Preview:
Furman was predicted to finish in 5th place in the SoCon. Five Paladins were named to preseason All-Conference squads: Sr. OL Joe Turner, Jr TE Duncan Fletcher, and Sr. LB Cory Magwood (led the SoCon in tackles last year) were named 1st Team. Sr. WR Jordan Snellings and Sr. DL John Mackey were named to the 2nd Team.
The Paladins have two possible QBs to use: Reese Hannon and PJ Blazejowski. Blazejowski played in the game against us and, as Cluck mentioned, gave us fits running for 81yds and passing for 127 more while accounting for 2 TDs. I think Hannon will get the starting nod, but as others on here have said, PJ will also see playing time with set plays for him.
Here is a season preview video with the Furman coach. The first 2 minutes of this video is him talking about starting the season at home against us
Injuries:
Unfortunately we are without Tom Pauciello for the entire season after a knee injury in the Spring. Hopefully he can apply and be granted a 6th year of eligibility. Thankfully we have more than capable backups in FR Tyler Wheeler, JR Lorenzo D’Angelo, SR Craig Weick, SO AJ Sattinger, FR Max Kjosa, and RS FR Miguel Valdes.
Past History with the team and Conference:
Coastal has faced Furman six times so far and they are 5-1 all-time including the 2OT 37-31 win on the road (when the ‘S was there to cheer them on to victory), a win over Furman when they were ranked #3 in the country back in 2006 at Brooks Stadium, and another overtime thriller (triple OT) 47-45 in 2012 in Greenville. Overall the games have all been very close with CCU outscoring the Paladins 195-171 (less than a touchdown difference per game on average). The Chants have had a lot of meetings with the SoCon over the years, and are a combined 17-3 against current Southern Conference teams (VMI, Citadel, Western Carolina, Wofford, and Furman).
Last Meeting:
As stated above, the Chants and the Paladins met last year and CCU won 37-31 in 2OT. Hop Henderson had a solid game, including the winning score. He went for 135yds on 20 carries and 2TDs. Defensively Rod Holder had a good all-around game with 9T (8 solo), 1A, 1TFL and 1 Sack. Furman’s RB, Hank McCloud had 98yds on 22 carries. As stated earlier, their QB CJ Blazejowski was a headache on the ground and through the air with 81 yards on the ground and 127 through the air. Their leading WR from last year, Jordan Snellings only managed 3 grabs for 28yds.
Common Opponents from previous year:
Last year both teams played The Citadel, SC State, Presbyterian, and GWebb. CCU was 4-0 against those teams, and Furman went 1-3 with their only win coming in the last game of the year against Gardner Webb. If you all remember they lost 10-7 at Presbyterian in a fog/rain bowl where you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face.
Statistical Breakdown:
Last year Furman got beat in almost every statistical category there is. They were outscored in every quarter (including a 125-48 margin in the 2nd quarter), gave up 1,000 more yards on the ground than they accumulated, and had 700 fewer total yards on the season than their opponents. They did throw for more yards (2,359 vs 2,114), and eeked out slight advantages in Average Punt and Kick Return Yards.
