Clemson Defeats Furman in Regular-Season Finale

Furman true freshman wideout Evan James (photo courtesy of Furman athletics)

Clemson 45, Furman 10

CLEMSON, S.C.—Clemson senior quarterback Cade Klubnik passed for 159 yards and two scores, while true freshman backup signal-caller Chris Denson added 106 rushing yards with a passing TD and a rushing TD, as the Tigers became bowl eligible with a 45-10 win over Furman on Military Appreciation Day at Memorial Stadium.

With the win, Clemson improved to 6-5 overall heading into its regular-season finale next Saturday at South Carolina (4-7). Furman concludes its 2025 campaign at 6-6. 

Klubnik finished his final night in front of the home faithful connecting 9-of-15 passes for 159 yards and a pair of scores to notch his 25th all-time win as Clemson's starting signal-caller. The senior helped facilitate an offense that ended the night owning a 456-272 edge in total offense. The Tigers were efficient and balanced on offense, rolling up 237 yards and four TDs through the air, while posting 219 yards and a pair of scores on the ground.

Denson, a heralded freshman signal-caller out of the state of Florida by way of Plant City HS, finished his night rushing for 106 yards and a score on just six carries, which included the longest run of the night, covering a distance of 50 yards on Clemson's penultimate scoring drive of the evening. The Sunshine State product also added a perfect 4-for-4 passing night for 22 yards, including a four-yard scoring strike in the fourth quarter.

Furman sophomore quarterback Trey Hedden connected on 22-of-38 passes for 179 yards and a score, and in doing so, set a new Furman record for single-season passing yards (2,967), which was previously set by former Paladin legend Ingle Martin in Furman's run the FCS Semifinals in 2005, passing for 2,959 yards in 14 games. 

Senior graduate transfer Kerry King hauled in six passes for 71 yards, while freshman sensation Evan James added six grabs for 36 yards and had Furman's lone touchdown reception of the evening on a 19-yard catch off a delivery from Hedden in the third quarter.

A lot of Positives to Build on for Furman:

For the second-straight season, Furman was one of the youngest football teams in the Southern Conference, and at times that showed, while at others, it revealed what a bright future might be in store if head coach Clay Hendrix and staff are able to convince this group to stay together.

There is a bit of a different feeling, too, when this game--"the money game"--is played at the end of the season rather than at the start of one. 

There was a bit of a dent in the confidence of a young team in the 2024 season, which the team struggled to shake for much of the remainder of last season after opening up with a 76-0 loss at Ole Miss. The 45-10 loss to Clemson will give the staff and players film to learn from and get better from during the off-season, and the confidence of knowing they have come a long way as a football since that 2024 season opener in Oxford. 

"Well I think each game is a little different and I think the Ole Miss game no matter where we would have played them...with their talent and who they were...But now we're in a different place and we're such a different team now than we were in that first game a year ago and what I am most proud of with our guys is the progress we've made and we aren't where we want to be and we should have won a couple more games in my opinion and I thought we should have won a couple more last year," head coach Clay Hendrix said following Furman's loss to Clemson.

Two young players that are a part of those "positives" on both sides of the football slated to return are both wide receiver Evan James and defensive end Joshua Stoneking. Stoneking had an All-America worthy season as a redshirt freshman and not only has Furman come a long way, he himself added to what coach Hendrix talked about as a whole...he's seen a lot of improvement from the time he played in his first collegiate game as a true freshman in 2024 at Ole Miss until the 2025 season finale game at Clemson. Stoneking talked about what he gained most out of games such as these.

"It's 100% about getting experience and my freshman year I just played against VMI in garbage time and my very first full game against Ole Miss and it's experience and helping me build up my confidence and that definitely helped me for this game," Joshua Stoneking said after the game. 

Stoneking finished the night with six tackles, 3.0 tackles-for-loss and one sack. He finishes off the 2025 campaign with one of the best ever individual campaigns by a Paladin defensive lineman. He led the Paladins with a remarkable 79 tackles--remarkable because that's an abnormal number of tackles for a defensive lineman--to go with 23.0 tackles-for-loss and 14.5 sacks. 

His 23.0 tackles-for-loss rank as the third-most in program history in a single-season, trailing only Kelly Fletcher's 29 TFLs in 1989 and Bryan Dailer's 25.0 TFLs in 1997. 

Stoneking's 14.5 sacks rank him tied for fourth most in a single season in Furman football history along with the aforementioned Fletcher, who also posted 14.5 in 1988. 

On offense, Furman is slated to return Trey Hedden under center, who set the single-season passing yards total, as mentioned below, as well as dynamic wideout Evan James, who hauled in Furman's lone score of the night and finished off a record-setting freshman campaign with 65 catches for 796 yards and seven TDs, averaging 12.2 YPR. 

Furman's six wins means it finishes the season at .500 or better for the 39th time in the past 48 seasons, and the last two times the Paladins have won six games in a campaign under Clay Hendrix (2018 and '21), the Paladins have gone on to win eight more games the ensuing season. 

Furman is slated to return 15 starters, including 10 of 11 on the defensive side of the ball heading into the 2026 season. 

How It Happened:

Furman won the toss and deferred. Clemson center Ryan Linthicum gained a yard on the first carry, Clemson proceeded to move the ball right down the field, reaching the Furman 25.

Furman redshirt freshman defensive tackle Garrison Butler got good pressure up the middle force a 3^rd-and-2 and Furman stopped Adam Randall for a loss of two on the next play forcing a Nolan Hauser 45-yard field goal and a 3-0 Clemson lead with 12:17 left in the opening quarter.

Furman took the ball for the first time in the game at its own 25 following Hauser’s touchback. The Paladins would get two yards on a Ben Croasdale rush on first down before a completion on 2^nd-and-8 for no gain and a pass breakup by Aveion Terrell on third down that  forced Furman to call on specialist Ian Williams to come on and punt the ball away.

On Clemson’s next drive, the Tigers converted a 4^th-and-7 to keep the drive and after reaching the Furman 22 on a Cade Klubnik four-yard run, the senior signal-caller found senior wideout Antonio Williams for a 22-yard score and a 10-0 Clemson lead with 8:34 left in the opening quarter.

Clemson made it 17-0 when Tyler Brown scored a 21-yard touchdown on a reverse to make it 17-0, as the Tigers covered 80 yards in five plays with 4:43 remaining in the first.

Joshua Stoneking’s 14^th-and-a-half sack and 21^st tackle-for-loss on the season forced Clemson’s first punt of the night and gave Furman its best field position at its own 39.

Furman moved inside Clemson territory for the first time on its next drive, however, had to settle for an Ian Williams 53-yard field goal attempt, which sailed wide left. Clemson would take a 17-0 lead into the second quarter, and Furman facing a 4^th-and-2 at its own 47. Hedden was pressured tackled short of the yard marker to make and Furman turnover it over on downs at its own 46.

Two plays later, Klubnik found Williams for their second touchdown connection of the evening on a 35-yard hookup and a 24-0 Clemson lead with 14:15 left in the half,  

On Furman’s next possession, TJ Parker came through with a strip-sack on Hedden on a 3^rd-and-5 and the Tigers took over on the Furman 39. With 12:15 remaining the Tigers made a quarterback, as Klubnik exited and Chris Vizzina entered. 

On Vizzina’s first play, Furman committed a facemask infraction to give the Tigers the ball at the 23 following the penalty. Stoneking recorded his 22^nd tackle-for-loss on the season on the next play for a loss of four years, and after Clemson gained 13 yards on the next play, faced a 4th-and-1 at the Furman 14, but Adam Randall stopped for no gain, and the Paladins took over on downs.

Hedden was intercepted on the ensuing drive by Clemson linebacker Sammy Brown, who returned it to the Furman 22, setting up the Tigers offense in great field position once again. Six plays later the Tigers made it 31-0 on a Christian Betancur reception from Vizzina with 6:48 to play in the opening half.

Furman’s lone points of the half came with half-a-minute left, as Ian Williams booted through a 49-yard field goal to make it a 31-3 game.

In the second half, Furman drew first blood when Hedden found Evan James on a 19-yard scoring strike with 3:49 left in the third, making it a 31-10 Clemson lead. That’s how the two teams would enter the fourth quarter.

Early in the fourth quarter, Furman drove inside Clemson territory once again, however, Ian Williams missed his second field goal of the night—this time from 41 yards—as Clemson's 21-point advantage stayed intact with 10:18 remaining.

Midway through the fourth quarter Clemson freshman quarterback Chris Denson found tight end Logan Brooking for a touchdown, making it a 38-10 contest with 7:45 left. The drive needed just five plays to cover 75 yards, with Denson gaining 71 of those yards with his legs.

Denson and the Tigers tacked on one more score with nine seconds left on a 10-yard scamper before Furman's Devin Hester Jr. returned the kickoff 30 yards to his own 35 on Clemson's ensuing kickoff with three seconds remaining. Furman backup quarterback Carson Jones took a knee on the first play from scrimmage to run off the remaining three seconds on the clock.