The Furman Paladins are headed back to the FCS Playoffs. The Paladins wrapped up a 9-2 season, with losses to Clemson and SOCON champion Samford, by whipping Wofford Saturday afternoon. The Paladins earned an at-large bid to the tournament and will host Elon at Noon on Saturday. The winner will travel in Incarnate Word the following Saturday.
Here’s the full release from Furman:
The Furman Paladins are back in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) Playoffs, earning an at-large bid to the 24-team field of playoff teams, it was announced today.
Furman (9-2, 7-1 SoCon/2nd), winners of six straight games, including a 63-28 triumph over Wofford on Saturday, will play host to Elon (8-3, 6-2 CAA/T3rd) this Saturday at Noon ET on ESPN+ at Paladin Stadium.
The winner of the Furman-Elon game will play at No. 7 seed Incarnate Word (10-1) in a second-round clash on Dec. 3.
The playoff berth is the 19th for Furman — tops among current Southern Conference schools — and third under head coach Clay Hendrix. The home game will be the first for the Paladins since 2005, when Furman beat Nicholls State, 14-12, in a first round matchup.
The Paladins, who own an 19-17 all-time playoff record, have played for three FCS (formerly I-AA) Championships and captured the league’s first national championship in 1988, defeating Georgia Southern, 17-12, in Pocatello, Idaho.
Furman opened the season with a 52-0 blanking of North Greenville before falling at then-FBS 5th-ranked Clemson (35-12) despite outgaining the Tigers, 384-376. Road wins over ETSU (27-14), ranked 18th at the time, and Charleston Southern (24-19) followed before the Paladins, playing without injured starting quarterback Tyler Huff, suffered their last defeat — a 34-27 home setback on Oct. 1 to Samford.
The Paladins bounced back from the disappointment of the Samford game by winning their final six regular season contests: vs. The Citadel (21-10), Western Carolina (47-40), VMI (41-3), No. 6-ranked Chattanooga (24-20), No. 11 ranked Mercer (23-13), and Wofford (63-28).
Furman’s nine victories are its most since 2005, when the Paladins went 11-3. The seven SoCon victories are the highest for the program since 2001.
