Furman and Campbell Meet For The First Time Saturday

Furman (1-1, 0-0 SoCon) at Campbell (0-2, 0-1 CAA)

3:30 P.M. EST/Buies Creek, N.C./ Barker-Lane Stadium (5,500)

Paladins and Camels to Clash for the First Time in History

Previewing the Game:

Furman (1-1, 0-0 SoCon) is in its 120th season sponsoring a football program, and while it has played everyone throughout the southeast at least once in its history, which presents a unique situation Saturday when the Paladins do battle with Campbell (0-2, 0-1 CAA) for the first time in either of the two football legacies. 

The Paladins will also be facing their first road test of the 2025 season, which will be a different challenge in and of itself. Furman will also be looking to put behind it a 39-38 overtime loss in a game it held a 28-7 second quarter lead against Pioneer Football League member Presbyterian last Saturday.

Furman's 21-point blown lead ranks as the biggest lead surrendered since 1998, when The Citadel overcame a 21-0 hole to capture a 25-24 win over the Paladins on Homecoming on Oct. 17, 1998. The only larger deficit overcome since stats have been kept beginning in 1973 was the 1985 national title loss to Georgia Southern, as the Eagles overcame a 28-6 third quarter deficit to get a remarkable 44-42 win for the program's first of what would be six FCS crowns. 

In addition to its loss to the Blue Hose this past Saturday, the Paladins have also battled Campbell's fellow CAA rival William & Mary to open the 2025 campaign, downing the Tribe, 23-21, at Paladin Stadium in the season opener.

As for the Camels, they will enter the clash with the Paladins Saturday sporting an 0-2 mark, having posted losses to CAA preseason favorite Rhode Island (L, 20-31) and FBS member and local rival East Carolina (L, 3-56) to open the 2025 season.

For Campbell, who were picked 10th in the 16-team CAA in the preseason, Saturday's contest against the Paladins will mark the 2025 home opener at Barker-Lane Stadium. The Camels are led by head coach Braxton Harris, who is in his second season at the helm of the Campbell football program. 

Harris succeeded Mike Minter at the helm of the Camels football program in January of 2024, after completing a seismic rebuilding job at Houston Christian, leading the Crusaders to a 6-5 record in final season at the helm there. It was the Crusaders' first winning season in school history.

At Campbell, Harris is trying to build the same type of culture, and in his first season as the head coach of the Camels, Campbell finished just 3-9 overall and were 1-7 against league competition. The Camels are easier to judge by their near-upset of FCS ninth-ranked Rhode Island on the road rather than by their 56-3 loss at East Carolina this past Saturday, which also dropped the Camels to 0-13 all-time against FBS programs. 

Campbell is started its football rebirth in the Pioneer Football League some 17 years ago as a non-scholarship football program. After an 11-year membership in the Pioneer, the Camels opted to move to scholarship football, moving into the Big South Conference for the 2018 football season. The Camels spent five years in the Big South before becoming the 14th member of the CAA on July 1, 2023. This marks the 18th season for Campbell football since it made a return to the gridiron in 2008. 

The program originally existed from 1925-50, including being put on pause from 1940-45 due to World War II, and wouldn't be restarted until original plans were put into motion in 2004 and became a reality four years later. In now its 18th season since restarting the program, the Camels are 66-119 overall, with Saturday marking the 186th game since its resurrection.

One glance at this season's Camels roster might seem like a hodge-podge, and in this era of the transfer portal, you'd at least be partially correct. 

A collection of 44 transfers highlights a Camels roster that has used this framework to build its football program as a fast winner in its latter days as a Big South member as well as in its infancy in the CAA.  The Camels also have some pretty good experience on both sides of the football entering Saturday afternoon's battle with the Paladins, including 21 student-athletes who have already earned their degrees.  

On offense, the Camels feature an air raid attack, led by quarterback Kamden Sixkiller (35-of-58 passing, 265 yds, 1 TD, 0 INTs), who has a great name for a quarterback. Sixkiller is a redshirt sophomore quarterback and in his first season as the starter for the Camels, having played two seasons at McNeese State prior to his arrival in Buies Creek. 

He leads a Campbell offense that is an air raid attack, which leverages most of success as an "air raid" offense, which is similar to what the Paladins will see when they face off against Samford in the Southern Conference opener in a couple of weeks.

Having faced a pair of tough opponents to start the season, in FCS nationally ranked Rhode Island and FBS East Carolina, the Camels offense has been more "air" and less "raid" through the first couple of weeks of the 2025 season. 

The Camels generated just 268 yards in the season-opening loss at Rhode Island, and Sixkiller finished that contest by connecting on 17-of-33 passes for 144 yards and a touchdown against the Rams. In the setback to ECU, Sixkiller finished the contest connecting on 18-of-25 passes for 121 yards without an INT. 

Sixkiller leads a Camels offense that enters Saturday's contest averaging 11.5 PPG and 209.5 YPG. His top weapons in the skill positions include JJ Cowan (12 rush att, 62 yds, 5.2 YPC) at the running back position, while Barry Tate (7 rec, 36 yds, 5.1 YPR), Randall King (7 rec, 86 yds, 12.3 YPR), Mike Chandler II (6 rec, 28 yds, 4.7 YPR) and Spencer Jones (6 rec, 67 yds, 11.2 YPR) are the top options in the passing game. 

Of note on the offense, under then first-year head coach Braxton Harris last season, the Camels' 24 passing touchdowns during the 2024 season were tied for a program record. 

Chandler II, who was one of the leading weapons last season, is also the Camels' backup quarterback after transferring in from Lamar prior to the 2024 season. He finished the 2024 campaign with a team-best 505 rushing yards to go along with three touchdowns. He also finished the season, completing 86-of-161 pass attempts for 1,118 yards, with 12 TDs and six INTs.  He logged action in all 12 games for Campbell last season.

Wideout Randall King had a big freshman season for the Camels last season, as he ended the campaign by posting 413 receiving yards and six TDs last fall, garnering Third-Team Freshman All-America honors, according to Phil Steele's College Football Publication. 

The offensive lineman features a good mix of youth and veteran leadership, led by senior graduate right tackle Dante Jones. The Camels are big across the offensive front among their starting five, averaging 307 lbs along the offensive front, with the only player weighing less than 300 lbs across the starting front five being center Jayden Colvin, who weighs 290 lbs. 

On the defensive side of the football, the Camels are surrendering 43.5 PPG and 459.5 YPG, with those numbers obviously skewed by the game against East Carolina. 

Free safety JoJo Pace (12 tackles, 0.5 TFL) and middle linebacker Logan Livermon (12 tackles) are the two leaders on the defensive side of the ball through two games, while cornerback Brandon Guzman (9 tackles, 3 PBUs) might be the most talented player on the defensive side of the ball for the Camels. He was a preseason All-CAA Honorable Mention selection coming into the campaign. The Camels ranked 13th in the CAA in total defense (406.4 YPG) last season.