Furman and Western Carolina Ready For Homecoming Battle at Paladin Stadium

                                Western Carolina (3-3, 2-0 SoCon) at Furman (2-4, 1-1 SoCon)

Preview: Coming off one of its worst losses under head coach Clay Hendrix, which was a 41-10 setback to preseason SoCon favorite Chattanooga last Saturday, it gets no easier this afternoon, as the Paladins take on a Western Carolina team on the verge of the Top 25. The Catamounts have been playing some good football, having taken on a tough non-conference slate, and continue to be led by one of the top quarterbacks in FCS football, in Cole Gonzalez (145-of-230 passing, 1,528 yds, 5 TDs, 7 INTs), who is one of the top passers in all of FCS football. 

The Paladins counter with true freshman Trey Hedden (77-of-130 passing, 1,030 yds, 7 TDs, 6 INTs), who had a bit of a tough start last week, throwing three first-half INTs before eventually being replaced by backup Carson Jones (34-of-53 passing, 303 yds, 1 TD, 3 INTs), who threw another in the second half, which was returned for a score, as Paladin quarterbacks finished the day with a combined four INTs. Although it didn't dictate the outcome, photographic evidence from two of the INTs shows that two of the picks that ended up standing for the Mocs in last Saturday's win actually hit the ground.

Nonetheless, those five Paladin turnovers ended up leading to 24 of UTC's 41 points in the 41-10 road triumph for the then 23rd-ranked Mocs. Chattanooga's 31-point win over the Paladins was the largest margin of victory against the Paladins at Furman since homecoming of 2014, when the Paladins were defeated 45-0 at home against Samford. It marked the second-largest loss by the Paladins in stadium history. 

The Paladins will be looking to avoid back-to-back home losses for the first time since Clay Hendrix took over as the head coach back in 2017, and a WCU win would mark the first time the Paladins have lost back-to-back home games since the 2016 campaign, which saw both Samford (L, 21-38/Oct. 8, 2016) and Wofford (L, 27-34/Nov. 5, 2016) came to Paladin Stadium and came away with wins. 

A win by the Catamounts would mark the seventh at Paladin Stadium, but only be their third in the past three decades, having claimed wins in 1994 and 2014. A seventh win would be the second-most ever recorded by a Paladin foe in the history of Paladin Stadium, which opened in 1981. 

A win by Furman Saturday would mark its 300th in Southern Conference history and would mark the second milestone win that has come in recent seasons against the Catamounts. Back on Oct. 28, 2017, Furman registered its 600th win as a program, downing the Catamounts, 28-6, at a rainy EJ Whitmire Stadium. Furman sports a 190-66 record all-time at Paladin Stadium, and all-time as a program, Furman has posted a 647-503-38 record. The 647 wins are most among Southern Conference programs.

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