GREENVILLE, S.C. -- After nine weeks of the 2023 football season, it has come down to the clash of Southern Conference front runners, FCS No. 2/2 Furman and FCS No. 13/14 Chattanooga, at 1:30 p.m. this Saturday at Chattanooga's Finley Stadium to decide who will earn the league's automatic berth to the upcoming 24-team FCS playoffs, set to get underway later this month.

In the simplest of terms, Saturday's winner will earn the automatic berth and title of SoCon champion, but the question of whether the title will be outright for the winner or shared with others will be determined later.

A win by Furman (7-1, 5-0 SoCon) puts its hands on the trophy, and to keep other paws off it would require a Paladin victory over either VMI (Nov. 11) or Wofford (Nov. 18), making Furman undefeated or the league's lone one-loss league team.

If Chattanooga (7-2, 6-1 SoCon) wins, the Mocs would have a path to the outright title if Furman loses to either VMI or Wofford, leaving UTC as the league's only one-loss squad.  UTC would share the championship with Furman if the Paladins defeat both VMI and Wofford to also finish with one SoCon loss.

The possibility exists the championship could be shared by as many as four teams (Furman, Chattanooga, Western Carolina, and Mercer) with two league losses. Western Carolina and Mercer are already two down in league play.

Furman heads into Saturday's showdown riding a six-game winning streak and 10-game run of success versus the SoCon, which includes seven consecutive road victories.   The Paladins are 19-4 in their last 23 contests.

Three weeks ago Furman stared at a four-game gauntlet that loomed as a likely make-or-break stretch of its SoCon season.  Road clashes against defending champion Samford, Western Carolina, and Chattanooga, spiced with last week's home encounter East Tennessee, proved to be challenging for head coach Clay Hendrix's squad, but the Paladins have cleared three of the four hurdles, with only UTC remaining in the four-game stretch, in addition to VMI and Wofford.

Chattanooga, which has overcome a 41-27, season opening road loss to North Alabama and 52-50 home setback to Western Carolina on Oct. 7, clipped VMI, 24-23, last week to position itself for a chance to collect league marbles.  The Mocs will tee it up for a 10th consecutive week this Saturday, having only Alabama remaining on their regular season schedule.

UTC sports a potent offense behind UCLA transfer quarterback Chase Artopheus, who has passed for 2,383 yards and 18 touchdowns.  His success stems, in part, from an outstanding trio of wide receives — Jamoi Mayes (48 rec., 819 yds., 3 TDs), Javin Whatley (37 rec., 700 yds., 7 TDs), and Sam Phillips (47 rec., 478 yds., 4 TDs).  The Mocs can also move the ball effectively on the ground (148.4 ypg, 13 TDs), even after losing the talented Alliym Ford to a knee injury a couple of weeks ago.

For years Chattanooga has been known for its quality defenses, with this year being no exception.  The Mocs rank second in the SoCon — just ahead of Furman — in total defense (346.6 ypg) and are first in the league in sacks (27), with ends Ben Brewton and Jay Person ranking 1-2 in the league with seven and 5.5 takedowns, respectively.

A year ago Furman jump-started an impressive stretch drive to its season by beating Chattanooga —at the time the SoCon leader and ranked No. 7 — 24-20, in Greenville. Quarterback Tyler Huff's running ability (career high 132 yards, TD), coupled with 203 passing yards and a touchdown, proved too much for the Mocs, as did an opportunistic defense that picked off a pair of passes and special teams play featuring a fourth quarter blocked field goal by Jack Barton.

In a series that Furman leads 31-21, the Paladins have enjoyed success in Chattanooga, and in particular Finley Stadium, where the purple and white are 10-4 all-time (including 2001 national championship game versus Montana), though UTC won the 2021 clash, 13-3.

While much of Furman's success this season has been due to solid play on both sides of the ball, the Paladin defense has especially played a big role.  Coordinator Duane Vaughn's troops, who top the SoCon in scoring defense (19.9 ppg) and rushing defense (100.8 ypg), have limited their last five foes to 66 points (13.2 ppg) and 294.4 yards per outing.  Opponents have been frustrated attempting to run against the Paladins, who have yielded just 2.95 yards per rush over the last 14 outings, and have been unable to bank totally on the aerial game in the face of a Paladin pass rush that has accounted for 17 sacks in the last three outings.  Furman also leads the SoCon and ranks fourth in the FCS with 12 interceptions.

Furman's veteran defense, which sports solid depth along its front, can accurately be described as more blue collar than star-studded, though the standouts have continued to demonstrate playmaking ability this year.  The stellar work of redshirt senior spur Cally Chizik has been obvious in the Paladins' current six-game winning streak, which has seen him intercept four passes, three of which helped preserve leads against Kennesaw State, Western Carolina, and East Tennessee State.  He also had a career high 13 tackles in the 27-22 road triumph over Samford.  It was Chizik's batted pass on fourth down a year ago that locked up the Paladins' win over Chattanooga in Greenville.

The Paladins hope two-time All-SoCon cornerback Travis Blackshear (11 career INTs) can return to action on Saturday after missing the ETSU game following minor surgery, and the same for All-SoCon offensive tackle Pearson Toomey, who sat out last Saturday's action.  Toomey's presence, in particular, could be key to get Furman's ground game into a needed higher gear versus UTC.  Two weeks ago Western Carolina had no real answer for Dominic Roberto (31 att., 154 yds., TD).

Huff's ability to make plays with his feet (487 yds., 5 TDs), evident in the 29-17 win over Western Carolina (6 rushes, 89 yds., 53-yard TD run) but hardly utilized against ETSU, looms large this Saturday as a complement to Roberto and his own passing game, which has been effective this year (1,452 yds. 9 TDs). 

Furman's second-year signal caller has effectively utilized his entire receiving corps, with seven players logging double digit receptions, led by Joshua Harris (32 rec., 296 yds., 2 TDs) and first-year performer Colton Hinton (20 rec., 215 yds., TD).

One of the biggest reasons behind Furman's success over the last two seasons (18-4) has been ball security and ability to take advantage of opponent miscues.  The Paladins lead the FCS this year in turnover margin (+1.50) on the strength of a 17 turnovers gained versus five lost.  Over the last 21 games Furman has followed up a FCS-best 43 opponent miscues by scoring 176 points on ensuing possessions.

Placekicker Ian Williams, who on Monday was named SoCon Special Teams Player of the Week, gives the Paladins a threat from distance, evidenced by his career long 52-yard field goal against ETSU — the fifth longest in Furman history.  Williams has connected on 18-of-25 field goals in his two seasons with the Paladins.

The game will be ESPN+ live streamed and also 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.  Broadcasts can be secured via Audacy.com, as well as through FurmanPaladins.com.

Fans may follow the action through Chattanooga-driven live stats, accessible via FurmanPaladins.com, and receive timely updates through the "X" platform.