederrik Cunningham (WR), Dakota Dozier (LT), David Hendrix (WR), Ryan Lee (OT), Daniel Spisak (C), Tersoo Uhaa (RB), and seven returns on defense: Kadarron Anderson  (LB), Colton Keig (DT), Josh Lynn  (DE), Ryan Steed (CB), Nathan Wade (FS), Chris Wiley (LB), Greg Worthy (LB).  Quarterback Cody Worley will not return due to graduation.  Worley will be probably be replaced by highly touted senior Chris Forcier , a UCLA transfer.  Forcier will be in a tough competition with junior Dakota Derrick to maintain the starting QB position. 

Earlier this year, defensive end Aaron Riley , cornerback Jordan Griffin , and linebacker Tim Lawrence were dismissed from the team, while linebacker Sterling Johnsonand, safety Nathan Wade were suspended indefinitely.

Update:  Furman comes to Cullowhee with a 2-1 record, with wins over the Citadel (16-6) and PC (62-21) and a season opening loss to Coastal Carolina ( 23-30).  In Saturday's win over PC, quarterback Chris Forcier passed for 226 yards and a Southern Conference record seven touchdowns.

Game Prediction: WCU: 24   Furman: 14
WCU Record: 2 - 2