Furman-Chattanooga II: The Rematch. The first matchup was decided by three points.
The Paladins enjoyed an opening week off as a direct result of their 17-14 victory on the Mocs’ home field on Nov. 4. That victory essentially won the Southern Conference for Furman (9-2, 7-1 SoCon), which is seventh-seeded in the FCS playoffs.
Chattanooga (8-4, 6-2) advanced to Saturday’s 1 p.m. game at Paladin Stadium by virtue of a 24-21 victory at Austin Peay in Clarksville, Tenn., last week.
What has changed? A fair amount. A few have changed back, in the nearly a month that has passed since the previous meeting.
Tyler Huff, the SoCon Offensive Player of the Year, is back for the first time since he injured his shoulder in the first quarter of the previous Chattanooga game. The Mocs, meanwhile, are without their quarterback, Chase Artopoeus, injured and replaced in the past two games by Luke Schomburg.
The Mocs’ star running back, Ailym Ford, fell to season-ending injury in mid-October. Ford, by the way, is a graduate senior from Florence.
Huff, a player of remarkable on-the-fly decision-making prowess, said he is ready and sharp. Furman’s leading rusher, Dominic Roberto (704 yards, 7 TDs) is scheduled to return after missing the 19-13 upset loss at Wofford.
Schomburg, a redshirt freshman from Huntsville, Ala., threw for 259 yards in the victory over the Governors. He has played in six games and completed 34/63 passes for 433 yards.
Since Ford’s loss, Chattanooga has become a bit more inclined to pass. The Mocs have three receivers – Jamoi Mayes, Sam Phillips and Javin Whatley – with more than 50 receptions. Joshua Harris leads Furman with 39 catches, but seven Paladins have at least 17.
In Ford’s stead, Gino Appleberry has stepped up to rush for 695 yards and eight touchdowns. The Mocs rushed for 163 as a team against APSU.
The winner of Saturday’s game advances into the Dec. 9 quarterfinals to face the winner of Saturday’s Montana-Delaware matchup.
Early-round clashes between conference rivals are not uncommon. This year’s round two battle against Chattanooga will mark the Paladins’ seventh playoff collision with a league foe, and Paladin fans would be happy for a result similar to those registered against Marshall in 1988 (13-9 quarterfinal win in Huntington, W. Va.) and Georgia Southern in 2001 (24-17 win in Statesboro). Furman is only 2-4 in such encores, but the last five have been played on the road.
Furman has won its last nine games at Paladin Stadium and is 12-7 all-time in playoff games at Paladin Stadium. As a starter, Huff is 18-3 overall, 17-1 versus FCS foes and 13-0 in the SoCon.
Schomburg’s performance in leading Chattanooga past Austin Peay bore some similarity to Carson Jones’ showing in Furman’s earlier victory over the Mocs.
Furman and Chattanooga possess two of the conference’s leading defenses. Defensive end Jay Person of the Mocs is a two-time SoCon player of the year on his side of the ball and has 9-1/2 sacks.
The Paladins, who are on top in almost every SoCon statistical category for defense, rely on extraordinary depth, especially in the line.
The All-SoCon teams featured seven Paladin defensive starters among Furman’s 19 honorees. Among the leaders are defensive end Luke Clark, tackle Matt Sochovka, linebacker Braden Gilby, cornerback Travis Blackshear and free safety Hugh Ryan.
Gilby has played in 58 games, more than any player in Furman history.
Establishing a reliable rushing game is a must for the Paladins, whose line boasts three all-conference selections in Wyatt Hughes, Pearson Toomey and Jake Johanning, who won the league’s Jacobs Blocking Trophy.
The Paladin passing game this season has featured 18 receivers, nine of whom have registered touchdown catches. All-SoCon tight end Mason Pline, who leads the unit with three scoring grabs, could again be key.
Furman placekicker Ian Williams has hit 10 of his last 11 field-goal tries and 14/20 for the season.
Chattanooga’s Clayton Crile kicked the 35-yard game winner on the final play at Austin Peay and has connected on 15-22 three-pointers this season.
In addition to the ESPN+ live stream, the game will also be aired over flagship The Fan Upstate and its four stations: 97.7 FM/1330 AM in Greenville, and 97.1 FM/950 AM in Spartanburg. Broadcasts can be secured via Audacy.com, as well as through FurmanPaladins.com.
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