2019 Furman Paladins football team

2019 Furman Paladins football
FCS Playoffs First Round, L 6–42 vs. Austin Peay
Conference	Southern Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 21
FCS Coaches	No. 19
2019 record	8–5 (6–2 SoCon)
Head coach	Clay Hendrix (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	George Quarles
Defensive coordinator	Duane Vaughn
Home stadium	Paladin Stadium (Capacity: 16,000)
Seasons ← 2018 2020 →

2019 Southern Conference football standings
v t	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 16 Wofford $^		7	–	1					8	–	3
No. 21 Furman ^		6	–	2					8	–	4
Chattanooga		5	–	3					6	–	6
The Citadel		4	–	4					6	–	6
Samford		4	–	4					5	–	7
VMI		4	–	4					5	–	7
Mercer		3	–	5					4	–	8
Western Carolina		2	–	6					3	–	9
East Tennessee State		1	–	7					3	–	9
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2019 Furman Paladins football team represents Furman University in the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They are led by third-year head coach Clay Hendrix and play their home games at Paladin Stadium. They are a member of the Southern Conference.

Previous season[]

The Paladins finished the 2018 season 6–4, 6–2 in SoCon play finish in a three way tie for the SoCon championship with Wofford and East Tennessee State. After tiebreakers, they did not receive the SoCon's automatic bid to the FCS playoffs and they did not receive an at-large bid.

Preseason[]

Preseason polls[]

The SoCon released their preseason media poll and coaches poll on July 22, 2019. The Paladins were picked to finish in second place in both polls.^[1][2]

Media poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Wofford	253 (21)
2	Furman	229 (6)
3	East Tennessee State	187 (2)
4	Mercer	146
5	Chattanooga	134
6	Samford	125
7	The Citadel	111
8	Western Carolina	88
9	VMI	32

Coaches poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Wofford	63 (7)
2	Furman	55 (1)
3	East Tennessee State	44 (1)
4	Chattanooga	40
5	Mercer	34
6	Samford	33
7	The Citadel	22
8	Western Carolina	21
9	VMI	12

Preseason All-SoCon Teams[]

The Paladins placed seven players on the preseason all-SoCon teams.^[2]

Schedule[]

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 31	1:00 p.m.	Charleston Southern*	No. 19	Paladin Stadium Greenville, SC	ESPN+	W 46–13	6,146
September 7	7:00 p.m.	at Georgia State*	No. 17	Georgia State Stadium Atlanta, GA	ESPN3	L 42–48	20,351
September 14	12:00 p.m.	at Virginia Tech*	No. 16	Lane Stadium Blacksburg, VA	ACCN	L 17–24	52,314
September 21	1:00 p.m.	Mercer	No. 17	Paladin Stadium Greenville, SC	Nexstar/ESPN+	W 45–10	7,667
September 28	1:00 p.m.	East Tennessee State	No. 16	Paladin Stadium Greenville, SC	Nexstar/ESPN+	W 17–10	5,031
October 5	3:00 p.m.	at Samford	No. 14	Seibert Stadium Homewood, AL	Nexstar/ESPN+	W 58–14	6,169
October 19	1:00 p.m.	The Citadel	No. 8	Paladin Stadium Greenville, SC (Rivalry)	ESPN3	L 10–27	6,603
October 26	3:30 p.m.	at Western Carolina	No. 14	E.J. Whitmire Stadium Cullowhee, NC	ESPN3	W 28–7	8,174
November 2	2:00 p.m.	at Chattanooga	No. 13	Finley Stadium Chattanooga, TN	ESPN+	W 35–20	7,431
November 9	1:00 p.m.	VMI	No. 9	Paladin Stadium Greenville, SC	ESPN+	W 60–21	7,229
November 16	1:30 p.m.	at No. 21 Wofford	No. 9	Gibbs Stadium Spartanburg, SC	Nexstar/ESPN+	L 7–24	6,457
November 23	1:00 p.m.	Point*	No. 17	Paladin Stadium Greenville, SC	ESPN+	W 64–7	3,207
November 30	1:00 p.m.	at No. 18 Austin Peay*	No. 16	Fortera Stadium Clarksville, TN (FCS Playoffs First Round)	ESPN3	L 6–42	3,559
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

• Source:^[3]

Game summaries[]

Charleston Southern[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Buccaneers	0	6	7	0	13
No. 19 Paladins	7	17	8	14	46

at Georgia State[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 17 Paladins	13	7	8	14	42
Panthers	3	14	21	10	48

at Virginia Tech[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 16 Paladins	0	14	0	3	17
Hokies	3	0	14	7	24

Mercer[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	0	10	0	0	10
No. 17 Paladins	14	14	17	0	45

East Tennessee State[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Buccaneers	0	7	3	0	10
No. 16 Paladins	7	3	0	7	17

at Samford[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 14 Paladins	28	14	10	6	58
Bulldogs	7	7	0	0	14

The Citadel[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	7	0	14	6	27
No. 8 Paladins	3	0	0	7	10

at Western Carolina[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 14 Paladins	3	10	15	0	28
Catamounts	7	0	0	0	7

at Chattanooga[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 13 Paladins	0	14	7	14	35
Mocs	3	9	0	8	20

VMI[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Keydets	7	14	0	0	21
No. 9 Paladins	15	17	14	14	60

at Wofford[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 9 Paladins	7	0	0	0	7
No. 21 Terriers	7	7	7	3	24

Point[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Skyhawks	0	7	0	0	7
No. 17 Paladins	21	22	14	7	64

FCS Playoffs[]

The Paladins were selected for the postseason tournament, with a first-round pairing against Austin Peay.^[4]

at Austin Peay–First Round[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 16 Paladins	0	3	0	3	6
No. 18 Governors	7	0	28	7	42

Rankings[]

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Final
STATS FCS	19	17	16	17	16	14	11	8	14	13	9	9	17	16
Coaches	17	11	13	15	15	14	11	8	14	13	10	7	15	16

References[]