Furman Set to Host SoCon Gridiron Tilt Against No. 23 Chattanooga Saturday

 Furman Set for Test From Chattanooga

Overview:

##--Now that I have internet restored two weeks after the devastating effects of Hurricane Helene, previews and recaps should be more of a regular think (knock on wood)...Apologies on my end for not providing regular content both here and for Redshirt Sports over the past couple of weeks.

No. 23 Chattanooga (2-3, 1-1 SoCon) and Furman (2-3, 1-0 SoCon) were projected to finish No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in the Southern Conference preseason coaches’ poll, however, for both teams it’s been anything but easy navigating the early portions of the 2024 football season. Both enter Saturday’s clash at Paladin Stadium unranked, yet both are coming off two big conference road wins against a bitter rival.

Furman came from a 16-3 fourth quarter deficit to upend The Citadel, 17-16, in a thriller last weekend in Charleston, as the Paladins started 1-0 in Southern Conference play for the fifth time in the past six seasons under head coach Clay Hendrix. Meanwhile, Chattanooga picked up its first ranked win of the season in impressive fashion at No. 23 East Tennessee State, as the Bucs secured the railroad tie for a fifth-straight season, posting what was a 17-10 win over East Tennessee State last Saturday in Johnson City.

The matchup will also offer the third meeting between the two teams in the past two seasons, with the Paladins picking up a pair of wins last season, posting a 17-14 win in the Scenic City last November to secure at least a share of the 2023 Southern Conference crown, while also downing the Mocs, 26-7, in the FCS Playoffs to move on the quarterfinal round and a test against the Montana Grizzlies in Missoula.

When the Paladins and Mocs do battle on Saturday afternoon, it will mark the 55^th all-time meeting between the two league rivals, with the Paladins holding a 33-21 all-time edge in the series, however, no Southern Conference opposition has more wins inside Paladin Stadium than the Chattanooga Mocs, which have garnered eight victories in 22 trips to the facility. The last win inside Paladin Stadium for the Mocs came during the COVID-19 compromised season, as the Paladins dropped a 20-18 contest in the spring of 2021 to the Mocs.

Over the years, the rivalry between Furman and Chattanooga has ebbed and flowed with the success of the two programs, and it’s on the uptick again over the past decade or so, with two being near the upper half of the Southern Conference and both routinely being in title contention. The rivalry was a heated one from about the late 1970s and throughout the ‘80s before suffering a bit of a lull from 1992-2008.

Overall, Furman enters Saturday afternoon’s tilt having won 17 of its last 19 Southern Conference games and are 10-4 against ranked FCS foes in the last 14 games when facing such competition. A win Saturday would give the Paladins their 300^th SoCon win in league history.

Game Preview:

Chattanooga and Furman are a pair of teams that have followed a similar path to start the 2024 football season, with both facing SEC national title and FBS Playoff contenders, in Tennessee and Ole Miss, respectively. Both the Mocs and Paladins were both dealt the brutal and harsh reality of the current NIL/transfer portal culture that exists within the very upper crust of NCAA Division I College Football, which is a nice way of looking at the combined 145-3 scoring margin in those two games, with Furman dropping a 76-0 contest in Oxford, while the Mocs were scalped accordingly—69-3 in Knoxville before Neyland’s Orange Navy.

The Mocs then dropped a tough contest to a solid Group of Five program, in Sun Belt member Georgia State, 24-21, before being staggered to open Southern Conference play at home against Mercer, dropping a 10-3 contest on a night when points came at a premium for both sides.

Chattanooga finally started to find some rhythm in its 2024 season two weeks ago against Portland State. With Finley Stadium a standing duck pond to begin the day after Hurricane Helene ripped through the morning of the game, it’s a minor miracle the Mocs were able to even get their home facility ready in time to take on Big Sky member Portland State in what was a battle of a pair of 0-3 football teams.

For the preseason favorites in the SoCon, however, even with the tough schedule to open the 2024 campaign, it was still a bit stunning to see the Mocs winless with the month of September almost completely in the books. Things would change for the better, however, against those Vikings from the Northwest, as Chattanooga picked up a hard-fought 45-30 home win on the strength of a near 600-yard evening from the Mocs offense (567 yards), which included 396 through the air.

The Mocs used the momentum from win No. 1 to get their first Southern Conference win of the season, which was no easy feat in and of itself, as Chattanooga went to bitter rival East Tennessee State, who had crept just inside the FCS Top 25 after a strong start to the campaign, and UTC handed ETSU its second home loss of the season and fifth-straight setback in the “Rail Rivalry” series, with a 17-10 win in Johnson City.

It was easily Chattanooga’s best game of the season, especially on the defensive side of the ball, limiting the Bucs to just 225 yards of total offense and only 10 points. Both totals were well below the Bucs’ average coming into the clash. Chase Artopoeus found his rhythm throwing the football for the Mocs, finishing the contest with 281 yards passing with a touchdown and an INT, connecting on 50% (17-of-34) of his passes against a stingy ETSU defense.

Meanwhile, running back Reggie Davis found a way to post his second 100-yard afternoon in succession, finishing with a hard-fought 103 yards and the game-winning touchdown. The Mocs would also get another sterling performance from the latest Southern Conference Offensive Player of the Week, Sam Phillips, who completed his evening’s work by hauling in six passes for 110 yards and a score.

With a prolific offense led by Artopoeus, any team in the Southern Conference has its hands full stopping a full throttle Mocs offense. That might also offer a glimpse at just how tremendous Mercer’s effort was when it came to Chattanooga a few weeks back and spoiled the Mocs’ SoCon opener, with a 10-3 win in the Scenic City. Somehow, the Bears found a way to hold Chattanooga’s high-octane outfit to just 278 yards of total output, including of course only a field goal. The Mocs could only muster 48 yards on the ground, and Artopoeus was sacked a total of four times in the contest.

However, with those few hiccups now behind him, Artopoeus and the Chattanooga offense is seemingly rolling after its first two wins of the 2024 campaign. However, the numbers are skewed by the Mocs games against teams wearing some hue of orange, having failed to score a touchdown in either of those two contests or reach 300 yards of total offense, which is something that the Mocs did with regularity a year ago, finishing the 2023 campaign with only two games less than 300 yards of total offensive output, with both coming against Furman in losses.

Artopoues is arguably the top quarterback in the Southern Conference and it’s a good, solid argument between he and Western Carolina’s talented flamethrower, Cole Gonzales. Artopoeus has seemingly changed the dynamic of the Mocs offensive outlook, as he is now in his second season as Chattanooga’s starting signal-caller.

Artopoeus, who would suffer what would turn out to be a season-ending injury in the regular-season contest, which Furman won 17-14 in the Scenic City, last November, has been a revelation in terms of his intelligence and overall his ability to lead by his overall understanding of the game beyond even what a quarterback is responsible for, which is like giving the Mocs and extra coach on the field. That asset to his game as a signal-caller has made him an invaluable resource to Rusty Wright, which goes beyond even what he can do with his arm talent.

Artopoues hasn’t gotten off to quite the start he did a year ago through the first five games, which is understandable considering the quality of competition the Mocs have already faced during the young season so far. Despite that, he’s still putting up healthy passing numbers, as he enters Saturday’s showdown in Greenville having connected on 82-of-145 passes (56.1%) through the first five games so far this season, but there’s no doubting what he can do with the football in his possession. Artopoeus has thrown for 1,309 yards, seven touchdowns and has been picked off five times.

His 261.8 passing yards per game ranks him 10^th nationally among all quarterbacks in the FCS, while the 1,309 passing yards rank 14^th in the country. The challenge of Chattanooga’s passing game will present the Paladins, which feature a young secondary that now has some injury issues to deal with, its stiffest challenge since the season opener against Ole Miss.

Artopoeus has a bevy of talented wideouts to throw to in what has been a prolific passing attack for the Mocs since the arrival of Artopoues from UCLA prior to the 2023. In terms of how that relates to the Paladins, it was only really the opening game between the two last season, which the graduate transfer quarterback would suffer a season-ending injury in late in the contest last season, which the Paladins saw how effective and explosive the Mocs passing attack could be in real time, with Jamoi Mayes hauling in a 72-yard scoring pass on an Artopoeus aerial that took a freak deflection right into the arms of Mayes, who showcased his speed and took it to the house and gave the Mocs a lead in the fourth quarter, as well as all the game’s momentum.

While Mayes isn’t still around, a pair of talented wideouts are still leading the way for Chattanooga this season, led by reigning SoCon Player of the Week Sam Phillips, as well as Javin Whatley (21 rec, 283 yds, 3 TDs, 13.4 YPT). The two all-league wideouts headline what is an outstanding wide receiver’s room.

Phillips has the most reliable hands on the team, but also has the speed to get behind opposing defensive units. He continues to rapidly ascend the school’s receiving charts, and he has been on a rapid pace catching the football through the first five games this season.

To further enhance just how good the start to the season has been for Phillips, his 590 yards receiving this season has him second nationally in total receiving yards in the FCS. Phillips enters Saturday’s clash of SoCon titans averaging an impressive 118.0 YPG receiving. Phillips’ average of six receptions per game also ranks 14^th in the FCS. He’s currently on pace to finish the season with 72 catches for 1,416 yards, with the potential receiving yards total resulting in a new school record.

Chris Domecrant (12 rec, 209 yds, 17.4 YPR) has been another reliable option at wideout this season for the Mocs. Tight end Jay Gibson (3 rec, 32 yds, 10.6 YPR), who started his career at South Carolina and was a preseason All-SoCon selection at tight end, is out due to injury and the Mocs will start freshman John McIntyre (7 rec, 95 yds, 13.5 YPR) at that position Saturday afternoon against Furman.

Reggie Davis (93 rush att, 362 yds, 3 TDs, 3.9 YPC) has had a tall order this season having to replace one of the best Mocs running backs in program history—Ailym Ford—and he would essentially see that opportunity start towards the latter part of the 2023 season after Ford suffered a career-ending knee injury in Chattanooga’s win at Mercer.

Davis is much shiftier and maybe a shade faster than Ford, but he’s not the powerful runner in short-yardage situations that either of Chattanooga’s two running backs from last season—Ailym Ford or Gino Appleberry—were. Davis has put together strong performances on the ground each of the past couple of games, rushing for 100 more yards in each of the past couple of contests.

His first 100-yard effort this season came just a couple of weeks ago against Portland State, as he gained 118 yards on the ground in what was a 45-30 home win. He posted 22 carries for UTC, which included a touchdown. In last Saturday’s win at ETSU, Davis crossed the 100-yard threshold on the Mocs’ final drive of the afternoon, capping his day with a 1-yard scoring plunge with just 43 seconds remaining, helping the Mocs secure the all-important 17-10 SoCon road win. His 103-yard and one touchdown performance against ETSU came on 24 carries.

All told, in the past couple of ballgames for Chattanooga, Davis has rushed it 46 times for 229 yards and a pair of scores. A large chunk of his 362 rushing yards this season have come in each of the past couple of games, as the Mocs have been a more dedicated ground unit. Set to team with Davis as a part of UTC’s running back-by-committee ground attack Saturday will be both Justus Durant (20 rush att, 58 yds, 1 TD, 2.9 YPC) and Lance Jackson (16 rush att, 29 yds).

Like Davis, Durant has good speed and is the less physical runner of the two, but slightly more dangerous on the edge with his speed and ability to go to A-to-B in a hurry. Durant is in his first season with Chattanooga after transferring in from NCAA Division II Gulf South Conference Member Shorter. During his time as the running back at Shorter, Durant posted 1,369 career rushing yards and 13 scores in 21-career games.

Chattanooga always has had one of the top offensive lines in the Southern Conference during Rusty Wright’s six seasons as the head coach, and that is backed up the 9,291 rushing yards in Wright’s 57-career games as the UTC head coach. Over the past couple of campaigns, however, the Mocs have evolved into more of a pass-blocking unit.

Anchoring the unit this season has been one of the best centers in FCS football, in Reid Williams, who is a prime candidate to win the SoCon’s prestigious Jacobs Blocking Award, which is given to the SoCon’s best offensive lineman at the end of each season. Williams is one of the most experienced players on UTC’s entire roster, as he has 27-career starts heading into Saturday’s contest, which is third-most overall on the team. The Mocs boasts three of the past four Jacobs Blocking Award winners.

The starting trio of the center Williams, right tackle Dave Monnot III and left tackle Almarion Crim have combined to start 17 of the past 18 games for UTC along the offensive front, dating back to the season opener of the 2023 campaign against North Alabama. Left guard Tyrell Ragland and right guard BJ Ragland round out the projected starting five along the offensive front heading into Saturday’s contest.

All told, the Mocs’ offense enters Saturday’s contest averaging 17.8 PPG and 355.4 YPG, which is obviously skewed by that season-opening loss at Tennessee.

Chattanooga’s defensive unit is one that is about no frills, and you know what you’re going to get from the unit when they strap it up on Saturday afternoons. In fact, over the past 15 seasons, the Mocs have been the league’s best defense more often than they haven’t been, having paced the league in total defense in eight of the previous 15 campaigns coming into the 2023 season. That dates to Russ Huesman’s first season at the helm in 2009. Huesman, who is the current head coach at perennial FCS power Richmond, was the coach that took the Mocs from the doormat of the SoCon when he took over in the winter of 2008 to the top of the SoCon and perennial regular season and FCS playoff bid contenders for the foreseeable future in just second season on the job at his alma mater.

Wright’s defenses have managed to follow a similar course since he took over 2019, and that shouldn’t be a huge shocker being that Rusty Wright was a Russ Huesman top assistant at one time.

For the Mocs, it usually involves a defensive front that routinely ranks among the elite in all of FCS football, and that’s the same tune to the same song this season, as Chattanooga has another star-studded cast along its defensive front, which is made up by a pair of veterans that have worn the UTC Blue and Gold for their entire careers, while the other two starters along the defensive front have added via the transfer portal.

Leading the way along the UTC front line is nose tackle Marlon Taylor (11 tackles, 2.0 TFL, 1.0 sack), who was the SoCon’s Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. Taylor will team with Quay Wiggles (6 tackles) along Chattanooga’s defensive front. It will be arguably the best two defensive tackles the Paladin offensive line has faced since it opened the season at Ole Miss last month. If Taylor should eventually be selected as the postseason SoCon Defensive Player of the Year to match his preseason billing, he would be the 10^th Mocs player in the past 16 seasons to receive the honor.

Taylor would join a healthy list of talented Mocs players to don the Blue and Gold over the past 15 years, including DE Josh Beard (2009), DE Davis Tull (2012, ’13 and ’14), DE Keionta Davis (2016), DT Isaiah Mack (2018), DL Devonnsha Maxwell (2021) and EDGE Jay Person (2022 and ’23). At least one individual on the Mocs’ defense—usually a defensive lineman, although not always—has finished the season as the league leader in sacks in every season since 2018. So far this season, Furman’s own nose tackle—Xavier Stephens—sits atop the sacks leaderboard with four quarterback takedowns this season.

Due to the outstanding defensive fronts the Mocs produce seemingly with produce with each flip of the calendar over the past 15 years, it’s not uncommon to see Chattanooga leading the league in total sacks at the end of each season either. Chattanooga has racked up a total of 111 quarterback takedowns since the start of the 2021 season, including having registered eight this season through the first five games.

Rounding out the starters along the defensive front on the perimeter are both senior defensive end Chris Victor (24 tackles, 2.0 TFL, 0.5 sack), as well as grad transfer Joseph Barkhole (13 tackles, 3.0 TFL, 1.5 sack) out of Louisiana-Monroe, as he will start as the Mocs primary pass-rusher off the edge.

Chattanooga is also solid at linebacker this season, having returned a pair of veterans, in Alex Mitchell (40 tackles,) and Kameron Brown (15 tackles, 0.5 TFL, 1 INT, 2 PBUs). Both are seniors, with Mithcell having been a starter last season and he’s now in his third season seeing significant time at LB for UTC. Mitchell will be making his 16^th start with Chattanooga on Saturday, including his projected 11^th-straight start.

Mitchell’s 30 tackles currently lead the team, as do his five tackles behind the line of scrimmage. His 30 stops also ranks him fifth overall in the Southern Conference this season. Kobe Joseph (15 tackles, 1.0 TFL, 1.0 sack, 1 INT, 1 PBU), who transferred in from Harvard just a couple of years ago, will also see his share of time in the lineup on Saturday against the Paladins.

In the secondary, Chattanooga employs the services of five DBs, including three safeties. While all three safeties sport a wealth of maturity and experience suiting up for the Mocs, Chattanooga has two new starters at the cornerback positions this season.

Safeties Jordan Walker (29 tackles, 1.0 TFL, 4 PBUs), Reuben Lowery III (29 tackles, 3.5 TFL, 1 INT, 1 PBU), and Josh Battle (27 tackles, 1.0 TFL, 2 PBUs) have combined to make 74-career starts on the back end of the Chattanooga defense entering Saturday’s clash with the Paladins. Walker’s 26 starts account for the most among that trio of safeties, while Battle sports 25-career starts, and Lowery III has 23.

All three made one of the two preseason all-league teams entering 2024, with Lowery III slated to reach a milestone on Saturday against the Paladins, as it will be his 40^th-career game for UTC. He tied a career-high tackles total earlier this season against Mercer with nine tackles. He has two-career INTs, with one returned for a touchdown against Wofford back in 2022 and the other came earlier this season against Portland State.

Rounding out the starters on the defensive side of the football Saturday for UTC will be two new starters at the respective cornerback spots, in freshman Beni Mwamba (9 tackles, 2 INTs, 1 PBU), as well as junior D’Arco Perkins-McAllister (19 tackles, 1.0 TFL, 3 PBUs). Mwamba has his first two career INTs to seal wins each of the past two weeks against ETSU and Portland State. Perkins McAllister is slated to make his fifth career start for the Mocs Saturday against the Paladins, as he is in his first season with UTC since transferring in from New Mexico.

All told, the Mocs enter Saturday’s contest vs. the Paladins allowing 28.6 PPG (7^th in SoCon), 416.8 YPG (7^th in SoCon), 183.0 YPG on the ground (7^th in SoCon) and 233.8 YPG through the air (7^th in SoCon). Like Furman, most of those stats are skewed by that season opening loss at Tennessee.

The Paladins come into Saturday’s contest with the Mocs as a football team seemingly on the rise in many ways. A young football team showed itself something last Saturday with their win on the road at The Citadel, and with the game in doubt with for 52 minutes on Saturday, the Paladins dug deep and found a way to win.

Furman’s defense kept it in the game until its offense could get its bearings. Furman head coach Clay Hendrix has decided to make Trey Hedden () his starter under center, and he’s shown he has some big arm talent and potential to be a star not only in the SoCon, but in all of FCS football. He’s also still learning, and prone to young quarterback mistakes, however, he was solid under center Saturday against the Bulldogs, playing his best half of football yet as a Paladin in the second half of that contest.

Hedden is blessed with one of the more underrated wide receiving units in the SoCon and that is having played each of the past couple of games without one of the best pass-catchers in the SoCon—Joshua Harris (13 rec, 257 yds, 2 TDs, 19.7 YPR)—who is suspended for undisclosed reasons. It’s been receiver-by-committee in many ways for the Paladins as of late.  Eleven different receivers or tight ends have caught at least one pass so far this season for the Paladins.

A majority of Hedden’s options in the passing game, however, have been underclassmen. Junior Ben Ferguson (15 rec, 266 yds, 2 TDs, 17.3 YPR) and Colton Hinton (22 rec, 199 yds, 2 TDs, 9.05 YPR) have been the most reliable options through the air this season, but others like redshirt sophomore Ethan Harris (3 rec, 31 yds, 10.3 YPR),  junior John Holbrook (4 rec, 56 yds, 14.0 YPR),  true freshman Jackson Pryor (4 rec, 113 yds, 1 TD, 28.2 YPR), redshirt freshman tight end Brock Chappell (11 rec, 136 yds, 1 TD, 12.4 YPR), true freshman Devin Hester Jr. (7 rec, 70 yds, 10.0 YPR), and redshirt freshman Ja’Keith Hamilton (3 rec, 0 yds)  have provided a litany of options in the passing attack. It’s the one area the Paladins are markedly better this season on the offensive side of the football than in 2023. Pryor’s six-yard scoring catch vs. The Bulldogs was his first scoring catch of his Furman career.

It’s been a stark contrast when trying to run the ball, as the Paladins finished the 17-16 win against The Citadel last Saturday with just 28 yards on 24 attempts—the lowest total since 1975. The last time the Paladins finished with less than 50 yards rushing came in 2001 against Appalachian State in a 28-22 home win. It was a day that will Furman’s star running back Louis Ivory had predicted during an interview in the leadup to that contest that he would rush for 150 yards against the Mountaineers to set the school’s new all-time rushing record, however, the Paladins as a team ended the day with just 35 yards on 30 attempts as a team, yet found a way to win the game.

Furman’s ground efforts this season have been primarily led by Grant Robinson (43 rush att, 111 yds, 2 TDs, 2.1 YPC) and Myion Hicks (42 rush att, 176 yds, 1 TD, 4.2 YPC), but both Bailor Hughes (3 rush att, 8 yds, 2.6 YPC) and true freshman Gavin Hall (16 rush att, 91 yds, 1 TD, 5.7 ypc) have seen spot duty.

The Paladins struggles running the football have a lot to do with not having a quarterback like Huff, blessed with the overall running talent, as well as having to field nearly an entirely new offensive line as opposed to the past couple of seasons. The one veteran that remains along the offensive line that has seen the most starts in his career along that Paladin offensive front prior to this season is left guard Luke Petit.

The all-conference guard is slated to start for the 11^th time Saturday against the Mocs. He will joined up front by redshirt freshman center Chris Luna, redshirt junior right guard Ryan Lamb, redshirt sophomore left tackle Eli Brasher and redshirt senior right tackle Blake Hundley.

All told, the Paladins enter Saturday’s contest against the Mocs averaging 21.8 PPG and 328.0 YPG of total offense. The Paladins average 246 yards through the air, with just an average of 82 yards on the ground through the first five games this season. The Paladins have surrendered 15 sacks this season, with five coming in last Saturday’s triumph at The Citadel.

Defensively, the Paladins have been solid defending the pass through the first five games but have struggled to stop the run for a large majority of the season. Furman enters the battle against the Mocs surrendering 199.2 YPG on the ground, which ranks seventh in the league. Furman is also giving up 203 through the air, as well as 31.0 PPG, with much of those totals having been skewed by the lopsided season-opening loss. Collectively, the Furman defensive unit has posted 10 sacks this season, intercepted five passes and have recovered a fumble. Furman’s special teams unit also has a blocked field goal, which came in a 48-7 home win over Stetson last month.

Having said that, the Paladins have been solid along the defensive front all season, especially up the middle, and if there is a defining trait as a strength for the Furman defense this season, it’s been the ability of the defensive front.

Leading the defensive front four have been a recognizable cast of characters, with Xavier Stephens (17 tackles, 4.0 TFL, 4.0 sacks) at nose tackle, as well as veteran defensive end Jeremiah Jackson. The Bulldogs were able to get little if any penetration up the middle in the running game last week, however, the Mocs are much larger along their offensive front, and that will provide a bit more of challenge this Saturday, as opposed to last week’s contest against The Citadel. Malachi Harrison will start at defensive tackle Saturday, and he’s done a nice job of providing support for both Jackson and Stephens on the interior.

Linebacker is going to be a strength anytime you have a pair of strong performers like senior preseason All-SoCon selections Luke Clark (23 tackles, 4.5 TFL, 2.0 sacks, 1 INT, 11 QBHs, 1 FF) at ‘bandit’ and senior Evan DiMaggio (44 tackles, 3.0 TFL, 1 INT, 5 PBUs) at middle linebacker. Both Clark and DiMaggio were constantly in the running lanes to fill a gap or applying pressure to Bulldogs quarterback Jonathan Bennett in last Saturday’s road win. In fact, Clark finished off an impressive worksheet that included seven quarterback pressures and one sack.

Outside of DiMaggio and Clark, however, the Paladins are especially inexperienced at both ‘spur’ and weakside linebacker, as Brandt Babin () and Raleigh Herbert (15 tackles) have combined to start just six times in their Paladin careers, with Babin having four of those starts, and Herbert just two. Herbert returned to the starting lineup last Saturday for the first time in a few weeks since suffering an injury in Furman’s loss to Charleston Southern.

The greenest area in a pasture full of some hue of that same color of grass on the defensive side of the ball is the secondary—in other words the most inexperienced of the inexperienced. The Paladins lost another player from that unit last Saturday, in redshirt freshman Jaylan Moson (20 tackles, 1.0 TFL, 1 INT) at corner, as on his game-winning INT against The Citadel suffered an upper body injury that will cost him to miss likely the entire remainder of the season.

The Paladins have leaned on strong safety Caleb Williams (27 tackles, 2.0 TFL, 3 PBUs) and Tre’ McCloud (31 tackles, 1.0 TFL, 2 PBUs) for run support this season, and both are adjusting to their starting roles nicely. Billy Lewis (10 tackles, 2 INTs, 2 PBUs), who picked off two passes in the earlier win over Stetson, has supplemented Williams at strong safety nicely and has a bright future ahead. Hysan Dalton (6 tackles, 1 PBU) and Maurice Perkins (22 tackles, 2.5 TFL, 1.0 sack, 2 PBUs, 1 FF) will start at the two cornerback spots Saturday. If Dalton should start Saturday against the Mocs, it would mark Furman’s 16^th different first-time starter on defense this season.

Prediction: This game will be close and low scoring as that has been a trend in league games so far this season. In the end, the Mocs’ experience will pay off as Chattanooga claims a 21-17 road win over Furman to claim their third-straight win and end Furman’s three-game winning streak in the series.

No. 23 Chattanooga 21, Furman 17