Gonzales and Western Carolina Torch Record Books in Win Over Furman
The 2024 season has had its share of strange and mostly negative occurrences for Furman's football program, and the latest came Saturday against Western Carolina, which handed Furman as thorough of a beating as they have had since the season-opening setback vs. Ole Miss (L, 0-76), on what turned out to be a record-setting Homecoming Saturday for all the wrong reasons, as the visiting Catamounts rolled to a 52-20 win over the Paladins before a crowd of 9,987 fans on-hand at Paladin Stadium.
Cole Gonzales passed for a SoCon record 620 yards and five touchdowns, as WCU rolled up a league record 801 yards of total offense en route to leading to the historic day for the visitors.
The Paladins were never in the game, and it was quite apparent from the opening drive of the game of Saturday's "Battle for Purple Supremacy" that the game was going to be a very one-sided contest, as it took WCU just three plays to cover the opening 75 yards to put their first of seven TDs on Saturday, with six of those coming via the air.
Furman has now been outscored 93-30 over the past two Saturdays against SoCon Opposition at Paladin Stadium.
The 93 points are the most ever given up in back-to-back home games at Paladin Stadium, and the combined 63-point margin of victory by both Chattanooga (41-10) and Western Carolina (52-20) over a two-week span also is a standard for margin of victory in Furman's home facility in back-to-back home games in the same season.
It also marks the first time since 2016 the Paladins have lost back-to-back home games, which saw the Paladins in the middle of a six-game losing streak in contiguous seasons, which also included losses in the Paladins final two home games of the 2015 campaign.
The Catamounts snapped a two-game losing skid in the series against the Paladins, dating back to a 43-42 win in Cullowhee in Kerwin Bell's first season as the head coach of Western Carolina back in 2021. Bell evened his record to 2-2 all-time against the Paladins.
WCU registered its seventh win all-time in Greenville, and now have the second-most wins at Furman among Southern Conference foes, with only Chattanooga's eight wins in Greenville accounting for more by a SoCon foe. Interestingly, it was just the third win by Western Carolina in Greenville since 1993, with the other two coming in 1994 and 2014.
The Catamounts outgained Furman 801-294 in total offense, with 620 of that coming through the air. The Paladins failed to reach at least 300 yards of total offense for the fourth time this season, including the third-straight game. In fact, the Paladins have yet to reach 300 yards of total offense against a Southern Conference opposition this season.
Gonzales' passing total marked the seventh-highest passing mark in FCS Football history and is also a Southern Conference record for single-game passing yards. He finished the day connecting on 35-of-55 passes for 620 yards and five scores, without an INT. Meanwhile, backup Taron Dickens added one completion for 32 yards and a touchdown. The combined 652 passing yards by the two QBs is a SoCon record.
Furman's Trey Hedden finished the day connecting on 22-of-34 passes for 239 yards, with two TDs and an INT. Gonzales had several favorite targets in a game in which he passed for such a gaudy passing total, with Isaiah Johnson hauling in six passes for 117 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while Zion Booker hauled in eight passes for 103 yards and one score.
Jai Boyd also hauled in three passes for 102 yards. Malik Knight had two catches for 69 yards and a score, while Branson Adams had two catches for 48 yards, which included a 49-yard scoring catch out of the WCU backfield.
Hedden's favorite target in the passing attack was Colton Hinton, who hauled in nine passes for 114 yards, while his two touchdown tosses went to true freshman Jackson Pryor and John Holbrook, with both equaling three yards in distance.
The nine catches for 114 yards were both career highs for Hinton. For Pryor, it was his second-career scoring catch as a Paladin wideout, while Holbrook hauled in his first as a Paladin. Hinton finished the game with 293 all-purpose yards, which includes 162 kick return yards, with his 96-yard return in the second quarter marking the first by a Paladin since Wayne Anderson Jr. returned a kick 97 yards against Western Carolina back in 2022.
WCU finished the contest with an 149-55 advantage in rushing yards, with Branson Adams pacing the Catamount ground game with 70 yards on nine carries. Patrick Boyd Jr. finished the contest with 41 yards on three rush attempts, while Jalynn Williams rushed four times for 39 yards and a score.
Furman was led on the ground by Grant Robinson, who rushed for 23 yards on nine carries, while Myion Hicks added 22 yards on five attempts before leaving with an injury.
Defensively, the Catamounts posted five sacks and were led by Hayward McQueen, who finished with 11 tackles, three tackles-for-loss, half-a-sack and had a pass breakup.
Furman finished the contest with four sacks and were led by senior linebacker Evan DiMaggio, who finished with a game-high 14 tackles, two sacks and two tackles-for-loss.
The 32-point win by WCU over the Paladins marked the second-largest win by the Catamounts in the 52 meetings between the two teams, with only the 38-point win by the Catamounts in 2015 (48-10) at EJ Whitmire Stadium marking a bigger margin of victory. The Paladins hold a 36-14-2 all-time series edge, as the Catamounts improved to 7-19-1 all-time in Greenville.
The 32-point home loss by the Paladins is the second largest home defeat in the 44-year history of the facility, with only the 45-0 win by Samford on Homecoming eclipsing that margin. The 52 points scored by Western Carolina are tied for the second-most by a visiting foe, along with Kennesaw State (52 in 2016), Appalachian State (52 in 2009) and The Citadel (52 in 1994). Only ETSU's 58 points in a 58-28 win over Furman in 1997 eclipses that that total.
Looking Ahead...
With the win, the Catamounts improve to 4-3 overall and remain unbeaten in Southern Conference play at 3-0. The Paladins fell to 2-5 overall and 1-2 in league play. The Catamounts will return to league play Saturday when they travel to Mercer, while Furman will have the weekend off before heading to VMI in a couple of weeks for a 1:30 p.m. kickoff against the Keydets at Foster Stadium.
The Catamounts and Bears are set for a 1:30 p.m. EST kickoff in what is a monumental SoCon tilt in a game that could go a long way in deciding the league championship race. With Saturday's 32-point win, coupled with then No. 7 Mercer's 55-35 setback at Samford, the Catamounts now sit in sole possession of first place atop the SoCon standings heading into the final week of October.
The Catamounts joined the SoCon as an official member in 1976 and have never won a Southern Conference title. When the Catamounts and Bears meet this coming Saturday, it will be a unique game between a pair of teams that have never won a Southern Conference regular-season title, with Mercer only having resurrected its football program following a 72-year hiatus 11 years ago and joined the SoCon a decade ago.
The Bears took a major step as a program last season, breaking through and not only advancing to the FCS postseason, but also winning a game in the postseason, as the Bears posted a 17-7 win over Gardner-Webb at Five Star Stadium last season. In terms of the Western Carolina-Mercer series, it's been one that has been owned by the Bears since Mercer joined the Southern Conference back in 2014.
The Bears have won eight of the 10 meetings between the two and have won the previous eight clashes between the two, including going to Cullowhee and claiming what was a 45-38 game last season. The Bears would intercept five Cole Gonzales passes in that game.
With Western Carolina's massive win in Greenville this past Saturday, the Catamounts are back in the FCS Top 25, ranked No. 24, while Mercer dropped from No. 7 to No. 13 with its first setback of the season.
Furman will look to rebound in a couple of weeks against a VMI team that heads into Saturday's clash with Chattanooga looking for its first win of the season, as the Keydets are off to an 0-7 start, including an 0-4 mark in Southern Conference action.
The Keydets last defeated Furman in Lexington back in the spring of 2021 (COVID-19 season) as VMI claimed a 14-13 win over the Paladins in Lexington. That win helped ignite what was a run to VMI's first Southern Conference title since 1979. Furman has won at least three games in every season since 1973.
How It Happened:
Though leading just 17-6 at the half, one glance at the stats sheet and it would have appeared that the Catamounts left points on the field in the opening half of play, as Western Carolina went to the half with a whopping 394-61 advantage in total yards. Back-to-back turnovers in the opening frame helped keep the margin closer in the opening frame.
The Catamounts took the opening kickoff and needed just three plays to cover the 75 yards and took an early 7-0 lead following Isaiah Johnson's 15-yard catch down the near sideline at the 14-minute mark of the opening quarter. The Catamounts were put in good position when a 56-yard pitch-and-catch from Gonzales-to-Jai Boyd, which put the Catamounts at the Furman 34 on the opening play from scrimmage.
Those two first quarter turnovers would at least delay the inevitable for a little while for the Paladins, and it wouldn't be until early in the second quarter when the Catamounts would find the end zone for the second time, as Gonzales found Isaiah Johnson on a 62-yard scoring strike with 9:25 left in the half. The score came after the Paladins had a little momentum, having forced a WCU punt, however, a roughing the punter penalty on 4th-and-6 gave the Catamounts and automatic first down. Gonzales made it 14-0 on the next play with his bomb to Johnson.
Following the score, Furman's Colton Hinton electrified the Paladin homecoming crowd briefly, returning Paxton Robertson's kickoff 96 yards for a score, however, Ian Williams missed the PAT, leaving the score 14-6.
The final points of the opening frame would be provided by Robertson, who connected on a 26-yard field goal with two seconds left in the half, as the Catamounts went to the half holding the 17-6 lead.
The Paladins got the ball to open the second half, however, couldn't get anything going and were forced to punt.
Western Carolina, meanwhile, started the second half much like it started the game by getting on the board. WCU covered 76 yards in eight plays, with DeAndre Tamarez capping the scoring drive with a 23-yard scoring catch over the middle, as the Paladin defense parted like the Red Sea, and the Catamounts assumed the 24-6 lead with 11:07 left in the quarter.
Western's lone rushing score of the day would come later in the quarter, as Jalynn Williams scored on a 4-yard run to make it 31-6 following Robertson's PAT with 4:31 left in the third.
The Paladins would then put together their most successful offensive drive of the day, as John Holbrook would haul in his first scoring pass as a Paladin on a three-yard slant from true freshman quarterback Trey Hedden, making it a 31-13 game with six seconds left in the third.
However, the Catamounts would quickly restore order in the fourth quarter, as Gonzales continued to fatten his passing totals. He 20-yard scoring pass to Zion Booker in the right corner of the end zone, as Booker went up the ladder to come down with a beautiful scoring catch made it 38-13 and concluded a short five-play, 75-yard drive with 13:17 left.
Gonzales would cap his monster day with just under six minutes remaining, as he helped engineer an impressive nine-play, 99-yard drive, which was capped by running back Branson Adams, who hauled in a 48-yard scoring pass out of the backfield with 5:40 remaining. That made it 45-13.
Furman would tack on its final score of the game with 2:57 remaining, as Hedden hooked up with true freshman wideout Jackson Pryor for a 3-yard scoring connection to make it a 45-20 game, concluding what was a nine-play, 79-yard drive.
That probably should have been the end of the scoring, however, it wasn't. In contrast to Chattanooga, who the week before took a knee well inside Furman territory and didn't throw the ball much after Chase Artopoeus turned over the reins of the offense to backup Luke Schomburg in the fourth quarter of Chattanooga's 41-10 win over the Paladins a week earlier at Paladin Stadium, however, the Catamounts didn't feel their 25-point lead was safe with less than two minutes left.
After Furman's failed onsides kick attempt and instead of going into the victory formation with the game well in hand and Gonzales icing his throwing arm, the Catamounts opted to dial up one more deep ball for good measure, as backup Taron Dickens found Malik Knight on a 32-yard scoring pass, as Knight showed off his tremendous athleticism, high-pointing the ball and coming down with it over the outstretched arms of Maurice Perkins to make it 52-20 with 1:57 left.
It was noted in the press conference that, head coach Clay Hendrix made known his feelings to Kerwin Bell he wasn't happy about how the final couple of minutes were handled with the result well in hand.
That aside, Western Carolina looks like a team on a mission at this point in the season, and with an improved defense, will have a say on how the Southern Conference race ends up shaping up next month. With five teams still in contention, it certainly creates an exciting race to the finish line.
Furman's 2024 Calendar Year
Feb. 9, 2024--Defensive tackle Bryce Stanfield tragically passes away from pulmonary embolism just prior to the start of spring practice.
July 26, 2024--Furman picked second behind Chattanooga at SoCon media day, despite having to replace 37 of 44 from its two-deep in 2023. Furman came into the season having been just one of three programs to have posted double-digit wins in each of the previous two seasons, joining South Dakota State and North Dakota State in that esteemed category.
Aug. 31, 2024--Ole Miss hands Furman's it's worst loss since 1955, defeating the Paladins, 76-0, in Oxford. The Paladins surrendered a school-record 772 yards of offense to the Rebels in the season-opening setback.
Sept. 7, 2024--Furman loses home opener, 24-21, to Charleston Southern...The Paladins also lose Florida State graduate transfer tight end Joshua Burrell for an extended amount of time due to injury. The loss ended an 11-game winning streak at home for Furman. Paladin true freshman Trey Hedden starts his first game under center.
Sept. 20, 2024--Furman finds out it will be without arguably its best player for the rest of the season, as wide receiver Joshua Harris is brought up on criminal charges for voyeurism in an on-campus incident.
Sept. 27, 2024--Hurricane Helene rips through Upstate South Carolina and Western North Carolina, causing extensive damage and power outages and as a result, Furman's slated SoCon opener with Samford the following day has to be postponed and will likely end up being canceled.
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