GREENVILLE, S.C. -- The Citadel rushed for 360 yards and held FCS No. 8 Furman to 216 yards of total offense en route to a 27-10 victory over the Paladins Saturday afternoon at Paladin Stadium.
 
The Bulldogs, who led 7-3 at the half, scored a pair of rushing touchdowns in the third quarter to build a 21-3 lead, and Jacob Godek booted two fourth quarter field goals to improve The Citadel to 4-4 overall and 2-2 in the Southern Conference.
 
Furman, which had its three-game winning streak and eight-game run of success against FCS foes snapped, dropped to 4-3 overall and 3-1 in league play.

The Bulldogs trailed only once in the contest after Furman's Grayson Atkins kicked a 48-yard field — his 17th consecutive make — to give the Paladins a 3-0 lead with the contest less than three minutes old.

The Citadel answered on their first possession  of the contest, covering 75 yards in seven plays to go up 7-3 on a Clay Harris 5-yard touchdowns run.

It remained a 7-3 game the rest of the first half thanks, in large measure, to three Bulldog turnovers — two fumbles and an interception that halted Citadel possessions at the Furman 27, 15, and 24-yard lines.

The Bulldogs used third quarter field position, a Furman turnover, and solid ball control to take command in the second half.  After a pair of Paladin possessions from the Paladin 5 and 7-yard lines failed to generate a pair of first downs, the Bulldogs, after starting their third possession of the third quarter from the Furman 31, moved the distance in six plays to go up 14-3 on a Dante Smith 4-yard touchdown run.

Three plays later The Citadel's Marquise Blount sacked Paladin quarterback Darren Grainger at the Furman 15, forcing a fumble that was recovered by Dewey Greene at the Furman 12. Remus Butler capped the opportunity by taking an option pitch from quarterback Brandon Rainey around left end for eight yards into the end zone to stretch the advantage to 21-3.

Furman scored its lone touchdown of the game after covering 75 yards in 15 plays for a 4-yard Devin Wynn touchdown run to cut the lead to 21-10, but the Bulldogs responded with a 7:11 drive that ended with a Jacob Godek 30-yard field goal — his first of two fourth quarter field goals.

The Citadel finished the contest with 392 yards in total offense behind Rainey's 26-carry, 165-yard rushing effort.  The Bulldogs totaled 34:39 of possession time and held the Paladins, the SoCon leader in third down conversion percentage entering the contest (50.0%), to just 3-of-14 on third down plays and 1-of-4 fourth down attempts.

Grainger connected on just 5-of-25 passes for 44 yards for Furman, which was paced offensively by Devin Wynn's 15-carry, 81-yard performance.