Sept. 29, 2007

Final Stats

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Josh Collier passed for 187 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 41 yards and a pair of scores to power FCS eighth-ranked Wofford to a 45-20 victory over 20th-ranked Furman in Southern Conference football action Saturday evening at Paladin Stadium.

The win snapped Furman's 14-game home winning streak and gave Wofford (4-1, 2-0 SoCon) only its second win over the Paladins in the last nine games. It also marked the worst home setback for Furman (1-3, 0-1 SoCo) since Georgia Southern downed the Paladins 45-17 during the 1998 campaign and represented the most decisive series loss to Wofford since 1969.

The 1-3 start is the worst for Furman since the 1994 season when the Paladins finished 3-8.

"We had a great team effort tonight, and that's what it took to win the game," said Wofford head coach Mike Ayers, who claimed his fourth victory against Furman in 18 games as a head coach. "Furman is an excellent football team, and they do a great job. We have come up with a few things that have helped us, mixing in the pass on offense with the run on the option."

"You really have to give credit to Wofford and Mike Ayers and his staff," said Furman head coach Bobby Lamb. "Their new style of offense is very difficult to defend, and we certainly had our trouble with that tonight. We just couldn't stop them, but it was more than just our inability to stop them. We were soundly beaten in all phases of the game, and we got outcoached, no doubt about it."

Collier, a senior from Bonaire, Ga, completed 12-of-16 passes in the contest, including a 2-yard strike to Kevious Johnson on the game's opening possession to give the Terriers a 7-0 lead.

Later in the first quarter Collier's 9-yard touchdown run put Wofford ahead 14-7.

Leading 17-14 at intermission, Wofford took control of the contest with a pair of third quarter scores, including a 4-yard touchdown run by senior halfback Kevious Johnson, who fumbled on the play but bounced off a pair of defenders and scooped up the ball before running into the end zone to give the Terriers a 24-14 lead.

Wofford's defense set up its next score when linebacker Kevin Adleman picked off a severly underthrown pass by pressured Paladin quarterback Renaldo Gray and raced 38 yards to the Furman 16. Two playes later Dane Romero scored on a 4-yard run to stretch the Terrier advantage to 31-14.

Johnson's 11-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth period sealed the game's outcome, and Collier later capped the Terrier offensive onslaught with a 1-yard run with 6:15 to go.

Johnson headlined Wofford's 273-yard rushing effort with 118 yards and two touchdowns. The Terriers rolled up 460 yards total offense to Furmans 387.

Furman was paced by Stephone LaFrance with 65 yards and a touchdown in his first career start and R.J. Webb with seven catches for 122 yards, including a 68-yard touchdown reception. Jerome Felton rushed for 22 yards and scored the 53rd rushing touchdown of his career, tying Louis Ivory's school standard.

Both teams return to action next Saturday with Wofford taking on The Citadel in Charleston in a 2:00 p.m. and Furman hosting Coastal Carolina in a 2:00 p.m. contest.