GREENVILLE, S.C. – It's been 23 years since Furman football reeled off four consecutive road victories. This Saturday the Paladins have another crack to do just that when they take on VMI in a 1:30 p.m. Southern Conference clash at Alumni Field in Lexington, Va.
The last time Furman won four in a row on the road was 1999 — accomplished with a 28-3 triumph over North Carolina. Current head coach
Clay Hendrix, at the time Furman's offensive line coach, is hoping his 2022 Paladins can apply a more current stamp and continue to build momentum heading into the regular season's final month.
Coming off a 47-40 home win over Western Carolina on Saturday, Furman (5-2, 3-1 SoCon) will attempt to turn the tables on VMI (1-5, 0-3 SoCon), which upset the Paladins, 14-13, two seasons ago in Lexington. The Paladins gained a measure of revenge last year in Greenville with a hard-fought, 37-31 triumph. The two most recent results signal the series has become much more competitive than history would indicate, a worksheet that shows a 29-10 edge for the Paladins, who have won 27 of the last 29 clashes between the two old SoCon rivals.
A big key to Furman's potential success on Saturday will hinge on the Paladins' ground attack, which found another gear on the way to 426 yards against Western Carolina. Headlining the ground warfare against the Catamounts was redshirt junior
Dominic Roberto, who ran for a career high 252 yards and scored three touchdowns. Roberto, at 231 pounds the Paladins' version of the U.S. Army's Abrams tank, saw his effort against the Catamounts — the third most prolific rushing effort in program history — rewarded by being named both SoCon and FCS National Offensive Player of the Week. Two weeks ago the Fayetteville, N.C., product ran for 133 yards and two touchdowns in a 21-10 road win over The Citadel.
Roberto ran for 100 yards and a touchdown in last year's win over VMI at Paladin Stadium.
Looking to clear the pathway for Roberto is a tight-knit offensive front featuring a pair of all-conference tackles,
Anderson Tomlin and
Pearson Toomey, as well as the unit's most experienced performer, center
Evan Jumper (32 career starts).
With the ground game chewing up massive real estate against WCU, Furman's passing game took a back seat to the tune of just 10 pass attempts for 66 yards. Quarterback
Tyler Huff, however, made three of his seven completions count in a big way, in the form of touchdown strikes. Two connections went to All-America tight end
Ryan Miller, who upped his career touchdown receptions tally to 23, just three shy of the school career standard held by wide receiver Chas Fox (1982-85).
It was somewhat of a different story for Furman's defense as the unit was good enough to hold Western Carolina to only 20 points through three quarters as the Paladins built a 44-20 lead. The fourth quarter was a different, however, as the Catamounts torched Furman for 247 yards and 20 points over the final 15 minutes of clock. In the end not many teams can surrender 691 total yards to an opponent and win was Furman did on Saturday.
Paladin special teams played a decisive role in the win over WCU, with Wayne Anderson's 97-yard kickoff return to open the second half paving the way for a strong third quarter. Making the biggest impact was defensive tackle
Matt Sochovka, who blocked a Catamount field goal and extra point on the way to collecting SoCon Special Teams Player of the Week laurels, thereby joining Roberto, his former prep teammate, on the league's weekly honors podium.
Saturday's Furman-VMI game will be live streamed by ESPN+.
The game will also be aired over flagship The Fan Upstate and its four powerhouse stations: 97.7 FM/1330 AM in Greenville, and 97.1 FM/950 AM in Spartanburg. The broadcast can also be accessed via Audacy.com, as well as through FurmanPaladins.com.
Fans may also follow the action through StatBroadcast live stats, accessible via FurmanPaladins.com, and get timely updates, highlight clips, and notes on twitter @PaladinFootball.
