With Montana State's 35-34 overtime win over Illinois State in the first-ever national title game played in Nashville, the 2025 FCS season has officially come to an end. In many ways, while there was much excitement for the product of FCS football itself, it was one that for the SoCon, was not one to be celebrated.
The 2025 SoCon football season was one that saw the league take a step back. From how it started, beginning with a pair of losses to non-scholarship Presbyterian College in weeks two and three by Mercer and Furman, respectively, setting a bad tone for the league moving forward.
The league can hopefully take some solace in the fact that the 2026 season will mark the first for Tennessee Tech as a league member, and that should at least provide some strength to the conference moving forward.
Following Furman's "almost" breakthrough in 2023, which saw the Paladins almost take down Montana in Missoula before losing a 35-28 overtime thriller, the league has seemingly gone backwards in strength over the past couple of seasons. Is that a result of attrition due to the transfer portal? Is it the roster limitations? Probably some of both, but whatever the case, the strength of the SoCon has seemed off each of the past couple of seasons.
Western Carolina continued to knock at the door of an FCS Playoff appearance and SoCon title under the leadership of Kerwin Bell, however, having to start the season without star quarterback and preseason SoCon Offensive Player of the Year Taron Dickens proved especially costly, and the Catamounts had no real margin for error the remainder of the season.
The Catamounts did give themselves a golden opportunity to claim their first league title in league history late in the season, as the two league unbeatens--Western Carolina (5-0) and No. 12 Mercer (6-0) met on Nov. 8, 2025, before a capacity crowd of 14,513 at EJ Whitmire Stadium to essentially decide the SoCon champion. A missed 33-yard effort as time expired by Marcus Trout was wide ride, and the Bears held on for an epic 49-47 in Cullowhee.
While the SoCon title hopes would slip through the fingers of WCU in the loss to Mercer, a week later with a 52-35 home loss to East Tennessee State in the Blue Ridge Border Battle would bring an end to any hopes of advancement into the FCS playoffs, meaning that for a second-straight season and for the fourth time in the past six seasons, the SoCon would have only one FCS Playoff participant.
ETSU and Wofford were arguably two of the top teams in the SoCon when the season ended, as the Terriers won five out of their final six games to finish the campaign with their best season since winning the league in 2019, while ETSU made it back-to-back seasons with a 7-5 record under a first-year head coach by winning their final four games of the season following a 3-5 start.
The Citadel added Air Force transfer Quentin Hayes late in the summer, and that should have been enough to put the Bulldogs in a potential spot to be a contender in the SoCon race this season, however, the Bulldogs themselves took a step back after posting a 5-7 record a year ago. The Bulldogs concluded the 2025 season with a 4-8 mark, including a 3-5 mark in league play.
The Military Classic of the South was arguably a high point of the season for the Bulldogs, as The Citadel scored 28 fourth quarter points to come from behind and stun VMI, 35-24, rolling a season-high 511 yards en route to a thrilling win before a crowd of 11,127 fans at Johnson-Hagood Stadium. However, it would unfortunately be the final win of the season for the Bulldogs, who closed out the season with losses to Ole Miss (L, 0-49), Wofford (L-14-16) and at East Tennessee State (L, 26-28).
Samford ended the season with a historically bad campaign by its standards. The 2022 SoCon champions finished just 1-11 after winning 11 games just three years ago. As a result of such a bade season, it was the end of the Chris Hatcher era in Homewood, as he was relieved of his duties prior to the conclusion of the season. Hatcher was fired after a 38-14 loss to Samford in the Bulldogs' final SoCon game of the season.
Hatcher finished out his career for at Samford, posting a 62-59 overall record in 11 seasons as the head coach, which included leading the to that magical 11-2, SoCon title-winning season back in 2022.
It will be interesting to see what happens in the off-season, as the portal window is much shorter, which will hopefully allow for less chaotic times for the league and for FCS Football as a whole.
Major Award Winners and Candidates
While the 2025 season is not one to be written about in terms of what the teams actually accomplished, it is one that is among the best in the history of the conference in terms of success for individual players.
There have been some great individual players and performances by players from the SoCon during its tradition-rich and praiseworthy history, however, perhaps not one that had so many players that put up so many big totals on both sides of the football.
On offense, it was a battle of a pair of quarterbacks that were worthy of the price of admission every time they took the field during the 2025 season, and it was somewhat ironic that, neither Western Carolina's redshirt sophomore Taron Dickens, nor Mercer's true freshman quarterback Braden Atkinson would even play in every game this past season for their respective teams.
Dickens would end up having a record-breaking season for the Catamounts and ended the campaign as the runner-up in voting for the Walter Payton Award to Youngstown State's Beau Brungard, who ended up garnering 28 first-place votes, while Dickens ended up earning 10.
Dickens' second-place finish in the Walter Payton Award race is the best ever recorded by a Catamount football player in of the FCS National Awards, which are voted on at the end of every football season.
Despite logging action in just nine of the team's 12 games this past season, Dickens led the FCS in passing yards-per-game (389.8 YPG), completion percentage (74.2%), total offensive yards per game (425.4 YPG), and touchdown passes (38).
Dickens finished the season helping Catamounts to a 7-2 mark as the starter under center for WCU and eclipsed the 300-yard passing mark a total of seven times in his nine games as the starting signal-caller, including finishing with 400 or more passing yards on four occasions and had 500 or more passing yards twice in 2025.
During the 2025 season alone Dickens helped account for four of the Top 13 individual passing performances during the
Atkinson ended up winning the STATS Perform Jerry Rice Award back in early December, and it was pretty much a slam dunk from the outset. A lot has seemingly happened since, however, as Atkinson announced that he would be entering the transfer portal not long after it was announced that his head coach, Mike Jacobs, would be moving on to take a new job as the new leader of the Toledo football program.
Though Atkinson didn't have the performance he wanted to close out the season in the opening round of the FCS Playoffs in a 47-0 home loss to South Dakota in the opening round of the playoffs, the season was still an overwhelming success for the freshman signal-caller.
He finished out his only season in Macon by connecting on 268-of-408 passes for 3,596 yards, with 34 TDs and 11 INTs.
Mercer would have two major award winners after Andrew Zock would end up claiming the Buck Buchanan Award, which is given to the top defensive performer in all of FCS Football, as it was announced on Jan. 3.
Zock's eventual award put an exclamation point his Mercer career with him being named as the nation's top defensive performer, and since the award debuted in 1995, which was won by former SoCon standout and Appalachian State legendary linebacker Dexter Coakley in back-to-back seasons, edge rushers/defensive ends have won the award six times, including each of the past six seasons.
Zock became just the second Southern Conference player to garner the award by beating out talented Furman defensive end Joshua Stoneking--the nation's leader in sacks (14.5) and tackles-for-loss (23.0)--finished second in the voting. The sophomore SoCon Defensive Player of the Year garnered 15 of a possible 56 first-place votes and garnered a total of 133 points.
Zock finished out his final season in the Mercer Orange and White by posting 46 tackles (24 solo), 20 tackles-for-loss, 11.5 sacks, 23 quarterback hurries, four pass breakups, four pass breakups,
Stoneking finished second in Buck Buchanan Award race, totaling 10 first-place votes, amassing 119 total points. Fordham linebacker James Coneway finished third in the voting, with 78 points.
The Raleigh, N.C. native and redshirt sophomore joins former Paladin standout and All-American linebacker Will Bouton, who also finished second in the race for the award back during the 2001 season, while also joining former running back and 2000 Walter Payton Award winner Louis Ivory as three of the most decorated Paladins in program history for their single-season performances in those respective campaigns.
Stoneking was the only SoCon player to finish out the 2025 season earning consensus first-team All-American honors. He was also nominated for the prestigious Blanchard-Rodgers Trophy given by the South Carolina Football Hall-of-Fame to the best college football player in the state each season. The award announcement will come in mid-April at the SC Football Hall-of-Fame's annual Hall-of-Fame banquet to announce the latest class of inductees from the Palmetto State.
Season-Ending Team Recaps:
Mercer (9-4, 8-0 SoCon):
It's never a good sign when a season starts like the 2025 campaign did. Once again, the 2025 SoCon Football season was one that ended up being heavily affected by mother nature, with weather issues throughout the first month of the season proving to be a headache in more ways than one.
When defending and eventual champion Mercer started its 2025 season in Huntsville, taking part in the annual FCS Classic, the fact that the game didn't count after having to be called a "no contest" due to lightning in the area on August 23, 2025, felt like an incredibly bad omen for head coach Mike Jacobs and his Bears.
That feeling would become a reality after just this past weekend, the Bears found themselves on the wrong end of a 47-0 playoff setback to South Dakota. It brought an abrupt end to what, had been a strong season after the first couple of weeks, which saw the Bears have the "no contest" game against UC Davis, as well as a shocking 15-10 loss to Presbyterian in the SoCon home opener before reeling off nine-straight wins and collecting a second-straight SoCon title.
Then came the Auburn game, which saw the Bears get out to an early 14-7 lead before eventually losing the game 62-17. While the scoreline was a little disappointing considering there were many fans and media members that felt the Bears could not only compete in that game but potentially win the game, however, the Bears would be outscored 55-3 over the remainder of the game. In fact, the Bears were outscored 102-3 in their final two games of the season.
Mercer's offense helped the Bears dominate the SoCon for to claim the crown for a second-straight season and will head into the 2025 season having won 18 of their last 19 SoCon games and have posted a 32-8 mark against SoCon foes since the start of the 2021 spring season.
Though the Bears saw an abrupt end to their playoff run with a 47-0 home loss to South Dakota at Five Star Stadium, they have still established themselves as the gold standard for SoCon football over the past five years.
Braden Atkinson picked up the STATS Perform Jerry Rice Award for his performance during the regular-season, which saw him finish out the season completing 268-of-408 passes for 3,596 yards, with 34 TDs and 11 INTs.
He threw six INTs over the final two weeks of the season, however, had thrown only five picks in eight starts prior to the final two games of the season. The Rice Award is given to the top freshman player in FCS football annually. Atkinson also picked up SoCon Freshman of the Year honors.
While Atkinson claimed the Rice Award in a landslide, Andrew Zock was named SoCon Defensive Player of the Year as well as being named a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award, which will be announced on Jan. 3 in Nashville. Zock was named as one of three finalists for the award last week, as he was joined by Furman's dynamic defensive end Joshua Stoneking, as well as Fordham linebacker James Conway.
The Bears were dominant defensively over the first nine games of the season, surrendering just 143 points over the first eight games of the season. However, the final four games saw the Bears give up 163 points, including surrendering 47 or more points in three of the final four games of the season.
Mike Jacobs was named the SoCon's Coach of the Year for the second year in a row, while 17 Bears were awarded with All-SoCon accolades, which included seven first-teamers. Running back CJ Miller, offensive lineman Xavier Jennings, wide receiver Adjatay Dabbs, defensive end Andrew Zock, linebacker Drew Clare, defensive back Kaleb Hutchinson, and place-kicker Reice Griffith rounded out the honorees.
With its back-to-back outright Southern Conference titles in 2024 and '25, the Bears became the first back-to-back outright SoCon champions since App State in 2008 and '09.
Finally, it will be a brand new start for Mercer football, as it was announced by Pete Thamel of ESPN on Dec. 10, 2025, that Mike Jacobs has agreed in principle to become the new head coach at Toledo.
Less than 48 hours later, Mercer had their guy to replace Jacobs in the former defensive coordinator Joel Taylor, who was hired away after doing big things in his second season at the helm of West Georgia's football program.
The Bears will also look a lot different in terms of key losses on both sides of the ball due to the transfer portal. Shortly after the conclusion of the season, it was announced that star defensive end and Buck Buchanan Award finalist Andrew Zock would be transferring, as well as star quarterback and Jerry Rice Award winner Braden Atkinson, leading rusher CJ Miller, and All-SoCon wideout Adonis McDaniel just to name ones that have already made their decision known that they wanted to continue their careers elsewhere.
The significant changes at least probably had something to do with the margin of outcome in the playoff loss to South Dakota, although it might not have prevented the overall result of the game.
Western Carolina (7-5, 6-2 SoCon):
It was the same story but a different season for Western Carolina football in the 2025 season. The Catamounts once again had one of the most electric offenses in FCS football and one of the worst defenses.
Balance that with a huge amount of adversity and you have what turned out to be yet another season that ended in disappointment for the Catamounts, which saw them on the wrong side of the FCS Playoffs, as well as coming up just short of winning that first-ever Southern Conference regular-season football crown.
The Catamounts were without record-breaking quarterback Taron Dickens for the first three games of the season, and that proved to be just enough to prevent the Catamounts from breaking through to make their first FCS Playoff appearance since the 1983, when WCU went all the way to the FCS National Title game.
Dickens set a new NCAA record in a 23-21 win over Wofford in the middle of the season, as he completed 50-straight passes between the end of the Samford game and the entire game against Wofford, as he connected on 47-consecutive throws in the win over the Terriers.
Dickens was named as one of three finalist for the prestigious Walter Payton Award, which will be awarded by STATS Perform for the 39th-consecutive season at the Woolworth Theater in Nashville on Jan. 3.
The sophomore quarterback from Miami has already announced his intent to enter the transfer portal following the season, although that can't officially be done until Jan. 2. He was named the SoCon Offensive Player of the Year for 2025 and finished the season as the nation's leader in total passing yards (3,508 yds), passing yards per game (389.8 YPG), completion percentage (74.2%), total offensive yards per game (425.4 YPG) and touchdown passes (38), which ranked as both school and single-season SoCon records.
Dickens will be joined by Youngstown State quarterback Beau Brungard and North Dakota State quarterback Cole Payton. Both Payton and Brungard saw their dreams of an FCS title come to an abrupt ending, with the Penguins and Bison both blowing leads in games against Yale and Illinois State.
The Catamounts finished the season ranking third in total offense (493.3 YPG), first in passing offense (355.7 YPG) and eighth in scoring offense (38.6 PPG).
It wasn't the offense that caused the Catamounts to falter in 2025. In fact, head coach Kerwin Bell and defensive coordinator Jerry Odom had reassured Catamount fans that this season's defense had an edge to it that in recent seasons, the unit had lacked. Somewhere between the end of fall preseason camp and the season opener against Gardner-Webb, the Catamounts lost that edge.
The Catamounts finished up the 2025 season ranking 120th out of 126 FCS program in total defense (459.8 YPG), 123rd in pass defense (277.0 YPG), 103rd in scoring defense (33.5 PPG) and 99th in rush defense (182.8 YPG).
With Dickens having to serve a three-game suspension coupled with a defense that was worse than a adequately prolific offense even without the Catamounts starting signal-caller, Western Carolina dropped home FCS games to both Gardner-Webb (L, 52-45) and Elon (L, 37-31), which was sandwiched by a road FBS game at Wake Forest (L,41-10).
Dickens' return to the lineup coincided with Western Carolina commencing to go on a six-game winning streak to put themselves back in the national rankings and conversations for an FCS Playoff bid, but what they really wanted was a SoCon title.
With a 5-0 start to league play, which was the best-ever start to SoCon play since joining the league in 1976, the Catamounts had two of their final three games at home and had a de facto league championship game at EJ Whitmire Stadium on Nov. 8, 2025 against Mercer.
All the dominoes had fallen into place to make what never been accomplished in nearly five decades as a league member a viable reality. The Catamounts started their six-game winning streak with a 50-35 home win over Samford before winning their final non-conference game against Campbell, 42-35, on the road in Buies Creek, as the Catamounts got a pair of huge passing performances from Dickens.
All told in his first two games of the season, the league's preseason Offensive Player of the Year has connected on 62-of-85 passes for 1,009 yards and 10 TDs without an INT! An incredible start for the redshirt sophomore in just two games in the 2025 season.
Then came the 47-straight passes (50 all together including the end of the Campbell game) against Wofford, as the Catamounts squeaked out a win on the road at Gibbs Stadium, 23-21. The Catamounts then followed with a blowout of Furman for a second-straight season in the one game the defense actually played decently, forcing five Furman turnovers on the day and holding the Paladins to just one late second quarter touchdown in a 52-7 win at EJ Whitmire Stadium.
Western would survive a strong effort from The Citadel in Charleston but managed to leave Johnson Hagood Stadium with a 45-38 win in that one. Following a Bye week, the Catamounts would claim a 35-28 win over Wofford to set up one of the biggest games in the history of Catamount football against Mercer.
The game would live up to being the Southern Conference Game of the Year, as the Catamounts would have a chance to win the game, however, the lead would change hands three times inside the final two minutes, but not a fourth, as Marcus Trout's 33-yard field goal attempt as time expired was wide right, and an epic contest which featured 96 points and 1,167 yards would go the way of No. 10 Mercer, 49-47.
Despite the loss, the Catamounts would likely make the FCS Playoffs with wins in the final two games at home against East Tennessee State and on the road at VMI.
However, like so many times in recent seasons, the Catamount defense let them down when they needed them the most, as the Bucs came to Cullowhee and won the Blue Ridge Border Battle by a score of 52-35, officially ending any hopes of a return for the playoffs for the Catamounts for the first time in 42 years.
The Bucs rolled up a ridiculous 638 yards of total offense and outscored the Catamounts 28-7 in the second half to come away with the key win. Taron Dickens took the field for the final time in front of the home faithful, as he connected on 33-of-48 passes for 426 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the losing effort.
The final game of the season could have
been an adventure at VMI, however, the Catamounts closed the 2025 season in
strong fashion, posting what was a 48-6 win on the road at VMI.
Dickens shined one final time in the
Catamount Purple and Gold, connecting on 28-of-40 passes for 330 yards and
three scores and added 32 rushing yards and another score on the ground before
exiting one final time as the Catamount quarterback midway through the final
quarter. The Catamounts dominated VMI in the regular-season finale, outgaining
the Keydets, 519-278, when it was all said and done.
The win over the Keydets would put the
Catamounts' final regular-season mark at 7-5 overall and 6-2 in league play,
matching the most wins in a Southern Conference season in program history.
The Catamounts had nine All-SoCon
performers, highlighted by Taron Dickens, who lived up to the preseason hype
and then some, as he was honored as the SoCon's Offensive Player of the Year.
The Catamounts had four players selected to the SoCon's first team, with
Dickens being joined by redshirt sophomore wideout James Tyre, senior return
specialist Dominic Dutton, and defensive back Ken Moore Jr..
Second team selections included three on
the offensive side of the ball, in offensive lineman Zach Watson, redshirt
junior wide receiver Malik Knight, redshirt freshman tight end Josiah Thomas
and redshirt freshman running back Markel Townsend, as well as true freshman
place-kicker Marcus Trout.
Dickens' honor as the league's top
offensive performer marked the second time a Catamount has claimed that honor
since joining the SoCon in 1977, as the redshirt sophomore quarterback joined
former Catamount quarterback Cole Gonzales in winning the league's top
offensive plaudit. Gonzales was named the SoCon's Offensive Player of the Year
in 2023.
East Tennessee State (7-5, 5-3 SoCon)
There was perhaps no team that ended the
season hotter than head coach Will Healy's East Tennessee State, but the
problem was the Bucs had already played themselves out of SoCon title
contention and postseason contention by the time ETSU started to put all the
puzzle pieces together.
Prior to ending the 2025 campaign with
four-straight wins, squandered opportunities and leads in games against West
Georgia, Mercer, Furman and Chattanooga would ultimately be enough to cost the
Bucs an FCS Playoff bid.
The Bucs entered 2025 season with a lot of new momentum and a new head coach intent on returning ETSU to the FCS postseason and championship winning ways for the first time since 2021. With the SoCon's biggest portal haul, along with arguably the most impressive one, there was a palpable buzz surrounding the ETSU football program heading into the 2025 season.
Part of that large portal grab included two high-profile quarterbacks coming on board, in North Carolina transfer Jacolby Criswell and Iowa transfer Cade McNamara, and the new head coach made it a point not to name a starter under center.
The Bucs started the season with a solid win in all three phases against Murray State, dominating the Racers with a 45-17 win. The opening game of the season would see the Bucs generate over 500 yards of total offense, as ETSU rolled up 572 yards of offense and scored its most points in a season-opener since 1987, as ETSU had little trouble of dispatching the Racers in the opener with relative ease.
At the center of the offensive explosion to open the season was 392 yards on the ground. Leading the way in the ground attack was Devontae Houston, who rushed for 128 yards on 14 carries and two touchdowns, averaging an impressive 6.8 yards-per-carry in the win.
The next week brought about a much more daunting task, as the Paladins were tasked with facing FBS power conference foe and college football playoff contender Tennessee.
The Vols would make easy work of the Bucs, blitzing ETSU, 72-17, in a game that that showed further separation between the two classifications of NCAA Division I football. The Vols would enjoy a 717-216 advantage in total offense, including a 259-49 advantage on the ground.
Joey Aguilar, who had been the quarterback for Appalachian State in the season opener against the Bucs a year earlier, was now under center for the Vols in game two in the 2025 season, and he would finish the afternoon 23-of-31 passing for 288 yards and a pair of scores before exiting the game at the half.
Both Cade McNamara and Jacolby Criswell combined to connect on 19-of-31 passing for 167 yards, with one touchdown and no INTs.
Week three presented the first of several heartbreakers for the Bucs in the 2025 season, with West Georgia doing the unthinkable, as the 25th-ranked Wolves took a second win of over a SoCon team in a three-week span to open the season, downing ETSU, 35-31, in come-from-behind fashion before 4,786 fans at University Stadium.
Unlike the meltdown at home vs, NDSU a year earlier, the latest collapse felt much different for the Bucs. It also signaled maybe the final best opportunity at a high-quality non-conference win for the league.
The Bucs had held as much as a 15-point lead early in the third quarter, as Devontae Houston's 11-yard scoring reception from quarterback Jacolby Criswell had staked ETSU to a 28-13 lead with 9:26 remaining in the third quarter. It would be the final touchdown of the night, as the only points the remainder of the night would be a Ewan Johnson 46-yard field goal with 4:07 left in the third, which would give the Bucs a 31-20 lead.
The timeline of the collapse in 2025 was similar to that of the one in '24 against the Bison. The final seven minutes of the game would prove to be the Bucs' undoing. First, UWG quarterback Davin Wydner found running back Latrelle Murrell out of the backfield for a 27-yard pitch-and-catch, cutting ETSU's lead to just three following a successful two-point conversion, making it a 31-28 game with 6:40 remaining.
On ETSU's ensuing possession, the Wolves would then force the ETSU offense to go three-and-out to get the ball back to their offense. However, after gaining one first down, it appeared the Bucs might have staved off the furious rally, as ETSU defensive back Jivon Oggs picked off his second pass of the season, which ended UWG's drives with just under two minutes remaining.
ETSU's offense then took the field looking to run out remaining time off the clock, however, the only problem was the Wolves still had two timeouts in their back pocket. The Wolves defense did its job, and good time management and use of those timeouts would give the ball back to the Wolves with just 42 seconds remaining.
Then, the unthinkable happened. On 2nd-and-10 from its own 44, Wydner found an unbelievably wide-open TJ Lockley for a 51-yard pass connection, getting the Wolves all the way to the ETSU 5 with time winding down. Without any timeouts, the Wolves rushed to the line of scrimmage and Wydner spiked the ball to stop the clock.
After an offsides infraction was flagged against the Bucs moved it to the 2, Wydner found wideout DeAndre Buchanan for a 2-yard scoring strike in the corner of the end zone, giving UWG a 35-31 lead with just 15 seconds remaining following the PAT. It was the first lead of the night for the Wolves.
At 1-2, the Bucs returned home to William B. Greene Jr. Stadium to face Elon in the fourth week of the season, and the Bucs would play solid throughout, notching their second-straight win over Elon in as many season, downing the Phoenix 26-16.
Powered by a strong defensive effort, which limited the Phoenix to less than 300 yards of total offense for the game, the Bucs held a 17-10 lead at the break, holding the Phoenix out of the end zone for most of the second half en route to the 10-point win. It was a Khalil Eichelberger scoring run with 7:37 remaining to take complete command of the game, assuming a 26-10 lead. The Phoenix would answer with an Isaiah Fuhrmann 11-yard run with just over six minutes left, however, Elon would miss the two-point conversion attempt, leaving the final margin at 10.
Next came the highly anticipated Southern Conference opener with No. 23 Mercer at William B. Greene Jr. Stadium, and things looked good for the Bucs after assuming a 10-point halftime lead, at 27-17. The Bucs, however, couldn't hold the advantage and would be outscored 21-7 over the final two quarters, as the Bears escaped with a 38-34 win.
Just like the game with West Georgia, the 23rd-ranked Bears would come storming back in the second half to steal a victory out of the jaws of defeat. The Bears relied heavily on their ground attack, which revolved around the running of CJ Miller, finishing the contest with 172 yards and a pair of scores on 29 attempts.
It was a big afternoon for ETSU quarterback Cade McNamara in defeat, however, as the former Iowa and Michigan signal-caller finished his afternoon by connecting on 30-of-46 passes for 398 yards, with four touchdowns and two INTs, accounting for the second-best passing game in program history.
His 30 pass completions in the game matched a program-best mark. The only better passing mark in the history of Bucs football came from Austin Herink, who threw for 434 yards in a loss at Furman during the 2017 season.
Following the SoCon-opening loss to the Bears, ETSU went looking for its first Southern Conference win at a place it had rarely been successful in Greenville, S.C., as the Bucs would face off against the Furman Paladins.
It would prove to be deja vu' all over again for the Bucs, which built a 22-7 lead on the first play of the second half, as Devontae Houston scampered 75 yards for a score. However, despite holding a two-score lead for the second-straight week to open Southern Conference play, it wouldn't be enough to prevent the same type of thing from happening, as the Paladins 24-unanswered points over the final 29:50 of game time en route to a 31-22 win.
Furman's win marked its 15th in 17 games played against ETSU at Paladin Stadium, and it marked the eighth in 10 meetings since the Bucs rejoined the SoCon back in 2016. The Paladins have now won 31 of 40 all-time meetings between the two foes.
Jacolby Criswell replaced Cade McNamara late in the opening half, and he would complete the game under center for the Bucs, putting together a solid afternoon of work under center, as finished the game connecting on 7-of-10 throws for 100 yards with one INT. The Paladins ended the contest by outgaining the Bucs, 500-362, in total offense.
Against VMI a week later and back in the friendly confines of William B. Greene Jr. Stadium, the Bucs would pick up their first SoCon win of the season, cruising to a 45-10 win over VMI.
ETSU would excel in all three phases of the game, but it was the defensive performance that most took note of. After surrendering 421 and 500 yards and a combined 69 points in its first two league tilts against Mercer and Furman, the Bucs dominated the proceedings on the defensive side of the ball, surrendering just 10 points, 82 total yards and only five first downs en route to the big mid-season win over the Keydets.
Then came a trip to arch-rival Chattanooga in a game that would likely serve as the most disheartening and most disappointing loss of the season for ETSU, and one that likely ended any hopes of an FCS playoff bid.
The Bucs fell to 3-5 overall and 1-3 in league play with a 42-38 loss in the Rail Rivalry game against Chattanooga. The loss marked the eighth-straight loss in the 'Rail Rivalry', as the railroad tie would not be going anywhere. It didn't appear that way midway through the fourth quarter, however, as ETSU held what was a 17-point lead, at 38-21, with 10:17 remaining in the game, following a Devontae Houston 49-yard scoring scamper.
However, the Mocs would come back to score 21 points in the final eight minutes of the game, securing a 42-38 stunner of a win, which was capped when Jamarri Robinson hauled in a 4-yard scoring pass from Mocs quarterback Camden Orth with just 11 seconds remaining. In what turned out to be another epic game in the 'Rail Rivalry', the Mocs held a narrow 519-517 edge in total yards in the win.
It would have been easy for the Bucs to have just mailed in the remainder of the season at this point, especially so many heartbreaking setbacks and with this loss all but likely ending the Bucs' FCS playoff aspirations. The Bucs would perform to their talent level over the final stretch of the season, however, as they learned how to effectively close out games.
Going from what was a high-scoring game in the Scenic City, the Bucs returned home for a battle with surging Wofford to close out the month of October. While the Bucs had lost three of four, the Terriers came in starting to find a rhythm, having posted back-to-back wins over Norfolk State and Furman. The Bucs, however, would put a stop to that winning streak, as ETSU used another strong defensive performance in front of the home faithful to come up with a 14-10 win to improve to 4-5 overall and 2-3 in league play.
The Bucs finished the game with a slight 323-307 edge in total offense, and would score all the points they would need in the opening half of play to secure the win. A pair of Devontae Houston scoring runs, which covered 28 and six yards, respectively, bookending the opening quarter, helping the Bucs secure the lead, 14-7, heading into the halftime locker room. With another strong defensive performance by ETSU, Houston's scoring runs would be all the cushion the Bucs would need for the remaining three quarters.
Wofford's lone points in the game would come on a Colby Alexander 17-yard scamper midway through the opening quarter, as neither team could find much success offensively in the second quarter, or for that matter, the rest of the game.
After taking a 14-7 lead to the half, the Bucs would be made to sweat it out just a little bit, as Wofford tacked on a 34-yard field goal by Sam Spence midway through the fourth quarter, as the Bucs would see their lead cut to 14-10.
With Cade McNamara going down with what would prove to be a season and career-ending injury, his brother, Jake McNamara finished out a strong performance in the contest, connecting on 14-of-18 passes for 97 yards, without throwing an INT in the win.
The Bucs would then be back on the road for a trip to Homewood to battle a 1-8 Samford team. After ETSU handed the Bulldogs a 38-14 loss at Pete Hanna Stadium/Bobby Bowden Field, ETSU would have little trouble generating any offense on this Saturday, as the Bucs rolled up 600 yards of total offense and scored 38 points en route to a 38-14 win.
It was once again a big day for the Bucs' ground game, as ETSU rolled up a 257-56 advantage in ground yards, with Devontae Houston doing a large part of the damage, as he would finish the afternoon by rushing for 151 yards and a touchdown, as he utilized 18 attempts to finish with his strong performance.
A road trip to Western Carolina came next in the Blue Ridge Border Battle to battle the Catamounts and what would transpire would be a result that would end up sending shockwaves through the SoCon football landscape, as the Bucs were able to put together perhaps their most complete game from start to finish, as ETSU effectively ended any hopes of a Catamount playoff berth, handing Western Carolina a 52-35 setback inside EJ Whitmire Stadium.
For the Bucs, it was a second-straight triumph in the series over the Catamounts, and it was arguably the best win of the season for the Bucs. It was also enough to give ETSU the kind of momentum moving forward to go ahead and finish out the season strong in its final game against The Citadel at William B. Greene Jr. Stadium.
In what was another close game between the Bucs and Bulldogs, it would be a timely play from the ETSU defense that would help secure the 28-26 win to close out the 2025 season, as fittingly senior Kensly Johnson picked off a Quentin Hayes pass with just over a minute remaining, securing the two-point win for ETSU.
The Bulldogs took an early 7-0 lead after a 63-yard scoring run on their first snap of the game, as Garrison Johnson Sr. took the pitch from Hayes and scampered the full distance for the score to give the Bulldogs the lead a little over two minutes into the game.
ETSU, however, hit back with three-straight scores to go up a couple of scores, using a pair of 1-yard scoring plunges from Devontae Houston and Jason Albritton, as well as a 17-yard scoring connection between quarterback Jacolby Criswell and Karim Page to equal what was a 21-point flurry from ETSU.
With less than three minutes to play in the opening half, the Bulldogs cut the Bucs lead to seven when Beau Harrington scored on a 2-yard run to cap a 75-yard scoring drive, but it would be ETSU that would go to the half with command of the game and all the momentum, as Houston found paydirt for a second time in the game on a 15-yard run with 42 seconds remaining in the half to restore ETSU's two-score lead, 28-14, at the break.
Those 28 points would turn out to be enough, as the Bulldogs defense held the Bucs scoreless in the second half. Meanwhile, The Citadel would make things especially interesting for the home faithful once again, as the Bucs led 10 out of the 12 games at the half this season, however, went just 2-3 in the games they led at the half, with the wins over The Citadel and Elon being the only one in which ETSU was able to find a way to win. WCU was a game the Bucs trailed at the half but found a way to have a big second half to come from behind and win going away.
Ben Barnes provided the only points of the third quarter, connecting on a 31-yard field goal to get The Citadel to within 28-17 heading into the fourth quarter.
A little less than 90 seconds into the final frame, Hayes found his favorite target in the Bulldogs' limited, but big-play passing attack, as he found Jihadi Marks streaking behind the ETSU secondary for a 39-yard scoring strike. The Bulldogs then looked to inch even closer and get within a field goal, however, by attempting the two-point conversion play rather than kicking the PAT, which turned out to be an unwise decision at best, leaving the Bucs ahead 28-23 with 13:34 left.
Midway through the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs would get as close as they had been since the game was tied in the first quarter, as Barnes came on to connect a 33-yard field goal with 7:37 remaining to get the Bulldogs within two, at 28-26.
The Bulldogs would move the ball to the ETSU 45 late in the game; however, Johnson would pick off Hayes' pass and returned it 30 yards to The Citadel 26, clinching the seventh win of the season for the Bucs, which closed the campaign by matching its 2024 mark of 7-5.
The win also meant that Will Healy became the third rookie coach for the Bucs to win seven games in his first season as head coach, joining Paul Hamilton's 1997 Bucs team, as well as Tre Lamb's 2024 edition of ETSU football in the modern iteration of the program.
The Bucs ended up with
Furman’s 2025 season saw the Paladins make strides
back towards the program head coach Clay Hendrix had built a couple of years
ago, which remains the closest a SoCon team has gotten to making back to the
FCS semifinals.
Furman had two of the best individual talents—both
freshmen—on each side of the football during the 2025 season, with defensive
end and Buck Buchanan Award finalist Joshua Stoneking at defensive end, while
wideout Evan James was a Freshman All-American at wideout, setting single-season
school marks for receptions () and receiving yards ().
The Paladins finished the season with a 6-6
overall record and posted a 4-4 mark in SoCon play. The Paladins opened the
season in strong fashion against William & Mary, as the Paladins picked up
one of their most impressive wins of the entire season, as the Paladins opened
the campaign with a 23-21 win over perennial CAA power William & Mary.
The Paladins trailed the game 21-20 with
under seven minutes left in the game, however, quarterback Trey Hedden would complete
three-straight passes, which covered 43 yards, setting up what would prove to be
the game-winning points from place-kicker Ian Williams, who connected on his
third field goal of the afternoon from 32 yards out to give the Paladins the
lead for good with 2:43 remaining.
Making sure that lead would stand were defensive
end Joshua Stoneking and Malachi Dobbins, who pressured Tribe quarterback Tyler
Hughes on their final drive of the game, and Lindenwood transfer Taylen
Blaylock dropped Tribe running back Rashad Raymond for a four-yard loss, and
that forced the Tribe to leave the offense on the field for fourth down, but
Blaylock came up big once again, as he broke up Hughes’ pass on fourth down,
securing the win for the Paladins.
Furman’s offense could muster only 237 yards
of total offense in the season opener, as the Paladins did most of their damage
through the air, with Hedden completing 21-of-29 passes for 179 yards and a touchdown.
The lone scoring toss was a short pitch to true freshman wideout Evan James,
who scored on a short four-yard reception, giving the Paladins a 14-7 lead.
The Paladins would end up getting four
sacks from Joshua Stoneking and a 43-yard INT return for a score in the season-opening
win over the Tribe.
The Paladins would get a big dose of
humility in week two. A week after knocking off reigning SoCon champion Mercer,
the Blue Hose would take down Furman, 39-38, overcoming a 28-7 second quarter deficit
in the process.
It was a tale of two halves for Furman, which
started the game strong and looked like a SoCon title contender, but by the end
of the day, the Paladins squandered a big opportunity to move to 2-0 on the
young season.
The game would be decided in overtime, and it had everything, which included an hour-and-a-half delay in the second half due to lightning. Furman held a 28-14 lead at the break, which the Paladins increased to 31-14 early in the third quarter when Ian Williams connected on a 34-yard field goal with 9:43 remaining in the third quarter.
PC would get on the board on its second drive of the second half, as Hurst tossed a three-yard scoring strike to Zach Switzer with 5:10 remaining in the third quarter, cutting Furman’s lead to 10, at 31-21. The scoring pass from Hurst-to-Switzer concluded an impressive 11-play, 75-yard scoring drive for the Blue Hose.
With momentum in its favor and after the Blue Hose defense forced a Furman punt, Presbyterian would threaten to put more points on the board early in the fourth quarter, however, Jett Jackson’s 31-yard field goal attempt missed wide right.
Furman’s offense, however, continued to sputter and after another Paladin punt, the Blue Hose continued to gash the Paladin defense with big pass plays, and did so again on the first play of the ensuing series. Hurst found all-conference wideout Cincere Gill for a gain of 31 yards to get the Blue Hose to the Furman 24. However, after getting the ball down to the Furman 12, Hurst would be intercepted by Taylen Blaylock at the Furman five and he returned it 26 yards out to the Furman 31 with 10:38 remaining.
The Paladin offense once again could find no success on the ground or through the air, and was forced to punt the ball back to PC less than two minutes after Blaylock's INT had turned back the Blue Hose deep in the red zone.
After taking over the football at its own 45, Hurst completed passes of 14 and 12 yards to Switzer and Dominic Kirby to get the Blue Hose to the Furman 29. Then a 17-yard run by Hurst after he had been flushed from the pocket would get the Blue Hose to the Furman 12. On first down from the Furman 12, Antonio Wright rushed for four yards to the Paladin eight with 6:45 remaining and at 4:45 p.m. EST time in the afternoon. Time was called and the stadium was evacuated due to lightning.
Play would resume at approximately 6:37 p.m. EST and after a pair of incompletions from Hurst, PC would have to settle for a 25-yard field goal from Jett Jackson to cut Furman’s lead to seven, at 31-24.
Following a fumble on a handoff exchange between Hedden and freshman running back CJ Nettles on a 3rd-and-4 play, it was recovered by PC defensive end Carter Sydlowski at the Furman at the Furman 26 and returned 14 yards to the 12. On the first play following the turnover, Hurst found wideout BJ Atkins for a diving grab in the corner of the end zone to make it a 31-31 game with 4:38 remaining.
After Furman couldn't generate anything offensively and punted the ball back to the Blue Hose, PC opted to run off the remaining three minutes off the clock, which included a couple of deliberate delay of game penalties to force overtime.
Furman won the toss and took the ball first in overtime at the PC 25. Furman got a six-yard run from Smith on the second play of the series, and that was followed by a six-yard completion from Hedden-to-Devin Hester Jr. to get the Paladins to the PC 13. Smith then gained 12 up the middle on the next play and then plunged in from a yard out for the go-ahead score, making it a 38-31 Furman lead.
On PC's first play of their first offensive series in the extra session, Hurst hooked up with Kirby for a gain of 22 all the way to the Furman 3. A three-yard scoring strike from Hurst-to-Levicki tied made it a 38-37 game.
After the Blue Hose took a timeout to decide on their potential game-winning two-point conversion play, the staff opted to go right back to the sure-handed tight end Nathan Levicki, who didn't disappoint, as he hauled in a diving catch in the near corner of the fieldhouse end zone, delivering the win for PC.
The play was briefly reviewed to make sure he made a secure catch, but there's was little doubt that even if it hadn't have been upheld, PC's dominance in the second half and overtime made it deserving of the win.
Furman could muster just 96 yards of total offense and only two first downs in the latter 30 minutes and overtime period of football. That came on the heels of gaining 274 yards and racking up 17 first downs in the opening 30 minutes of football.
Furman would rebound the next time it took the field against Campbell, as the Paladins would go on the road and secure a 28-24 win over the Camels in the first-ever meeting between the programs, as the Paladins improved to 2-0 against the CAA on the young season.The Paladins needed a big play from their defense to secure the road win, and in the end, it would be Buck Buchanan Award finalist Joshua Stoneking that would breakthrough and provide the most important play in the win, sacking Camels quarterback Camden Sixkiller on the all-important fourth down with the Camels threatening to win the game, having reached the Furman red zone with less than half-a-minute remaining.
The Camels would drive to the Furman 11 on their final possession, however, on 4th-and-5 with 21 seconds left, however, Joshua Stoneking bull-rushed wrapping up Sixkiller and in the process, notched the Paladins' third sack of the day, but more importantly preserving Furman's second win in their first three games to start the season.
Furman's defense would also set up what proved to be the go-ahead score just prior to the Camels' final drive. The Paladins had had trouble stopping Campbell's offense the entire second half until the final offensive drives of the game for the Camels.
Furman's defense finally forced a Campbell punt and then on Furman's next possession, it appeared the Paladins would have to punt it back to the Camels; however, a substitution infraction gave the Paladins an automatic first down to extend the drive.
The result would be Furman's offense making Campbell pay dearly for the miscue, as Hedden found his favorite target Evan James for a 30-yard TD pass with 5:10 left, giving the Paladins a 28-24 lead.
The Camels would drive to the Furman 11 on their final possession, however, on 4th-and-5 with 21 seconds left, however, Joshua Stoneking bull-rushed wrapping up Sixkiller and in the process, notched the Paladins' third sack of the day, but more importantly preserving Furman's second win in their first three games to start the season.
At 2-1, the Paladins were ready to open Southern Conference play at a place that has always been a tough venue for Furman to come away with a victory, as the Paladins began their 2025 SoCon journey in Homewood, AL., against the Samford Bulldogs.
Furman didn't play Samford in 2024, thanks to Hurricane Helene causing the lights to go out in Greenville for over 90% of the Upstate of South Carolina, and so the last time the two met was at Pete Hanna Stadium in a key mid-season SoCon tilt in 2023, which saw the Paladins sack Samford quarterbacks nine times and leave Homewood with a 27-21 win.
It was Furman's defensive performance that dimmed the lights for Samford's "Hatch Attack" offense in front of an excited and large Parents' Weekend home crowd, which entered with winning expectations inside the same facility as it had two years ago in the latest installment of the SoCon rivalry between the Paladins and Bulldogs.
On this particular Saturday, Joshua Stoneking and the Paladin defense would continue their strong play, as Furman came away with a dominating 31-13 win.
Much has changed in two years for both programs in terms of player turnover, but for much of Saturday's 31-13 win over Samford, however, it had a very similar feel for Furman's current roster of players and loyal fanbase, as the Paladins ended up with seven sacks in Saturday's lopsided verdict, which of course was just two shy of equaling the total of nine sacks by the 2023 Paladins. Furman now has a combined 16 quarterback takedowns in the past two meetings with Samford.
"We said pressure them and you have got to contain him [Samford QB Quincy Crittendon] and I thought we did a pretty good job of that and you know you have to get him on the ground and certainly the turnovers are big and one of the best things we did as a defense I thought was we didn't let them run it...I think their longest runs on the day were scrambles and you take a couple of plays out of that game and it's about as well as you could hope to play defensively," head coach Clay Hendrix said of his team's defensive performance in the 31-13 win at Samford.
With a win its Southern Conference opener, the Paladins improved to 3-1 overall and 1-0 in league play, while Samford remained winless, falling to 0-5 overall and 0-3 in Southern Conference play. The win also marked Furman’s 301st win in its Southern Conference history.
In addition to its seven sacks, Furman's defense also forced three Samford turnovers, with one of those contributing directly to a score on a 47-yard pick-six by linebacker Raleigh Herbert just before the half, which helped Furman establish momentum for the remainder of the afternoon en route to the road win.
Next up for Furman would be an East Tennessee State team that would visit Greenville as talented as any in the Southern Conference, and it was a team that many pundits considered as a dark horse to potentially win the 2025 SoCon title.
With the most power five transfers in the SoCon, including a pair of those under center, the Paladins would have their hands full in front of a rowdy home crowd of 10,527 fans on-hand for Family Weekend at Paladin Stadium.
Donning all Purple uniforms, the Paladins overcame a 22-7 deificit early in the second half, overwhelming the Bucs for 24 unanswered points to capture a thrilling 31-22 win.
It would end up being a big day for Furman quarterback Trey Hedden and the Furman offense, which would end up outgaining the Bucs 500-362 in total offense, improving to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in league action.
Hedden finished his afternoon by connecting on 36-of-49 for 358 yards, two touchdowns and an INT. Hedden also had a 1-yard scoring plunge to for Furman's first score of the day.
In the absence of leading receiver and freshman sensation Evan James, both Hamilton and Harris hauled in a combined 22 passes for 222 yards and two TDs. Hamilton had a career day, hauling in 11 passes for 141 yards and two scores, while Harris hauled in 11 passes for 81 yards in the game.
Furman's ground attack was powered by a heavy dose of Gavin Hall, as he became the first Paladin to rush for 100 yards in a game this season, finishing the contest with 101 yards on 23 carries.
Cade McNamara and Jacolby Criswell combined the duties under center for ETSU.
McNamara started the game and played a quarter, and finishing the day connecting on 2-of-7 passes for 11 yards, while Criswell saw action over the most of the final three quarters, completed 7-for-14 passes for 100 yards with an INT. Criswell was most effective rushing the football, as he finished the contest with 73 yards and a score on 15 attempts. All told, both FBS power four transfers combined to go 9-of-22 passing for 111 yards and no TDs with an INT.
The ground attack for the Bucs was led by Houston, who returned to the backfield following a three-game absence, finishing the game with 150 yards on 22 carries, with half of his rushing yards coming on the first play of the second half.
The Bucs did out-gain the Paladins on the ground (275-142), however, in addition to holding a 148-yard advantage in total yards, the Paladins held advantages in passing 32yards (358-100), total snaps (82-76), and time of possession (35:32-24:28).
Furman's 500 yards of total offense in the win marked the first time the Paladins have gained over 500 or more yards in a game since knocking off Stetson, 48-7, last season, gaining 510 yards of total offense in that particular contest.
The last Southern Conference foe, which saw the Paladins gain 500 or more yards against a SoCon foe against was on Oct. 21, 2023, as the Paladins knocked off No. 8 Western Carolina, as Furman would end up with 508 yards in the 29-17 win over the Catamounts on that particular occasion.
Furman's win marked its 15th in 17 games played at Paladin Stadium, and it marks the eighth in 10 meetings since the Bucs rejoined the SoCon back in 2016. The Paladins have now won 31 of 40 all-time meetings between the two foes.
Certainly not to be overlooked Saturday was another strong effort from Furman's defense, and in particular, the pass rush, which once again was a major influencer on the outcome.
The Paladin defense sacked ETSU quarterbacks four times on the day, with the nation's leader in sacks, Joshua Stoneking, coming up with three of them as a part of a seven-tackle effort.
Sophomore defensive back Billy Lewis led Furman's defense with nine tackles and Caldwell Bussey matched Stoneking's seven stops along the defensive front and contributed the other sack the Paladins recorded in the win.
Furman was riding high after its win over ETSU, but those high hopes were quickly brought back down to reality the following week in Cullowhee, facing off against a desperate Western Carolina team that had been without quarterback and Walter Payton Award finalist Taron Dickens for the first three games of the season due to suspension.His return had coincided with instant success, as the Catamounts were on a roll themselves, having won three-straight, including two SoCon games, as the Catamounts had shown that, with Dickens, they could be a legitimate SoCon title contender.
For a second-straight season, the Paladins had no answers to slow the Catamount offense, while turning the ball over five times to limit their own offensive success rate.
Western Carolina won the coin toss and elected to defer until the second half, and so Trey Hedden and the Paladin offense would get the first crack at things on a beautiful fall Saturday at EJ Whitmire Stadium.
The Paladins would start their first possession of the day at their own 15. The Paladins would go three-and-out on their opening drive, giving the ball to the Catamounts at the Furman 41 to start the game.
The Catamounts would drive to the Furman 14, however, on 4th-and-1, Patrick Boyd Jr. was stopped for no gain and the Paladin offense would get the ball for a second time in the game.
Both teams experienced their fair share of mistakes in the opening quarter, with Furman’s Trey Hedden picked off in the end zone after Kerry King having the ball wrestled the ball away from him by Catamount defensive back Hasaan Sykes. Furman’s Taylen Blalock dropped a clear INT at the 31 that would have likely resulted in a touchdown. Later, WCU star quarterback Taron Dickens found a wide Patrick Boyd Jr., who dropped a deep ball that would have surely resulted in a Catamount touchdown.
Early in the second quarter, Western Carolina would draw first blood when freshman kicker Marcus Trout on a 45-yard field goal with 14:23 left in the half, as the Catamounts finished off a short 18-yard drive to take a 3-0 lead, which was set up by shanked Ian Williams punt.
Then after another three-and-out by the Paladin offense, which saw Furman come up about a foot short of the first down and after opting to punt, Taron Dickens engineered what was a 7-play, 80-yard drive that culminated with a beautifully thrown spiraled pass down the sideline for freshman wideout MJ Rossin to run under, increasing the WCU advantage to 10-0 with 10:05 remaining in the half.
Western Carolina’s next touchdown would be set up by Furman’s first turnover of the day, as Gavin Hall fumbled near the visiting sideline and Samaurie Dukes forced the ball free and Justin Wallace was in the right place at the right time to pounce on the football for the Catamounts at the Paladin 28.
Four plays later, the Catamounts increased their lead to 17-0 with 7:39 remaining in the half when Taron Dickens connected with Joshua Perry for a 9-yard touchdown and a lofted pass towards the corner of the end zone.
On Furman’s next possession, Western Carolina Ken Moore Jr. picked off Hedden’s pass and raced 64 yards for a score, which was capped by an impressive front flip into the end zone with 1:38 left in the half to make it a 24-0 game. It was Furman’s third turnover of the half, including the second INT for Trey Hedden in the first half.
Furman’s offense finally found a spark late in the half, driving 75 yards on their final possession of the half to get within 24-7, as Hedden found Joshua Burrell for an 8-yard scoring strike with 13 seconds to play in the opening half. It would, however, be the only points of the afternoon produced by the Furman offense.
The Catamounts got the ball to open the second half, and it wouldn’t take long for the Purple and Gold to find their first points of the second half, as Malik Knight hauled in a 41-yard pass from Dickens down the near sideline for a 41-yard scoring connection to make it a 31-7 game just 96 seconds into the latter 30 minutes of football.
Furman would mount a promising drive on its first possession of the second half, reaching the Catamount 11-yard line. However, Hedden’s pass on 2nd-and-8 aimed for the corner of the end zone and tight end Joshua Burrell didn’t have enough air under it, and Moore leapt to intercept his second Hedden pass of the day, ending Furman’s most promising drive and giving the Catamounts all the momentum.
Western Carolina then drove 80 yards in 12 plays, with Markel Townsend finishing off the final 12 by carrying Furman defenders into the end zone to make it a 38-7 game with 5:25 remaining in the third quarter.
Furman would again drive deep inside the Catamount red zone, and once again were turned away with nothing, as on fourth-and-goal, Hedden was blindsided by Sykes on a ‘CAT’ or corner blitz and the ball was forced free but the ball bounced out of bounds, but it didn’t matter as the Catamount defense had once again stymied the Paladins.
It would ultimately set up Dickens’ final scoring drive of the afternoon, as Dickens found Josiah Thomas on a 6-yard scoring pass to culminate a 9-play, 83-yard drive with 9:25 remaining to make it 45-7.
Following another stop by Western Carolina’s defense, backup quarterback Isaac Lee put the finishing touches on the blowout win, as he raced 66 yards for a score, outracing the Paladin defense for the final Catamount tally of the afternoon, setting the final score, at 52-7 with 6:20 left in the game.
The struggles would continue the following week in Spartanburg, taking on an upstart Wofford team. The Paladins fell to 4-3 overall and 2-2 in league play with a second-straight road league loss, as the Terriers moved to 2-5 overall and 1-3 in league action.
It marked the third-straight season the Paladins had ended a loss to Wofford with 13 points.
The Paladins held a slight advantage in total yards (329-325), but couldn't overcome three costly turnovers, while the Terriers only committed one miscue on the afternoon. Over the past couple of games, Furman has committed eight turnovers, which have led directly to 38 points for the opposition, including a pair of INTs returned for scores.
The Paladins fell to 15-14 against the Terriers since Wofford joined the NCAA Division I ranks in 1997, and now hold a 56-36-7 lead in the all-time series, which began way back in 1889.
Furman quarterback Trey Hedden finished the afternoon connecting on27-of-39 passes for 257 yards, with three INTs and one TD. He was sacked five times in the game.
Northwestern State transfer JT Fayard completed the day by connecting on 18-of-25 passes for 179 yards, with two TDs and one INT for Wofford.
Hedden, who was without three of his top pass-catchers due to injury, settled in on running back Gavin Hall ( 7 rec, 49 yds) and Devin Hester Jr. (6 rec, 82 yds, 1 TD) as his top receiving targets in the passing game.
Hester's 10-yard scoring catch from Hedden in the second quarter was his first touchdown reception in a Furman uniform. Kerry King also hauled in four passes for 50 yards, while Clemson transfer Landyn James made four receptions for 44 yards.
The ground game was led by Hall, who finished his afternoon with 61 yards and a touchdown on 17 attempts, while CJ Nettles rushed for 34 yards on four attempts.
Fayard's favorite receiving option in the contest was Isaiah Scott, who hauled in seven passes for 91 yards, while freshman Colby Alexander made four catches for 45 yards and a TD.
The Terriers were led on the ground by Ihshon Jackson-Anderson, who finished with 75 yards and a TD on 15 attempts. Gerald Modest Jr. finished his day with 51 rushing yards on 11 attempts.
Next up for the Paladins came a battle against another of its arch-rivals, when The Citadel paid a visit to Paladin Stadium on Oct. 25. The Paladins were able to hold on for a 24-14 win over the Bulldogs.It was the 105th renewal of the SoCon's oldest gridiron rivalry, and it was the Paladin defense that ended up owning the afternoon for the Paladins, and outside of two long passing plays, it was Furman that owned the better end of the proceedings pretty much the entire afternoon en route to a fifth-straight win in the series. It officially now marks the longest streak the Paladins have enjoyed against the Bulldogs since winning nine-straight against The Citadel from 1982-90.
With the 10-point win, the Paladins extended their lead to 67-37-3 in the all-time series between the two.
Furman took a 9-0 lead into the halftime locker room. however, a pair of 46-yard scoring scoring catches in a four-minute span in the third quarter all of the sudden saw the Bulldogs assume the lead, 14-9.
It would, however, be short-lived, as the Paladins responded to retake the lead with 3:30 remaining in the third quarter when Jayquan Smith scored on a two-yard run and added the two-point conversion to make it 17-14.
Then in the fourth quarter, Furman's star freshman wideout Evan James hauled in a 38-yard pass from Trey Hedden and nine plays later, Smith would take the handoff and scampered seven yards off left tackle for the score, giving the Paladins a 24-14 lead following Ian Williams' PAT with 3:21 remaining, which essentially sealed the win for Furman.
The Paladins would run into a buzzsaw the next Saturday, as 13th-ranked and eventual league champion Mercer paid a visit to Paladin Stadium to open the month of November. Furman would do as much as they could to stay in the game for about 2.5 quarters, but eventually, the Bears' high-octane attack would be too much to overcome and the Bears posted a second-straight win over Furman under head coach Mike Jacobs, who led the Bears to a second-straight blowout win over the Paladins, 52-28, on a beautiful Fall afternoon at Paladin Stadium.Freshman sensation quarterback Braden Atkinson completed 28-of-49 passes for 426 yards and four touchdowns and one rushing touchdown, as Mercer claimed its seventh-straight in-season win and 10th-straight SoCon triumph in contiguous seasons, downing Furman, 52-28, Saturday afternoon before 7,867 fans at Paladin Stadium.
The win sees the Bears improve to 7-1 overall and improved to 6-0 in the SoCon, while Furman fell to 5-4 overall and 3-3 in SoCon play, as the Paladins dropped their first SoCon home game of the season.
The win for the Bears was the second-straight in the series in decisive fashion against the Paladins, as Mercer closed out its 2024 SoCon title run by easily defeating Furman, 49-23, in the regular-season finale to claim the program's first conference crown of any type in 92 years.
This season's 24-point at Paladin Stadium now gives the Bears the opportunity to defend their SoCon crown from a year ago, as the win sets up a de facto SoCon title matchup, as the Orange and Black travel to EJ Whitmire Stadium in Cullowhee, N.C., to take on an equally hot Western Carolina team, which claimed its sixth-straight win Saturday evening with a 35-28 win at Chattanooga to improve to 6-3 overall and 5-0 in league action.
Western Carolina has never claimed a SoCon title since joining the league in 1976, while Mercer broke through and won its first SoCon crown just last season after joining the league back in 2014. The winner of that game will likely be the SoCon's lone representative in the FCS postseason.
As for the game, Furman was dominated in every phase, despite the fact that the Paladins jumped out to the early 13-0 lead.
The Bears came back to score 24-unanswered points over the final quarter-and-a-half to take an 11-point lead into the halftime locker room, which included one of the more dominant second quarter performances by an opponent ever witnessed in the 44-year history of the facility.
It marked the second time in a little over a calendar year that the Paladins have yielded 52 points to an opponent on its home turf, and the third time overall, as Furman dropped a 52-7 game at Western Carolina earlier this season. Furman also dropped a 52-20 contest at home to Western Carolina on Oct. 26, 2024.
Atkison, who was the reigning STATS Perform Freshman of the Week, has now completed 57-of-86 passes for 959 yards, with nine TDs and no INTs in the past two weeks. Though he was hit Saturday, he never was sacked by Furman, which entered the contest with the nation's leading pass-rusher, in Joshua Stoneking (12.5 sacks, 18.5 TFL).
Atkinson's favorite target of the game was Adonis McDaniel, who hauled in seven passes for 139 yards and a touchdown, while Adjatay Dabbs turned in his second big performance against the Paladins, hauling in six passes for 117 yards and a touchdown.
Equally impressive was Mercer's ground attack, which amassed 202 yards on 40 attempts in Saturday's win, and was led by another solid effort on the ground by CJ Miller, who finished the night with 111 yards and a pair of scores on 20 rush attempts. He also added three catches for 14 yards, including an 18-yard scoring catch early in the second quarter.
Furman was led in the game by quarterback Trey Hedden, who finished his afternoon connecting on 12-of-18 passes for 155 yards, with two TDs and an INT. Hedden was sacked four times in the game.
Hedden's favorite target was true freshman Evan James, who finished his afternoon with five catches for 39 yards and a score. Ja'Keith Hamilton also hauled in a 64-yard scoring pass on a wide receiver screen from Hedden early in the second half.
Furman true freshman running back CJ Nettles finished the game with his first-career 100-yard rushing effort, highlighted by a 67-yard scoring run on Furman's second possession of the day. Nettles finished the game with 105 yards and a touchdown on 15 rush attempts.
Capping Furman's day filled with highlights made by true freshmen was Caleb Easterling, who returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown. It marked the eighth kickoff return of 100 yards or more in program history, including the first since Jerodis Williams took one back for 100 yards in 2012 at Appalachian State (Nov. 10, 2012). It was the first 100-yard for a score in Paladin Stadium since Jerodis Williams' 100-yard kickoff return vs. Western Carolina (Sept. 29, 2012) earlier in that same campaign.
Defensively, Mercer sacked Hedden four times and allowed Furman just eight first downs the entire afternoon, holding the Paladins to just 2.9 yards-per-rush. Linebackers Drew Clare and Julian Fox led the Bears with five tackles apiece, with Fox adding a sack and a tackle-for-loss.
Furman signs four preps; completes 2026 Signing Class
Head coach Clay Hendrix rounded out his 2026 signing class on Wednesday, adding an impressive group of four prep players, which now join the nine portal players acquired in the early signing period back in December.
A Look Back To Early Signing Period:
Among those highlighted from the original signing class back in December is a solid group of signees on both sides of the ball, including an NCAA Division II transfer at quarterback, in Connor Ackerley (Western New Mexico) and highlighting the defensive side of the football is defensive end Elihu Lipscomb (Wingate).
Ackerley, a 6-0, 170-lb, native of Tempe, AZ., will be in competition to replace Trey Hedden under center. Hedden transferred to New Mexico State after setting Furman’s single-season passing record last season (). While Hedden was a pro-style quarterback, Ackerley, who will be a redshirt sophomore and have three years of eligibility remaining, will be more of a dual-threat.
During his redshirt freshman season last season, Ackerley connected 253-of-397 passing for 2,999 yards, with 30 TDs and 12 INTs. He also rushed for 429 yards and four scores. All told, Ackerley accounted for 3,428 yards of total offense, while accounting for 34 total touchdown responsibilities.
As for Lipscomb, he’s the second transfer acquired in the portal and he was the SAC Freshman Defensive Player of the Year, and finished the season with 33 tackles, 9.5 tackles-for-loss and seven sacks, six quarterback hurries, and has forced a pair of fumbles.
The Paladins also added players to supplement both Ackerley on the offensive side of the ball, as well as Lipscomb on the defensive of the football. On offense, the Paladins specifically addressed both the offensive line and wide receiver.
The Paladins saw a pair of solid receiving options enter the transfer portal, losing both Evan James and Ja’Keith Hamilton, and James would end up setting a freshman record for receiving this past season, hauling in 65 passes for 796 yards and seven scores, averaging 12.2 yards-per-reception last season.
Things didn't get much better for the Paladins a week later when it visited Chattanooga for the final SoCon road game of the season, as the Mocs broken open the game in the second half, outscoring the Paladins 24-7 to come up with the 45-28 win over Furman.True freshman quarterback Battle Alberson passed for 277 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for 85 yards in his first career start, as he led a Chattanooga offense that racked up 529 yards in a 45-28 win over Furman Saturday afternoon before 6,306 fans at Finley Stadium.
Alberson finished the day connecting on 15-of-23 passes for 277 yards and passing scores of 25, 66, 47 and 25 yards to highlight his first-career start. He finished the day with 362 yards of total offense. The true freshman rushed for 85 yards on just seven attempts.
The Mocs were balanced on the offensive side of the ball, posting 277 yards through the air and another 252 on the ground. The Mocs out-gained Furman 529-368 in total yards, including 252-72 on the ground.
The Mocs' ground efforts were led by Ryan Ingram, who finished with 94 yards on 22 attempts. Justus Durant also added 65 yards on 16 attempts.
Josh Williams finished as the Mocs' leading target in the passing game, hauling in six passes for 116 yards and one TD. Markell Quick added three catches for 70 yards and a score.
Trey Hedden finished the day by connecting on 19-of-27 passes for 296 yards with a pair of TDs and two INTS. His favorite target was true freshman wideout Evan James, who hauled in five passes for 146 yards and a touchdown.
Furman won the toss and deferred to the second half. After Chattanooga drove it down to the Furman 9 on its first possession of the day, Raleigh Herbert came around the corner and stopped Justus Durant short on a 4th-and-1 play to allow the Paladin offense to take over deep in their own territory and drove it 91 yards for the game's opening points with Ben Croasdale racing across the goal line from four yards out to make it a 7-0 lead with 2:20 remaining in the opening quarter.
The key play in the scoring drive was a 61-yard connection between Trey Hedden and Evan James to get the Paladin offense deep into Mocs territory at the Chattanooga 21.
Chattanooga would get on the board on its ensuing drive to tie the game early in the second quarter, driving 75 yards in 10 plays following a 25-yard scoring toss from Battle Alberson to tight end Landon Strickland to tie the game 7-7 with 13:40 remaining in the half.
Furman's next drive would once again result in points, as the Paladins drove it 69 yards in 10 plays to make it a 14-7 game with 7:17 left in the half after CJ Nettles scampered in from three yards out to give the Paladins the lead back.
On its next possession, Chattanooga produced its first big chunk play of the afternoon, and it resulted in the game-tying score, as Alberson found Josh Williams over the middle for a 66-yard scoring strike to make its 14-14 game with 3:29 left in the half.
Furman would strike back just before the half, beginning with the kickoff return from true freshman Caleb Easterling. After racing 100 yards for a score last week against Mercer, Easterling set up Furman's final score before the half, returning the Mocs kickoff 76 yards down the sidelines to set up the Paladins at the UTC 23.
Five plays later, Hedden found Kerry King on a 9-yard scoring strike with just under two minutes left in the half to make it 21-14.
It didn't take the Mocs long to tie the game, as Alberson tossed his third scoring pass of the half when he found Markell Quick for a 47-yard TD with 46 seconds remaining in the half, tying the game 21-21.
Chattanooga's squib quick backfired and it gave the Paladins a chance to take a lead into the locker room. However, the Paladins lined up for a short chip shot field goal, which was blocked by the Mocs to preserve the tie as the two teams entered the halftime locker room.
On Furman's first drive of the second half, Chattanooga took the lead on the game's first turnover as Ky Tayo picked off a Hedden pass and returned it 57 yards for a score to make it a 28-21 Mocs lead with 13:01 remaining in the third quarter.
Following a Furman punt, Paladin defensive lineman Caldwell Bussey went down with what appeared to be a serious injury with just under 11 minutes remaining in the third quarter.
Later in the drive, the Mocs would be faced with a 4th-and-7 and would convert it to keep a drive alive just inside the red zone. Joshua Stoneking came up with a big tackle-for-loss on a 3rd-and-1 play at the Furman 19, forcing the Mocs to settle for a 31-yard Jude Kelley field goal, as the Mocs increased their lead to 10, at 31-21, with 4:18 remaining in the third quarter.
Furman would answer back on its next possession, as Hedden found James for a 48-yard scoring strike with just under three minutes remaining in the third, as the Paladins pulled back to within three, at 31-28.
On Chattanooga's next possession, the Mocs punched it in once again to restore a 10-point lead on a 1-yard scoring plunge from Journey Wyche to make it a 38-28 game with 7:24 remaining.
The game-changing would come on Furman's next possession, as Hedden found tight end Joshua Burrell over the middle for 29 yards, however, as he turned his head to go up field, Burrell was hit immediately by Kam Baah-Slay, knocking the ball in the air and the ball was recovered by UTC's Kaelin Drakeford at the Furman 44 to come up with the Mocs' second turnover of the afternoon.
Six plays later, Chattanooga tacked on its final score of the day, as Alberson tossed his fourth scoring pass of the afternoon, finding Wyche out of the backfield for a 25-yard scoring pass to increase UTC's lead to 17 with 2:49 remaining after Jude Kelley's PAT.
The Paladins got the ball back once more, however, Hedden's pass was initially broken up by Kam Baah-Slay and off the carom, Amanuel Dickson officially ended the scoring threat and seal Chattanooga's fifth win of the season.
Furman's final home game of the 2025 football season would also mark its final Southern Conference campaign, and with a win over VMI, the Paladins would have a chance to, at worst, secure at least a .500 overall record, as well as a .500 record in league play to close out the season. The Paladins would do just that, avenging what had been a 21-17 loss to the Keydets a year earlier, as it would be a record-setting afternoon for freshman wideout Evan James and the Paladins, who coasted to a 32-14 win in the final home game of the season.
Despite missing three games this season, Jerry Rice Award candidate Evan James capped his rookie season in front of the home faithful at Paladin Stadium in style, as he hauled in nine passes for 70 yards and a pair of scores. He needed just two catches and only nine receiving yards to set new freshman receiving marks. He now has 59 catches for 760 yards and six TDs with one game remaining in his freshman campaign next Saturday at Clemson.
Ja'Keith Hamilton nearly matched James for the top receiving performance, hauling in eight passes for 97 yards.
Furman also finished the day with a season-high 174 rushing yards, which was bolstered by strong performances from Ben Croasdale and CJ Nettles. Nettles finished the day with 14 rushes for 70 yards and a score, while Nettles finished his afternoon with 12 rushes for 54 yards.
The Paladins finished with a 204-yard advantage in total offense (448-244) and owned a 26-play (85-59) edge in total snaps. VMI registered 76 of its 244 yards of total offense on its final scoring drive, while Furman's offense finished the day without turning the ball over.
Defensively, the Paladins were led by defensive back Taylen Blalock, who bookended his strong season at Paladin Stadium with a pair of strong performances from teams from the Commonwealth of Virginia, starting it off with a Saturday that scratched the first points of the season on a pick-six against William & Mary, and finishing it off on Senior Day in front of the home faithful with nine total tackles and 42 punt return yards, as well as a kick return for 11 yards.
Redshirt freshman defensive end Joshua Stoneking finished his day with six tackles, one tackle-for-loss and one sack. Stoneking brought his season totals to 73 tackles, 20.0 tackles-for-loss, and 13.5 sacks.
VMI won the opening coin toss and elected to receive. VMI would gain 15 yards on their first pass of the day and then gained four on Chandler Wilson second pass completion of the day.
After Joshua Stoneking broke up the next play to force a 3rd-and-6 situation, Wilson scrambled for a gain of seven yards and a first down on the next play to reach just inside Furman territory. An incompletion and a short gain on a pass forced another third down, and this time on third down Wilson was flushed from the pocket for no gain, forcing a VMI punt.
After one first down on its opening drive of the afternoon, Furman was forced to do likewise, as each team came up empty offensive on their respective opening drives of the contest.
Furman’s first attempt to put points on the board came from the leg of senior place-kicker Ian Williams, however, his 58-yard attempt, which had plenty of distance, was just wide to the right, leaving the score tied, 0-0, with 5:33 remaining in the opening quarter of play.
Furman would eventually draw first blood in the second quarter Hedden found James on a short flip pass for an eight-yard score, with James doing most of the work with his legs before running over a defender at the goal line to give the Paladins a 7-0 lead with just over five minutes remaining in the half.
The short scoring pass capped off a 68-yard scoring drive. The drive was set up by Furman gaining the only turnover of the day on a fumble recovery by Billy Lewis.
The Keydets answered on the ensuing drive, as Leo Boehling finished off the nine-play, 75-yard scoring drive with an 18-yard run up the middle, gashing the Paladin defense for the final 33 yards of the scoring drive, which tied the contest, 7-7, with 1:15 remaining in the half.
Furman made the most of the remaining time in the half, and it would be an acrobatic scoring catch from James, as he leapt over a VMI defensive back and touched a foot down to complete the 17-yard scoring catch with just 35 seconds remaining. After a pair of penalties against VMI on Furman's PAT attempt, the Paladins opted to go for two and the conversion attempt was successful by Jayquan Smith to make it 15-7. That would remain the score as the two teams entered the halftime locker room.
Smith would be responsible for the lone points for either team in the third quarter, as he capped an impressive 12-play, 85-yard drive with an eight-yard scoring run to give the Paladins a 22-7 lead with just under nine minutes remaining in the third.
Furman tacked on 10 points in the final frame, with Ben Croasdale scoring on a 1-yard plunge and Ian Williams knocking through a 51-yard field goal to increase Furman's lead to 32-7 with 8:15 remaining in the game. VMI's backup quarterback Nana Utsey added the final touchdown of the day, scoring on a 17-yard scramble with 32 seconds left to set the final score, at 32-14.
The final game of the regular-season would see Furman travel to FBS power conference foe Clemson and though the result was all but inevitable, the Paladins managed to put on a solid showing in the 45-10 setback against the bowl-bound Tigers.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.
The loss would see the Paladins end their 120th football season as a program with a 6-6 overall record and a 4-4 mark inside league play.
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.
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 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 3rd-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 2nd-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 4th-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 14th-and-a-half sack and 21st 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 4th-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 3rd-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 22nd 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.
The season was one that was one that Paladin fans can look back on and be proud of, but as it has already been revealed at other programs around the league, the first month after the season can be somewhat tumultuous, as guys begin to let their intentions be known as far as whether or not their future includes staying where they are, or moving on to newer and perceived better opportunities.
For Furman, it has already seen three key offensive starters make their way into the transfer portal, in sophomore quarterback Trey Hedden, record-setting freshman wideout Evan James, as well as other leading receivers Ja'Keith Hamilton and Ethan Harris.
Hedden finished out his two seasons as Furman's quarterback connecting on 287-of-420 passes for 4,734 yards, with 30 TDs and 22 INTs.
The final two blows to the team in terms of players entering the transfer portal from the offensive side of the ball, would be offensive lineman Luke Petit, who opted to spend his graduate year seeking out a better paying opportunity, and his departure was more of an expected departure by the coaching staff. Running back Gavin Hall was the final player to announce his intent to depart from the offense.
On defense, Furman has had less action entering the transfer portal, but there are some significant departures, with Taylan Blaylock officially announcing his intent to enter the NFL Draft protocol, while fellow defensive back Eddie Jackson III announced his intent to enter the transfer portal.
As far as players expected to return for the 2026 season, defensive end and Buck Buchanan Award finalist Joshua Stoneking is expected to return to the defense. Other key players expected to return to the Paladin defense for the 2026 season are defensive end Malaki Dobbins, safeties AK Burrell. Caleb Easterling and Billy Lewis, and inside linebackers Ryan Earl and Raleigh Herbert.
Furman brought in a couple of key additions from the transfer portal to help soften the blow of losing a guy like Trey Hedden under center, with the additions of Trey Smith out of Roswell High School and Banks Bouton out of Gaffney High School.
Both are dual-threat signal-callers and will give the Paladin offense an element it lacked with Hedden under center, which is a run threat. It will be interesting to see just what the Paladins do in the portal during the off-season.
In addition to Stoneking, who garnered Walter Camp, AFCA, Associate Press, STATS Perform and FCS Central All-America honors along with First Team All-SoCon accolades, he was joined by six other Furman players to garner All-SoCon honors in 2025. Joining Stoneking as a part of the first-team All-SoCon team includes both OG Luke Petit (1st Team), TE Joshua Burrell (1st Team).
Garnering second-team All-SoCon citations were both Paladin wideout Evan James (2nd Team) and place-kicker Ian Williams (2nd Team). On the SoCon All-Freshman team, Williams was joined by defensive tackle Demetrius Baldwin and return specialist Caleb Easterling.
Wofford (6-6, 5-3 SoCon) Perhaps no team in FCS football had the type of in-season turnaround that the Wofford Terriers did, and when the Terriers started the 2025 campaign 0-5, few could have seen the team rallying to finish 6-6 overall and post a winning mark in conference play, finishing 5-3 in league action.
The Terriers, who were under the direction of fourth-year head coach, are finally starting to show some signs of returning to some of the glory years the program enjoyed mostly under Mike Ayers and for at least the first two seasons with Josh Conklin leading the program.
It hasn't been easy to get back to a .500 season. In fact, the six overall wins, which includes five in league play, are the most for the Old Gold and Black in a season since2019, when Wofford went 8-4 overall and 7-1 in league play to capture a third-straight SoCon gridiron title.
One element that Watson has really been able to maintain over the past three seasons is a consistently strong defense, and in 2025, the Terriers finished out the campaign with a unit that finished up ranking 40th in the nation in total defense (350.8 YPG), as well as completing the campaign ranking fourth in scoring defense (17.2 PPG).
It was the main ingredient that not only saw the Terriers exceed the preseason prognostications of seventh by the league's head coaches by three spots in the standings, but also it was the main component that allowed Wofford to turn its season on a dime and finish in such drastically different fashion than it started the campaign.
The other component that helped account for such a remarkable turnaround was quarterback JT Fayard returning at just the right time from injury, as he would start the final seven games of the season, leading the Terriers to a 6-1 mark in those starts. His only loss in a start came on the road, which was a 14-10 setback at East Tennessee State.
The Terriers, who started the season 0-5, and four of those losses came by a combined eight points.
The Terriers started the season on the road at South Carolina State, and while the offense struggled most of the night, the Terriers came up just short in Orangeburg, and while their defense did enough to keep them in it, it was three missed field goals, including a 42-yarder that would have won the game, which proved to be the Terriers' ultimate demise, dropping what was a 16-15 contest to the Bulldogs to open the 2025 season.
The Terriers offense was anemic, mustering just 135 yards in the game, as South Carolina State held a commanding 408-135. Wofford's points in the game came via an 89-yard kickoff return and a blocked punt recovered for a touchdown, as Wofford could never gain any traction the entire evening with Jayden Whitaker at the controls of the offense.
In fact, Whitaker finished just 6-for-21 passing for 56 yards and was sacked three times. SC State's Stubblefield, meanwhile, finished the night splitting time with Willaim Atkins IV under center for the Bulldogs. Atkins IV completed the contest connecting on 19-of-34 passes for 181 yards, while Stubblefield went 10-for-17 for 128 yards and one score, as the Bulldogs completed the season opener with 309 yards through the air.
By ground, things weren't much better, as Wofford finished the night with just 79 rushing yards on 30 attempts, averaging 2.6 yard-per-rush. Ihson Jackson-Anderson and Gerald Modest Jr. both finished with seven rushes for 27 yards to lead the Terrier ground game.
SC State didn't fare all that much better on the ground, completing the contest with 99 yards on 40 rush attempts, averaging 2.5 yards-per-attempt. KZ Adams led the Bulldogs' ground-gaining efforts by finishing the game with 39 yards on 14 attempts.
As woeful as Wofford was on offense, the kicking game was much worse. In fact, three missed field goals most assuredly cost the Terriers the football game. By contrast, South Carolina State went 3-for-4 on its field goal attempts in the game, converting from 33, 41 and 25 yards out, with the lone miss in the game coming from 48 yards.
Wofford freshman Conner Deviney missed all three attempts in excess of 40 yards in distance. Deviney missed from 48, 44 and 49 yards, respectively.
Under Shawn Watson, Wofford's defense has been solid, however, it's the offense that has yet to find its tracking entering his third full season as the head coach.
Some of that is due to quarterback stability, with Amari Odom's saga playing out as it did. When he was injured last season, the numbers for the Terriers really took a nose-dive statistically, and now this season, since leaving Wofford, Odom transferred to Kennesaw State and now is not even playing. Odom was beaten out for the starting job with the Owls by Dexter Williams II and currently is the third-string quarterback for the Owls.
As bad as Western Carolina was offensively, Wofford matched those Catamount defensive woes with an offense that might be the worst unit to take the field yet under Watson. In fact, the Terriers finished their evening in Orangeburg going just 4-for-15 on third down.
The 143 yards of total offense in the 2025 season opener against the Bulldogs was the lowest total output by Wofford in terms of total offense since the 2023 season opener against Pittsburgh, as the Terriers posted just 126 total yards on only 36 plays in the 45-7 setback to their ACC opposition.
Defensive lineman Brandon Maiana was a definite bright spot for Wofford on an otherwise dismal season-opener, posting seven tackles and two sacks, with one of those sacks resulting in Wofford points, as he sacked SC State quarterback Ryan Stubblefield in the end zone for a safety to give the Terriers a 15-9 lead with just over nine minutes remaining.
Next up for the Terriers was a battle against the Richmond Spiders, who now played their Saturday football in a new conference, competing regularly in the Patriot League.In a matchup between an old SoCon member and a newer one, it was the Spiders that would come away with the spoils, avenging last season's 26-19 defeat at the hands of Terriers at UR Stadium, the Spiders enjoyed a 14-10 win at Gibbs Stadium to even the score and take a 2-1 all-time series lead against.
Wofford's lone score of the evening came from its defense, as CJ Coombes picked off a Richmond pass and returned it 72 yards for a score, tying the game 7-7 as time expired in the opening quarter.
In a game that was offensively challenged for both teams, it would be the Spiders that would eventually come out on top, avenging last year's home defeat to the Terriers, with a 14-10 win over Wofford to bring an end to another tough Saturday for the league as a whole.
As far as the game was concerned, neither team reached 300 yards of total offense, with Wofford failing to reach 200 yards total offense for a second week in a row. After struggling to gain 135 yards in the season-opening road loss at South Carolina State. The Terrier offense, which has yet to settle on a starter under center, finished with 23 more yards this week, gaining 158 yards of total offense in week two. They say the most improvement occurs from week one to week two...It is improvement.
The Terriers had went with Jayden Whitaker under center as the starter week one against the Bulldogs. He finished 6-for-21 for 56 yards. Whitaker also gained 11 rushing yards on 10 attempts in the opener. In week two, it was Ethan Drumm's turn under center for Wofford, and against the Spiders, he would finish 12-of-25 for 112 yards.
The scariest part for Wofford is that, of its 25 combined points this season through two games, only three of them have come from an offensive drive. The other majorly scary stat is that Wofford has yet to turn the ball over this season through eight quarters, and that has probably kept scores close, as well as the Terriers' stellar play on the defensive end.
However, the defense is eventually going to run itself ragged if the offense doesn't improve. It is almost remarkable that, despite gaining less than 300 yards of total offense (296 yds) through eight quarters of football, the Terriers have managed to lose both games to start the season against reputable FCS foes by a combined five points to open the season. Neither of those teams reached the 20-point plateau. A remarkable feat by the Terrier defense, which would have required only an adequate offensive effort in either of the two games to be sitting 1-1 right now, however, the Terriers are 0-2.
Wofford's lone touchdown of the evening came when CJ Coombes picked off a Kyle Wickersham pass and scampered 72 yards to tie the game, 7-7, on the final play of the opening quarter of football. The defensive battle would continue in the second quarter, and that would remain the score as the two teams entered their respective locker rooms for halftime.
The lone points of the third quarter would come a little less than four minutes into the frame, as Sam Spence connected on a 47-yard field goal to give the Terriers a 10-7 lead. That would remain the score as the two teams entered the fourth period.
However, just over half-a-minute into the final quarter of football the Spiders came up with what proved to be the game-winning points, as Wickersham called his own number, finding the end zone on a 10-yard scoring run, completing what had been a nine-play, 54-yard scoring drive.
For the remainder of the night, the defensive minded Russ Huesman's Spiders did the job, looking much like the unit he helped lead as the defensive coordinator 18 years ago as the defensive coordinator at Richmond.
Huesman would of course go on to coach at Chattanooga from 2009-16, where he would go 1-2 as the head coach of the Mocs, with his lone coaching win at Gibbs Stadium other than that '07 win as UR's defensive coordinator coming during the 2015 season, as the Mocs picked up what was a resounding 31-13 win in Spartanburg.
In the win, Richmond out-gained Wofford 272-158, and Spiders quarterback Kyle Wickersham finished the contest by connecting on 20-of-29 passes for 153 yards, with one touchdown and one INT. He also added a scoring run to account for both Richmond touchdown responsibilities in the contest. The Spiders improved to 2-1 against the Terriers in the all-time series.
Coombes, who had that 72-yard INT return for a score, also posted five tackles and half-a-tackle-for-loss and garnered SoCon Defensive Player of the Week accolades for his efforts on Saturday.
Wofford's next game took them on the road to open SoCon play, and the task at hand wouldn't be an easy one, as the Terriers faced off against preseason league favorite and defending league champion Mercer, which was still smarting from a home opening loss to Presbyterian.
Despite Wofford's extremely challenged offense to open the first two games of the season, it would be the big-play offense of the Terriers, particularly in the passing game, which would allow them to keep pace with the reigning champions the entire evening.
The Bears claimed the 22-21 win over a Wofford team that continues to improve as the season progresses. The Terriers have now lost three games by a combined six points, as the offense continues to struggle to find its footing under a new leader under center.
On the other side, Mercer had a good offensive evening in its 2025 league debut, as the Bears rolled up 470 yards of total offense en route to improving to 7-6 all-time in SoCon openers.
Mercer took an early 10-0 lead when Reice Griffith capped off a solid 73-yard scoring drive to open the scoring on their first possession of the game. On the next possession, CJ Miller would put Mercer ahead 10-0 when he capped the drive with a 3-yard scoring run to give the Bears the two-score lead with 4:47 left in the first.
Wofford would get on the board late in the second quarter, and after nearly 10 quarters without an offensive touchdown to start the season, the Terriers finally had a breakthrough, as Ivory Aikens hauled in an 80-yard scoring strike from Ethan Drumm to make it a 10-7 game with 3:31 remaining in the half.
Mercer responded, however, using a late 40-yard field goal by Griffith as time expired in the opening half, giving the Bears the 13-7 lead at the break. The field goal was set up by freshman quarterback Braden Atkinson, who was making his first start for the Bears, connected on a beautifully thrown 32-yard pass to a wide-open Kendall Harris to set up the final points of the opening half.
In the second half, the Terriers would use their second big pass play to take what would be their first lead of the night, as Ethan Drumm connected with Isaiah Scott on a 50-yard scoring strike to make it a 14-13 Terrier lead a little less than two minutes into the second half.
The Terriers would then come up with more points, thanks in large part to their opportunistic defense, as defensive back Eli Campbell picked off a Atkinson offering and returned 53 yards before being brought down at the Mercer 10. It would eventually set up Drumm's third scoring strike of the night, as he found true freshman wideout CJ Adams streaking across the middle of the end zone for a 7-yard scoring strike, giving the Terriers the eight-point, 21-13, lead with 10:46 remaining in the third.
Griffith would tack on his third trifecta of the night, converting from 44 yards out to cut Wofford's lead to five, at 21-16, on the ensuing drive, and did so with just under seven minutes remaining in the frame. The 44-yard conversion by Griffith tied a career-long.
The Bears then took over the ball late in the third quarter and would end up getting what would prove to be the final points of the night, which also proved to ultimately be the game-winning points. CJ Miller scampered into the end zone from six yards out with 14:02 remaining to give the Bears a 22-21 lead.
The two-point conversion attempt, however, failed. The Bears' defense would do enough down the stretch to preserve the one-point win over the Terriers, with sophomore and preseason SoCon Defensive Player of the Year Andrew Zock having a lot to do with that, as he posted eight tackles and matched a school record with his 4.5 tackles-for-loss in the game.
Atkinson was stellar in his first start for the Bears, finishing the contest with 316 yards, a touchdown and two INTs on 26-of-36 passing in the game. His effort helped the Bears post a dominating 463-293 advantage in total offense, including snapping the ball 34 more times than Wofford (82-48). The Bears also dominated the time of possession, using a near 18-minute advantage in overall time of possession (38:54-21:06).
In the losing effort, Wofford was led by Drumm, who finished the night 7-of-17 passing for 175 yards and three scores. Mercer increased its lead in the all-time series on the gridiron with Wofford to 11-7 by taking its fifth-straight win over the Terriers.
At 0-3 overall and 0-1 in league play, the Terriers stepped out of league play and up a level to take on power conference member Virginia Tech, which was also looking for its first win of the season.Additionally, the Hokies were also under the direction of an interim head coach, Phillip Montgomery, who was able to help the Hokies improve to 1-3 on the season with a decisive 38-6 win over Wofford.
The Hokies raced out to a 21-0 second quarter lead following a pair opening half touchdown passes from quarterback Kyron Drones and one touchdown run from Brayden Bennett, eventually settling for a 21-3 halftime lead after a 43-yard field goal from Sam Spence with 43 seconds remaining in the half.
The Hokies got a 3-yard scoring run from Bennett with 26 seconds remaining in the opening quarter for the only points of the opening quarter before following that up with a 19-yard scoring connection from Drones to Devin Alves with just under 12 minutes to play in the half to make it a 14-0 game. Drones added an 18-yard scoring strike to Ayden Greene with 6:24 left in the half, taking a 21-0 lead. Spence's long field goal for the Terriers meant the Hokies sported an 18-point lead at the break.
The Hokies tacked on 10 more points in the third quarter, as John Love connected on a 20-yard field goal and Drones called his own number to score on a 1-yard plunge with 1:08 left in the third quarter to make it a 31-3 Hokies lead.
After Spence connected on his second field of the contest, which came from 42 yards out this time around with 13:18 left, making it a 31-6 game, the Hokies would tack on their final score of the game when Drones capped a six-play, 65-yard drive with a 2-yard scoring plunge to set the final score, at 38-6.
The Terriers stepped back into SoCon play a week later, returning home to face another of the league title favorites, in the Western Carolina Catamounts and electrifying Walter Payton Award candidate quarterback Taron Dickens, who was playing in just his third game of the season due to being suspended for the opening three games of the season.Dickens wouldn't show any rust, in fact, setting a new NCAA record for consecutive completions, as he connected on his first 46 throws of the day and would lead Western Carolina to a hard-fought 23-21 road win over the Terriers.
Dickens' 37th-straight pass connection against Wofford made him the all divisions record holder, as that previous mark was held by former East Carolina quarterback Dominique Davis, who connected on 36-straight passes spanning two games, with the final 26 coming in the Pirates' 38-35 win over Navy back in 2011. He had also completed his final 10 passes a week earlier in a game against Memphis. Dickens' mark, however, shattered that mark held by the former Pirates quarterback, setting the new standard for all divisions at 14 more completions.
All told, Dickens' 53-of-56 passing effort in the win over Wofford saw him set another NCAA record, with a 94.6 completion percentage in the win over the Terriers.
The Catamounts needed a 34-yard game-winning field goal with just 23 seconds remaining to take a two-points, 23-21, lead and on the ensuing kickoff, Wofford fumbled the football, as Isaiah Scott had the ball dislodged by WCU's Julian Quintero and then it was subsequently recovered by Armond Anderson of the Catamounts at the Wofford 25. That allowed the Catamounts to breathe easily for the first time all day, as Dickens took a knee to run out the remaining time off the clock.
What's wild is despite Western Carolina's complete domination of pretty much every statistical category, the Catamounts needed Marcus Trout's 34-yard game-winning field goal to get out of Spartanburg with the win. The Catamounts out-gained Wofford 466-241 in total offense, while also holding huge advantages in the following categories: first downs (31-8), rushing yards (88-32), passing yards (378-209), plays (93-37), and time of possession (38:46-21:14).
The wildest statistical edges are having the ball for better than 17 minutes longer than Wofford, while snapping the ball 56 more times than Wofford in the game, and yet the game was still in doubt late into the fourth quarter.
Wofford, though, averaged better than 20.9 yards per pass completion, while Western Carolina averaged just 7.1 yards-per-completion. Those stats alone are revealing, as well, as it shows the Terriers were trying to keep the play in front of them and were worried about Western's overall speed and athleticism at receiver. According to the game stats, WCU's was only averaging 6.8 yards-per-pass-attempt, while Wofford averaged 11.6 yards-per-pass-attempt.
Wofford's gameplan to keep the Catamounts from making the big play in the passing game ultimately backfired, while also allowing the Catamounts to take the yardage they were being given, and in turn, with a passer as accurate as Dickens in fact is, allowed him to have a record-setting day for consecutive connections.
Wofford would get on the board first in the game Ihson Anderson hauled in a 49-yard pass from quarterback Jayden Whitaker, giving the Terriers the early 6-0 lead and after Whitaker found Blake Shirley on a two-point conversion toss to extend the lead to 8-0 with 11:26 remaining in the quarter.
From there, Western Carolina offered a response on the ensuing possession, as you might imagine when averaging only 7.1 yards-per-pass-play and 5.0 yards-per-play overall, the Catamounts launched their first of four double-digit scoring drives. The Catamounts used 14 plays and almost an entire six minutes off the game clock before Dickens found wideout James Tyre on a 2-yard scoring toss to bring WCU to within a point, at 8-7, following Trout's PAT with 5:29 remaining in the first quarter.
The Catamounts would take their first lead of the contest late in the opening half, as Dickens capped a 13-play, 73-yard drive when he tossed his second scoring pass of the day to Tyre, which this time covered five yards, and gave the Catamounts a six-point edge, at 14-8, with 3:40 remaining in the opening half.
With the ball back and a chance to cushion its lead to double digits before the break, the Terriers defense ultimately came up with a big stop on third down, as the Catamounts were flagged for an illegal touch pass on 3rd-and-8 and were forced to punt the ball back over to the Terriers with a little less than a minute remaining in the opening half.
However, Wofford's Isaiah Scott returned Stephen Brantley's punt 66 yards for a touchdown with just 44 seconds left in the half to give the Terriers the lead back, allowing Wofford to take the momentum into the halftime locker room and 15-14 lead following Sam Spence's PAT. Dickens had finished the opening half of football at Gibbs Stadium having connected on all 27 of his passes for 183 yards and a pair of scores.
The fireworks in the second half wouldn't begin until late on in the third quarter. After Wofford, which has been plagued by problems in the kicking game all season, missed a 32-yard field goal that could have seen the Terriers extend their lead to four with just over six minutes left in the frame, and the Catamount offense would get the ball back and put points on the board late in the third quarter.
Dickens engineered an 11-play, 78-yard drive that consumed 5:06 off the game clock and culminated with his third scoring pass to Tyre of the day, as he found the freshman wideout 4-yard scoring pass to allow WCU to pull back in front at 20-15 with 45 seconds remaining in the quarter. The Catamounts' two-point conversion attempt, however, failed leaving the advantage at five points instead of six.
Just 15 seconds later, however, Wofford would restore its lead when Whitaker found Ivory Aikens on an 83-yard scoring strike to give the Terriers a 21-20 lead with 29 seconds remaining, however, Wofford's two-point conversion attempt was no-good, leaving Wofford with the narrowest of leads.
After netting three first downs and then facing a 3rd-and-3 play at the Wofford 15 early in the fourth quarter, Dickens' pass intended for tight end Brayden Blackmon fell incomplete, marking his first incompletion of the game and brought an end to record-setting passing streak at 46-consecutive completions.
With the drive having stalled, WCU head coach Kerwin Bell opted to call on freshman Marcus Trout to attempt a 32-yard field goal. However, it was blocked by Wofford's Seth Foster and the Terriers preserved their narrow one-point advantage.
Wofford then put together its most positive offensive drive of the afternoon, moving 46 yards in nine plays, and taking some much-needed time off the clock. After reaching the Catamount 29-yard line, which was just out of field goal range, the Terrier offense stayed on the field for the fourth down conversion attempt. However, WCU's Justin Wallace broke through to sack Whitaker on the fourth down play, forcing the Terriers to turn the ball over on downs.
With the ball back in its possession, Dickens and Catamount offense put together a drive that would ultimately yield the game-winning points. Dickens and the Catamount offense used 16 plays, which included three third down conversions and one fourth down conversion on a pass completion to freshman tight end Josiah Thomas to get within the Terrier red zone.
After reaching the Terrier 10, however, the Catamounts faced another crucial fourth down and with the game inside a minute remaining. The Catamounts opted for the 29-yard field goal attempt from Trout, however, a delay of game penalty pushed the ball five yards further back from the freshman kicker. The five-yard difference was not a problem for Trout, however, as he knocked through the 34-yard attempt to give WCU a 23-21 lead with 29 seconds remaining.
WCU would finish off the win by forcing a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, which was recovered by the Catamounts and Dickens took the field to take a knee in fitting fashion, capping off his record-setting afternoon in Spartanburg.
Wofford's defense had done the right thing by keeping WCU's explosive wideouts in front of them, however, unfortunately Dickens had one of those days' quarterbacks dream about.
It would have been easy for a Wofford team, which was now 0-5 overall and 0-2 in SoCon play, with two league losses by a combined three points and four losses to FCS foes by a combined eight points, for the Terriers to have mailed it in and given up and just given in to what was going to be just another tough season.
However, a week after witnessing a legendary performance from WCU's Dickens, the Terriers welcomed the legendary Michael Vick into Gibbs Stadium, as the former Virginia Tech legend was now the first-year head coach of Norfolk State, and his Spartans had won only one time in its first six games of the season, while Wofford was still hungry for its first win of the campaign. That hunger would be satisfied for the first time in 2025, as the Terriers claimed a 31-14 win over the Spartans to snap a seven-game losing skid, which dated back to the end of the 2024 season.
There was some good news for the Terriers heading into the final non-conference game in the second week of October, and that was the fact that JT Fayard was finally healthy and finally ready to lead Terriers into action for the first time in 2025. Fayard had been the best quarterback in preseason camp before suffering an injury and the former Northwestern State quarterback would begin to vitalize the Wofford offense for the first time in 2025.
With the Terriers falling behind early on a 12-yard scoring run from Elyjah Mitchell for the Spartans with 9:15 left in the opening period, it would take Fayard and the Terrier offense less than two minutes to respond, as he would find Isaiah Scott on a 22-yard scoring strike with 7:40 left in the opening quarter.
Ihson Jackson-Anderson's 3-yard scoring run with 5:35 remaining in the first half were the lone points of the second quarter, and Wofford went to the locker room holding a 14-7 lead.
Early in the third quarter, however, the Spartans would tie the game, getting on the board for the first time since the opening quarter, as Kam'Ryn Thomas hauled in a 33-yard scoring pass from Otto Kuhns to make it a 14-14 game with 11:48 remaining in the third quarter.
However, from that point, it would be all Terriers, as Wofford scored the final 17 points of the day to win their first game of the 2025 season in demonstrative fashion. First, CJ Adams would haul in a 23-yard strike from Fayard to conclude a six-play, 76-yard drive to make it a 21-14 game with 2:42 left in the third.
Sam Spence opened the fourth quarter with a 41-yard fields goal, capping a mammoth 13-play, 40-yard drive to make it a 24-14 game with 9:07 remaining. Fayard then cemented Wofford's first win of the 2025 season, as he helped engineer an 11-play, 52-yard scoring drive, which was eventually capped off by a 2-yard scoring run from Gerald Modest Jr. with 1:55 left, capping the contest and setting the final margin, 31-14.
Next up for the Terriers would be the annual rivalry game with Furman, and the confidence gained from a week earlier in a non-conference win over Norfolk State would also prove beneficial to the Terriers in their meeting against arch-rival Furman, as the Terriers stepped back into league play.
For the third-straight year, Wofford would limit the Paladins to just 13 points and would also pick up a third-straight win in the series, as Wofford went on to a 31-13 win over the Paladins.
The Terriers held a narrow 329-325 edge in total yards in the game, and for most of the afternoon, had firm control of a game that would end up turning out to be their second win of the season, and first of what would be five league wins.
Wofford's revamped offense was clicking once again with JT Fayard at the controls, as he finished the contest by connecting on 18-of-25 passes for 179 yards and a pair of touchdowns, as the Terriers would use a pair of first half touchdown to Colby Alexander (hauled in a 29-yd scoring pass from Fayard in the first quarter) and a scoring toss to Terrence Honeywood (hauled in a 23-yard pass from Fayard in the 2nd quarter), as Wofford went to the half with a somewhat surprising 21-6 lead. It had arguably been the best half of the season put together by the Terriers.
Despite the fact that the Paladins would open the half with a 4-yard scoring run from Gavin Hall to get back to within eight points with just over five minutes left in the third quarter, making it a 21-13 game, the Terriers would tack on a pair of fourth quarter scores to put the game away, as Javario Tinch picked off a Trey Hedden pass and returned it 66 yards for a score, while the final points of the day would come from a 42-yard field goal by Sam Spence, setting the final margin at 18.
Last season, both Wofford and ETSU engaged in a defensive struggle at Gibbs Stadium, with the Bucs going out the victors, eventually wearing the Terriers down en route to a 24-7 win in Spartanburg.
The 2025 clash would have that toughness and defensive grit to it like it had a year earlier and just like the '24 clash, the Bucs would in the end be the victor, although the score would be a lot closer.
ETSU would claim what was a 14-10 win over Wofford in a game that would see the Bucs defense hold the Terriers scoreless in the second half en route to a third-straight win in the series against the Terriers.
Fayard would put together a decent afternoon passing the ball, connecting on 22-of-29 passes for 145 yards, while Gerald Modest Jr. rushed for 80 yards and Ihson Jackson added 70, as the Terriers would be held to just 307 yards of total offense on the day, as they would held in check for most of the matchup by the Bucs defensive unit.
Wofford's lone touchdown of the afternoon would come from Colby Alexander, as he scored on a 17-yard run to tie the game, 7-7, midway through the opening quarter.
The Terriers' only other points in the contest would come with 8:34 remaining in the half, as Sam Spence's 34-yard field goal made it a 14-10 deficit at the break. Neither team would be able to find points in the second half, and the Bucs would hold a slight 323-307 advantage in total offense in the win. The loss would mark the only setback the Terriers would suffer the rest of the season.
It wouldn't take long for the Terriers to find their rhythm once again, as Samford paid a visit to Gibbs Stadium a week later and it would prove to be a "get right" game for the Terriers.
The Wofford defense would do its part in helping the Terriers take down the Bulldogs on this afternoon, and despite the Terrier offense generating just 191 yards of total offense, despite giving up 351 yards on the day, which included 332 through the air, Wofford's defense only surrendered 16 points in what was a 26-16 win in front of almost 5,000 fans on-hand at Gibbs Stadium.
The Terriers returned two Samford passes for scores in the contest, with All-SoCon defensive back Maximus Pulley coming up with the first of the two, as he would return Charlie Gillam pass 25 yards for a score to tie the game. 7-7, with just under 10 minutes remaining in the opening quarter of play.
The touchdown return by Pulley actually answered the opening score of the day, which came from Samford, as Charlie Gilliam tossed a 2-yard scoring pass on Samford's first possession of the day to get the Bulldogs on the board first. It would turn out to be the lone advantage the Bulldogs would hold the entire afternoon.
Gerald Modest Jr. would get the Wofford offense on the board for the first time in the game, as he scored on a 5-yard run into the end zone after a Pulley pick set the Wofford offense up with great field position after an INT at the Samford 17. Modest's score gave the Terriers a 14-7 lead with 8:50 left in the opening quarter.
Samford then tacked on a Jake Garner 23-yard field goal to get the deficit back to four late in the opening quarter. Both teams were scoreless in the second quarter, and Wofford took a 14-10 lead into the half.
Early in the third quarter, Wofford's third INT of the game would result in its second pick-six of the contest, as Eli Mitchell picked off another Gilliam pass and raced 42 yards for the score to make it a 21-10 Terriers lead.
Two-straight field goals of 25 and 30 yards, respectively, got the Bulldogs back to within five points, at 21-16, with 4:13 remaining in the third quarter. Wofford finished off the win, however, with a safety from Brandon Maina with 1:01 remaining in the third quarter, as he sacked the Bulldogs quarterback in the end zone to extend the Wofford lead to 21-16.
Then in the fourth quarter, the Terriers finished off their third win of the season when Sam Spence put the finishing touches on a nine-play, 55-yard drive for Wofford by connecting on a 25-yard field goal.
Wofford followed up the win over Samford by going on the road to Lexington, VA, and produced potentially its signature win of the season, as the Terriers routed VMI, 52-10, at Foster Stadium.
Wofford's offense would record its top performance of the season, rolling up 507 yards of total offense, which included 375 through the air, en route to scoring a season-high 52 points. The Terriers' opportunistic defense was at it once again, forcing three VMI turnovers in the contest.
Wofford, which improved to 4-6 overall and 3-3 in SoCon action, got another big passing day from JT Fayard, who finished his afternoon by connecting on 22-of-33 passes for 365 yards and five touchdowns, while Ivory Aikens was a thorn in the side of the Keydets secondary all day, posting four catches, with three of those going for scores. Isaiah Scott finished his day with five catches for 113 yards.
The Keydets were led by quarterback Chandler Wilson, who finished with 138 passing yards.
It was VMI actually that took the lead in the game, as the Keydets used a 73-yard pass from Wilson-to-Morgan McPhaul to move the ball to the Wofford 1. Three plays later on a 4th-and-1 play, Wilson connected with Owen Sweeney for a 7-0 Keydets lead following the PAT.
From that point, it would be all Wofford, as the Terriers would score 45 unanswered points before VMI would get on the scoreboard again. Wofford starting the scoring onslaught in the second quarter when Sam Spence booted through a 24-yard field goal before Ivory Aikens added a 5-yard scoring catch to make it a 10-7 Wofford lead with 3:44 remaining in the half. That would remain the score as the two teams entered the halftime locker room.
Wofford then added five-straight touchdowns, including three of which came in the third quarter, stretching its lead to 31-7. Aikens would first haul in a 59-yard scoring strike from Fayard less than 90 seconds into the second half, giving the Terriers the 17-7 lead.
With just under six minutes remaining in the quarter, Fayard connected with Terrence Honeywood on a 6-yard strike for a 24-7 lead with 5:55 left in the third. Aikens capped the quarter with his third scoring catch of the day, hauling in an 18-yard strike from Fayard following a turnover forced by Wofford's defense to set up the Terrier offense deep in Keydets territory. Aikens score with 3:24 remaining in the third gave Wofford a 31-7 lead.
In the fourth quarter, the explosiveness from the Wofford passing attack would continue, as Isaiah Scott hauled in a 77-yard scoring strike from Fayard before Maximus Pulley intercepted his second pass of the game, returning this one 50 yards for a score and a 45-7 Wofford lead with 13:25 remaining.
VMI would finally get back on the scoreboard when Jack Joyce connected on a 30-yard field goal with 8:37 remaining to make it a 45-10 game.
However, that left just enough time for one more trip to the end zone for Wofford, as Isaiah Nell put the final nail in VMI's coffin with a 14-yard scoring scamper, settling the final score, at 52-10.
Before a crowd of over 12,000 fans on-hand at Johnson-Hagood Stadium for the rivalry/homecoming contest, Wofford was able to capture a 16-14 win against its Palmetto State rival from the Low Country, The Citadel, Saturday afternoon in the battle for the 'Big Dog' trophy.
The Terriers, who held a slight advantage in total offense (369-367), raced out to a 9-0 halftime lead on a CJ Adams 11-yard scoring catch from quarterback JT Fayard, as the two-point conversion attempt failed. The lone points of the second quarter came via the right foot of Sam Spence, who knocked through a 29-yard field goal to give the Terriers a 9-0 lead with only 23 seconds left in the opening half of football.
The Bulldogs would finally get on the board midway through the third quarter, as Jihad Marks hauled in a 34-yard scoring pass from quarterback Quentin Hayes, which finally gave Bulldogs fans something to cheer about with 8:46 remaining in the third quarter.
However, early in the fourth quarter, the Terriers restored their nine-point advantage when Gerald Modest Jr. scored on a 2-yard run on fourth-and-goal just four seconds into the final 15 minutes of football, which concluded an impressive eight-play, 86-yard drive for Wofford, giving the Terriers the 16-7 lead.
The Bulldogs responded with an 11-yard scoring run from Quentin Hayes, which allowed The Citadel to pull within two, at 16-14, with just over five minutes remaining.
The Bulldogs defense then did its job by forcing the Wofford offense into a three-and-out and a punt.
With the Bulldogs having the football back in their possession, The Citadel posted a pair of first downs and one of those came on a pass interference penalty. Eventually the Bulldogs would move the ball inside Wofford territory to the 37, but Quentin Hayes' pass was intercepted by Eli Campbell at the Terrier 21 on 4th-and-9, and the Terriers took over the ball with 1:42 remaining. One has to wonder if attempting a field goal when down by two points here might be something that could be questioned here.
The Bulldogs would burn all three timeouts, and only 20 seconds came off the clock before The Citadel would the ball back with one more opportunity to win the game. However, the Terriers defense stood strong and forced an incompletion on 4th-and-3 to ultimately take over the football and run off the remaining time on the clock to escape Charleston with a big win over one of its two in-state rivals.
In fact, in avenging a 30-17 home loss on Senior Day to the Bulldogs last season with Saturday's 16-14 win in Charleston, the Terriers have now gone 2-0 against both Furman and The Citadel in two out of the past three seasons.
Gerald Modest Jr. led the Terriers with 99 yards and one touchdown on 13 attempts, while JT Fayard connected on 18-of-34 passes for 210 yards with one TD and no picks. Quentin Hayes completed 12-of-19 passes for 153 yards, with a touchdown and an INT, while also rushing 22 times for 78 yards and another score.
The final act of the 2025 football season would fittingly come in Spartanburg for Wofford, and it would come against a Chattanooga program that has owned Wofford on the gridiron in recent seasons, having posted five-straight wins in the series over the Terriers.
However, before a crowd of 3,091 fans on the final day of the regular season at Gibbs Stadium, the Terriers would put an end to the Mocs' string of wins in the series in emphatic fashion, sending Chattanooga back to the Scenic City and into the offseason saddled with a 35-13 loss.
The win meant the Terriers had evened their record at 6-6, which included a 5-3 mark in SoCon play after a rough 0-5 start to the season. It also marked the first time Wofford finished a season at .500 or above since 2019.
Wofford finished off its final game of 2025 by outgaining Chattanooga, 371-300, which included another solid passing effort, as the Terriers put up 244 yards through the air and another 127 on the ground. The Terrier defense would also continue to do its thing in the regular-season finale, limiting the Mocs to just 85 yards on the ground in the game.
It was another solid performance for JT Fayard under center, as he finished his day completing 22-of-28 passes for 244 yards and three scores, and finished the season with a 6-1 record as the Terriers' starting signal-caller. Gerald Modest Jr. turned in a solid day on the ground, finishing his day with 76 yards and two scores.
Chattanooga would be led by freshman quarterback Battle Alberson, who finished his day connecting on 21-of-32 passing for 215 yards with one INT. Journey Wyche led the Mocs on the ground, finishing out the game with 53 yards and one touchdown on the ground.
Wofford would get on the board twice before Chattanooga knew what had hit them. First, Fayard found Colby Alexander on a 22-yard scoring strike just 1:45 into game, making it a 7-0 game. Wofford needed only five plays to cover the 75 yards to get the game's opening points.
Early in the second quarter, Wofford would make it 14-0 when Gerald Modest Jr. scampered in from two yards out, capping a short four-play, 32-yard scoring drive after a poor, 28-yard punt from UTC's Heath Jehu and a holding penalty that set Wofford up in great field position.
Midway through the second quarter, the Mocs would cut Wofford's lead in half when former Terrier running back Ryan Ingram scored on a 3-yard run to conclude a nine-play, 55-yard drive, which made it a 14-7 game with 7:54 left in the first half.
Wofford would respond accordingly, and after gaining three first downs, the Terriers capped the 70-yard drive on the eighth play of the drive, as Modest Jr. found his way to the end zone on a 14-yard scamper, increasing the Wofford lead to 21-7 with 4:50 left in the opening half.
Chattanooga wouldn't go quietly, however, at least in the first half anyway, as Journey Wyche capped a 12-play, 75-yard scoring drive with a 21-yard run with just 13 seconds remaining in the half, as the score would make it a 21-13 game. However, Wofford carried a little morsel of momentum into the halftime locker room by blocking the PAT, keeping the Mocs deficit at eight.
In the second half, Wofford would do all the scoring, as the Terriers added a pair of scores in the third and fourth quarters to finish out the game and the 2025 season. The defense also did its part by keeping Chattanooga out of the end zone over the final 30 minutes of action.
With 10:02 remaining in the third quarter, Ivory Aikens hauled in a 3-yard pass from Fayard to make it a 15-point Wofford lead, at 28-13. The short scoring drive of 29 yards was set up by a Maximus Pulley INT.
The final score of 2025 for Wofford come five seconds into the final quarter, as Isaiah Scott hauled in a four-yard scoring pass, concluding an eight-play, 70-yard scoring drive to make it a 35-13 game.
Wofford's finish to the 2025 season is a story of resilience and perseverance, and now how much momentum that is retained will depend largely on how much talent can be retained by head coach Shawn Watson moving forward into the 2026 season.
One of those players not returning is senior defensive back Maximus Pulley, who was Wofford's best player on either side of the football in 2025.
The Terriers are sure to be a factor in some way in the SoCon race and with some key pieces returning on both sides of the ball, expect the bar to be raised a little and prognostications for even more success heading into 2026.
Chattanooga (5-7, 4-4 SoCon)
Chattanooga was picked to finish second in the Southern Conference at the preseason media day in Greenville, S.C., but it was always going to be a tough ask for the Mocs, who were a team that had many unanswered questions entering the season and it would end up being a season which would end up being a forgettable one.
One of the biggest questions facing head coach Rusty Wright and his Mocs entering the 2025 season was how would they manage one of the toughest non-conference slates in the history of the program. The other major question facing Chattanooga in 2026 was what would be the answer at quarterback.
With Chase Artopoueus having moved on, there would be an open competition for his replacement. Camden Orth transferred into the program from Bowling Green would end up winning the job in the preseason, but by the end of the season, it would be freshman signal-caller Battle Alberson showed the promise of a bright future ahead for the Mocs under center.
Chattanooga's season could best be described as one that was a roller-coaster ride for much of the campaign, but it seemed like there were fewer 'ups' and then there were 'downs' during the 2025 season for the Mocs.
The season would end up being a crossroads for the program, as Chattanooga finished with just a 5-7 mark. Losses on the road at Memphis (L, 10-45), No. 17 Tennessee Tech (L, 17-45) and No. 3 Tarleton State (L, 24-52) were expected, however, the two FCS losses and the margin of those losses was somewhat surprising.
The Mocs did record their lone non-conference win against one of the weakest teams in FCS football, recording a 63-0 win over Stetson in the home opener in a game that saw the Mocs' ground game roll up 445 yards in the win.
The Mocs then opened up conference play with a home game against The Citadel and dropped a disappointing 28-10 contest to the Bulldogs in a game that saw the Mocs surprisingly flat for their Southern Conference opener.
Chattanooga would score first, as Justus Durant scored on a 5-yard run. However, the Bulldogs would hit back with 14-straight points on a Cobey Thompkins scoring strike to Whit Hobgood that covered 14 yards, while the second score would come early in the second quarter on a 9-yard run from Quentin Hayes, giving the Mocs a 14-7 lead.
After Jude Kelley connected on a 34-yard field goal to break up the scoring before Garrison Johnson Sr. scored on a 26-yard run to give the Bulldogs all the momentum heading into the second half, as well as a 21-10 lead.
While Chattanooga would be held scoreless in the second half, the Bulldogs iced the win late in the third quarter, as Hayes finished off The Citadel's third rushing score of the afternoon when he found the end zone on a 20-yard run to complete the road upset for The Citadel.
All told, the Bulldogs would roll up 433 yards of total offense, which included 336 on the ground in the win. The Citadel ended the day outgaining the Mocs, 433-321.
Chattanooga responded to that loss by going on the road and getting what was a 21-14 win at VMI using a strong defensive performance to get their bounce back win. The Mocs for a pair of second quarter scores and one in the third quarter to account for all the points they would need in their win at Foster Stadium.
In the second quarter, Josh Williams would haul in a 6-yard pass from quarterback Camden Orth on the first play of the second period, while Ryan Ingram would cap the second quarter with an 8-yard scoring run, giving the Mocs a 14-3 lead at the break.
In the third quarter, VMI made it interesting when Anthony Allen returned an Orth errant pass for 75 yards and a touchdown and following a successful two-point play, the Keydets had cut Chattanooga's lead to just a field goal, at 14-11.
The only points for the remainder of the game for the Mocs, however, would come later in the third quarter, as Ryan Ingram capped off an eight-play, 65-yard scoring drive with a 10-yard scamper to make it a 21-11. The Keydets added a 31-yard field goal in the fourth quarter, which accounted for the only points, as the Mocs defense held serve the rest of the way.
Following a bye week, the Mocs returned home to face arch-rival East Tennessee State in the Rail Rivalry game, and the game would offer a defining high point for the season for the Mocs, as Chattanooga rallied in the final seven minutes and overcame a 17-point deficit to post a thrilling 42-38 win.
It was Chattanooga's sixth-straight rivalry win over the Bucs and it was a thriller that featured six lead changes, and included 42 points in the fourth quarter, as the two teams combined to gain over 1,000 yards en route to posting a combined 80 points. The game had it all, including a fake field goal, which came from the Mocs in third quarter after Rusty Wright opted to go to his bag of tricks when placekicker Jude Kelley scored on an eight-yard run in the third quarter, which gave the Mocs a 21-10 lead.
ETSU then decided to go on a run, ripping off 28 unaswered points to seemingly take full command of the game.
Capping the scoring flurry by the Bucs was a 49-yard scoring run from Devontae Houston gave the Bucs a 38-21 lead with 10:17 remaining, giving the Mocs a tough task to manage the rest of the way. Chattanooga had to work quickly to get back in the game and give itself a legitimate chance to complete the near miraculous comeback.
With 7:20 remaining, Josh Williams hauled in a 22-yard scoring pass from Camden Orth to complete a six-play, 85-yard drive, cutting the Bucs lead to 38-28.
Following a stop by the Mocs defense, the offense got the ball back and wasted little time in put more points on the board, using six more plays to cover 80 yards this time around, as Jamarri Robinson hauled in a 20-yard scoring strike from Orth to make it a 38-35 game with 2:29 remaining. All told, in two drives the Mocs covered 165 yards in 12 plays, using just over four minutes to amass 14 points.
On ETSU's ensuing drive, instead of kicking a field goal, the Bucs opted to go for it on 4th-and-1 at the UTC 32, however, Jason Albritton was stonewalled in the backfield for a 1-yard loss, bringing the collective roar from the 9.300 fans in attendance.
The Mocs then went about getting the game-winning points and it was Robinson to the rescue once again, as he hauled in a 4-yard pass from Orth with 11 seconds remaining, giving the Mocs the lead, at 42-38, and concluding an 11-play, 67-yard drive to finish out the scoring and finish off a memorable win.
Orth finished off a strong day under center by connecting on 20-of-32 passes for 343 yards along with four TD tosses and no INTs.
Following the thrilling win over Chattanooga made the short trip to battle the Samford Bulldogs, and the Mocs had little trouble sweeping past the Bulldogs on the road, 49-13.
The victory was keyed by 35 unaswered points from the Mocs, which spanned from late in the opening quarter until early in the final quarter, as UTC overturned a 7-0 deficit to take a 35-7 lead just 13 seconds into the final frame when Jamarri Robinson hauled in a 42-yard bomb from Orth, giving the Mocs complete control of the proceedings.
Chattanooga would end up garnering a 49-13 win in Homewood, rolling up 429 yards in the process, which included 257 yards on the ground, as the Mocs would end the afternoon outgaining the Bulldogs, 257-94, on the ground in the win.
The big day on the ground for Chattanooga was highlighted by Solomon Locke, who finished the contest by putting together his first ever 100-yard rushing performance with a 115 yards and a pair of scores on just five rush attempts, averaging a ridiculous 23.0 YPC in the win.
Next up for Chattanooga was a return to the Scenic City and Finley Stadium for a Homecoming battle against a Western Carolina team, which was once again hastily trying to chase down destiny.
The Mocs were just trying to put the finishing touches on a strong finish to the 2025 football season and an end to a three-game winning streak in the series by the Catamounts. While the Catamounts had never raised a title trophy before, it's rare that the Mocs had been relegated to playing the role of spoiler in games such as these, however, that would indeed be the case when the two teams met on the first day of November.
In keeping with the theme of the previous three meetings, the game would also come down to the wire before the Catamounts would come up with a thrilling 35-28 win. It would be Chattanooga's second win in as many trips to Finley Stadium.
The Catamounts actually had a two-touchdown lead in the fourth quarter when Michael Robinson hauled in a 10-yard scoring strike from Walter Payton Award candidate Taron Dickens, as the Purple and Gold assumed a 35-21 lead with 9:26 remaining.
The Mocs would strike back quickly, however, as Justus Durant found paydirt from eight yards out to get the Mocs to within a touchdown with 7:40 remaining.
Even more drama would unfold late, as the Mocs defense came up with a huge fourth down stop at the five-minute mark of the final frame, and the offense was intent on driving down for the potential game-tying or winning score, as the Mocs offense advanced all the way down to the WCU two-yard line inside the final minute.
However, an INT in the end zone with only seconds remaining would ultimately seal the Mocs' fate, as Chattanooga fell to 4-5 overall and 3-2 in league play, with the loss pretty much sealing the Mocs' playoff fate if there had been any to begin with. The loss marked UTC's fourth-straight in the series, and that now marks WCU's longest run of success in the series against Chattanooga.
The Mocs did finish the afternoon with the statistical advantage in total yards gained, as they outgained the Catamounts, 399-356, on the day, with the 356 yards gained by Western Carolina one of the lowest outputs of the season with Dickens under center.
When Furman paid a visit to Finley Stadium a week later, it would be a chance for the Mocs to start anew in a sense, and that meant a new man leading the offense, in true freshman Battle Alberson.
The Mocs would all behind early but by the time the opening half had come-to a close, Chattanooga had all the momentum that early at least, seemed to belonged to the Paladins. However, it was Chattanooga that owned the second half and was able to put away Furman
The Paladins played tit-for-tat for much of the opening half. Furman took a 7-0 lead when Ben Croasdale scored on a 9-yard run to cap an impressive 91-yard scoring drive, which used nine plays, as Furman assumed a 7-0 lead with 2:20 remaining in the first quarter.
Chattanooga would answer right back early in the second when Battle Alberson tossed his first-career scoring pass, finding tight end Landon Strickland on a 25-yard scoring strike in the corner of the end zone to tie the game, 7-7, with 13:40 remaining in the half.
From there, the Paladins would retake the lead when CJ Nettles scored on a 3-yard run to give the Paladins the 14-7 lead with 7:17 remaining in the half.
Alberson did a nice job of knowing the right times in the game to utilize his abilities as a run threat, and that would be particularly true most of the afternoon, but on the ensuing drive it was his arm that he would utilize to get the Mocs level, finding Josh Williams for a 66-yard score with 3:29 remaining in the opening half. The drive needed only two plays and covered just 69 yards in totality, which took 54 seconds off the clock.
Furman wasn't done scoring either in the half, however, as Paladin quarterback Trey Hedden found wideout Kerry King on a 9-yard scoring strike following a short, 23-yard scoring drive, which was set up by a 76-yard kickoff return from Caleb Easterling. It gave the Paladins their third lead of the game, at 21-14, with just 3:21 remaining in the half.
The Mocs would cap the chaotic scoring flurry over the final seven minutes when they would score once more with the deep ball, as Alberson connected with Markell Quick for a 47-yard score after he had gotten behind the Paladin defense.
In the final 1:21, however, Furman would threaten to take the lead into the locker room, however, after the Paladin offense reached the Mocs' four-yard line, the Paladins had to settle for a 21-yard field goal attempt after Chattanooga's defense held serve. Williams' 21-yard attempt as time expired was blocked by the Mocs defensive tackle CJ Smith, and the two teams went to the half tied, 21-21, but it was clear that the Mocs had all the momentum.
On the opening drive of the second half, the Mocs would continue off that momentum and would take the lead when on just the fourth play of the second half, Mocs defensive lineman Ky Tayo picked off a Hedden pass and scampered 51 yards for the score, giving the Mocs a 28-21 lead less than two minutes into the second half.
The Mocs defense held the Paladins to a three-and-out, and on Chattanooga's first offensive drive of the second half, Jude Kelley extended UTC's lead to 10, at 31-21, as he converted a 31-yard field goal with 4:18 remaining in third quarter.
Furman's only points of the second half would come a little more than a minute later, as Hedden found Freshman All-American wideout Evan James for a 43-yard scoring strike, getting the Paladins to within a field goal, at 31-28, with 2:57 remaining.
The fourth quarter belonged to the Mocs, as Journey Wyche added a 1-yard scoring plunge and a 25-yard scoring catch, and the Mocs forced a fumble and intercepted another Hedden pass, closing out the impressive 45-28 win.
For Alberson, it was quite the debut under center, as he connected on 15-of-22 throws for 277 yards and four TDs, and no INTs. He was also Chattanooga's second-leading rusher, with 85 rushing yards on just seven attempts, leading a Mocs offense that ended the day with a 529-368 edge in total yards.
Chattanooga's next test came on the road at No. 8 and playoff bound Mercer, who had a lot to play for. The Bears had just knocked off Western Carolina, 49-47. on the road in an epic thriller between a pair of SoCon unbeatens to secure at least a share of a second-straight outright SoCon title.
The rookie Alberson may have had a dream start to his career, but the game against the Bears must have seemed more like a nightmare, as the Bears walloped the Mocs, 63-17, looking like they would present a formidable challenge in the postseason.
Chattanooga would get outgained 545-198 in total yardage, and as head coach Rusty Wright said after the game "We just got out our butts beat all night and that includes me," the seventh-year head coach said after the 46-point loss.
After UTC scored on a 24-yard field goal from Jude Kelley after true freshman Kamarri Todd picked off a Braden Atkinson territory and returned it 34 yards to the Mercer 24 to set up the Mocs offense in the red zone for their first possession of the day. However, the Mocs would only generate six yards in four plays against the Mercer defense, and had to settle for a trifecta rather than seven points.
Following the Mocs' brief 3-0 lead, the rest of the game would belong to the Bears. Mercer would score the next 56 points, taking a 56-3 lead when Bears running back CJ Miller scampered into the end zone with 4:22 remaining in the third quarter.
The Mocs tacked on a pair of touchdowns against Mercer's reserves to open the final quarter, as Markell Quick hauled in a 7-yard pass from Battle Alberson and Ryan Ingram plunged over from a yard out later in the quarter to make it a 56-17 game.
However, with 2:37 left, Mercer backup quarterback DJ Smith's 31-yard scoring run punctuated the Bears beatdown of Chattanooga, adding one more sting to into the festering wound, as the Bears finished off the 46-point, 63-17 win.
If that game was forgettable, so would the final road trip of the season to Wofford, where the Mocs traveled to do battle with a Terriers team that had gotten hot over the latter portion of the season, and after having started 1-5, the Terriers had won four of their last five games to come into the final game of the regular-season against Chattanooga with a chance to post their first .500 or better season since 2019.
Add to that the extra incentive of ending a five-game Chattanooga winning streak in the series and it was too much Wofford mojo to overcome. Add to that the fact that the Mocs turned it over three times and could only muster 300 yards against the Terriers' stout defensive unit, and it would all eventually equate to a 35-13 loss to close out a tough season.
The 5-7 campaign certainly won't be anything to write home about for Rusty Wright's crew, and after initially seemingly building some momentum going forward after such a strong finish a couple of years ago, you have to wonder if the Mocs have taken a step back or two over the past couple of seasons.
The losing season marked Chattanooga's first below .500 season since Tom Arth's first season at the helm in 2017 and it was only the Mocs' third losing season in the past 17 years. The Mocs finished 3-8 in 2017 and 1-11 in 2008, accounting for the other two losing campaigns within that aforementioned span.
The missing ingredient for the Mocs over the past two seasons has been at quarterback. Frankly, in the portal era, it's not been good for a majority of the teams in the league, particularly the last two seasons, outside of places like Western Carolina and Mercer, as a of the league has really struggled to either develop the guys they have had, or find a quick fix from the portal.
Chattanooga has kind of experienced both of those worlds. Chase Artopoeus had been good in 2023, and then there was that bizarre ending in 2024, which left the job to Luke Schomburg. Schomburg had a little momentum and some playoff experience and even led the Mocs to their first postseason road win in school history over Austin Peay.
However, that momentum came to a screeching halt when he took the reins of the offense for UTC over the final four games in 2024. In a game at Western Carolina, he made some costly miscues that proved to be a game which likely ended up costing the Mocs a golden opportunity at a second-straight trip to the postseason.
Matthew Clemmer, who is the other quarterback in the Mocs' system, has some promising talent but hasn't taken that next proverbial step, and with the one-year quick fix being Camden Orth, who was adequate, but not a quarterback that was going to help this program take the next step, the ball was then placed in the capable hands of talented freshman Battle Alberson, who brought in some mixed results over the final three games, but there's plenty more good than bad as far as him being a quarterback that can potentially flourish in the Scenic City should he opt to stick around.
Maybe more concerning for the Mocs as a whole moving forward is the decline on the defensive side of the ball, as the Mocs finished a woeful 91st nationally in total defense (401.3 YPG) out of 126 FCS teams. That is uncharted territory for a Chattanooga defense.
The Mocs' 401.3 yards-per-game marks the first time in 16 years that a Chattanooga defense has surrendered over 400 YPG at the end of the season, as well as marking the 12th time a UTC defense has surrendered 400 or more YPG in a season since 1951.
Another alarming stat is the 33.0 PPG given up by the Mocs in 2025, which ranked No. 100 out of 126 statistically ranked teams in FCS from this past season. That is the most points-per-game surrendered by a UTC defense since 2017 when the Mocs gave up 34.2 PPG in Arth's first of his two campaigns as the head coach.
The Mocs football program has more questions than answers for the second-consecutive offseason, and with things so fluid during the portal era until more guardrails are put into place, it's been hard to establish continuity and slow down the pace of how fast it's all seemingly going at this point to get a plan in place and cultivate a culture, which is something both former head coach Russ Huesman and current head coach Rusty Wright were and are best at doing. Now things are much different, and it will depend on how Wright adapts to this new college football microwave culture that will determine his own fate in the Scenic City.
And while I say that is true for Wright, it's also true for every coach at the FCS level that values culture and family atmosphere within their respective programs, with the tentacles of this new college football NIL/transfer portal era even touching some of the "untouchables programs" like North Dakota State, South Dakota State and even the Montana schools to an extent.
As long as this level remains in so much flux, the harder it is going to be to get back to where we saw this thing from 1982-2019. In that former span, FCS had some great years, but ultimately what we have had after COVID has been a zombie FCS football that is a shadow of its former life in a different era. During its former era, there was with a higher level of performance from its best teams all the way down to its worst teams. Bottom line what we are seeing now is a vastly different product and it has zero to do with coaching.
I think what you'll see is a diluted product of what we once all loved about FCS football, and that was that we as a subclassification, could compete with anyone, any place at any time, and I am talking about the best at this level being able to give the best at the next level some concerns. I fear that is something that has been lost in all of this. One day very soon, App State's upset of Michigan in 2007 will seem like one of the real anomalies of college football, and something that, as we get further removed with huge hauls of transfer turnover every year, is more impossible now than when App State did it in the first place. One day very soon, a win over Troy by a good FCS team will soon seem like App State's upset of FBS No. 5 Michigan.
The Bottom Three:
While Chattanooga had a less than stellar season, The Citadel (4-8, 3-5 SoCon), Samford (1-11, 1-7 SoCon) and VMI (1-11, 0-8 SoCon) rounded out the league standings, with two of those programs making leadership changes. For The Citadel, it was a step back season under third-year head coach Maurice Drayton after the Bulldogs had taken some steps forward as a program in 2024.
For both Samford and VMI, those two programs had been on the decline in each of the past two seasons. You could even make the argument that the decline has been even a little bit longer for the Bulldogs, which won 11 games and a Southern Conference outright title back in 2022 before bowing out of the FCS Playoffs in the second round in a loss at North Dakota State.
The Bulldogs followed with a six-win season in 2023 and then five last season before a disastrous 2025 campaign, which saw the Bulldogs post their worst season in their history as an NCAA Division I football program. It was enough for Samford to make the move before the conclusion of the season.
Samford and VMI went a combined 2-22 in 2025, with wins coming against Ferrum and VMI in the head-to-head matchup between the Keydets and Bulldogs.
VMI went a combined 1-15 in SoCon football in each of the past two seasons, and though Danny Rocco wasn't officially let go, he took an administrative role as a part of James Franklin's staff at Virginia Tech, announcing it just after the season.
The Citadel's 2025 season was not all bad and not all good, but there are some things for head coach Maurice Drayton to build on moving forward, and that is being one of only two programs in the SoCon to return its starting quarterback to the fold this fall, in Quentin Hayes.
Hayes, who split time with Cobey Thompson after transferring in from Air Force, will have full control of Drayton's ground-based option attack next fall. If the 2025 season showed us anything about The Citadel, it reflected a program that has become intent on getting back to the basics of running the football and was very much an OG Bulldogs offense last season.
The Citadel finished the season averaging 210.6 YPG on the ground to rank ninth nationally in rushing offense. The Bulldogs were outscored a combined 74-0 against both ranked FCS foes it faced in 2025, as The Citadel faced both No. 1 North Dakota State and No. 25 Mercer at Johnson-Hagood Stadium in 2025. The Bulldogs also lost a pair of home heartbreakers to Western Carolina (L, 45-38) and Wofford (L, 16-14) this past season, as the Bulldogs finished with just a 2-4 mark at home in 2025.
New Men In Charge:
As for Samford's Chris Hatcher, he didn't even make until the end of the season, as he was let-go following the Bulldogs' final SoCon game of the season, which was a 38-14 home loss against ETSU.
Shortly after the conclusion of the 2025 season, Samford hired Clemson defensive analyst John Grass. VMI made its decision as one of the last teams in the nation that had a coaching vacancy, as the Keydets decided on bringing in Ashley Ingram takes the reins at VMI, and he made quite the impact hire, bringing in former The Citadel head coach Brent Thompson to take the reins of the offense as his offensive coordinator.
Ingram becomes the 34th head coach of the VMI football program, having spent successful stints at both Carson-Newman and the Naval Academy in his career, and it signals the return of the Keydets return to a dedicated ground game.
Prior to his arrival in Lexington to become the new head coach of the Keydets, Ingram spent the past two seasons as the head coach of the Carson-Newman Eagles, leading the program to a 16-6 overall mark in two seasons, including a 13-4 mark against South Atlantic Conference competition.
Ingram took over a Carson-Newman program that had been 5-6 in the season prior to his arrival, and in his first season as the head coach, he helped the Eagles post quite the turnaround, as he led the Eagles to a 9-3 mark, which included an impressive 7-1 mark in the SAC, claiming the SAC Mountain Division title. He became the first coach in the storied history of Carson-Newman football to ever lead the program an NCAA Division II Playoff bid in their first season as the head coach.
During his time as the head coach of the Eagles, Ingram's teams ran the triple-option attack, which has all but been phased out at most places entirely due to the blocking rule changes in college football. While the head coach at Carson-Newman, Ingram's offenses averaged 265.8 YPG, with two of his players--running back Jayden Sullins and defensive back Major Williams--garnering All-America accolades during his time as head coach.
With the hiring of Ingram, it signals VMI's return to an option ground game, which hearkens back to former ground games of the late 1980s and most of the 1990s under the likes of guys like Jim Shuck, Bill Stewart and Cal McCombs. In that era running a similar offensive scheme, the Keydets fashioned one of the greatest running backs in FCS history, in Thomas Haskins, who ranks fourth in league history in career rushing yards ().
Brent Thompson, who helped lead arch-rival The Citadel to two SoCon titles--one as an assistant coach and one as a head coach--as well as three FCS Playoff appearances during his nine seasons spent in Charleston as a head coach and assistant coach. He helped take the Bulldogs to a 10-2 record in his first season as the head coach in 2016, and that included an outright SoCon title, as the Bulldogs finished a perfect 8-0 mark in the SoCon.
Thompson's triple-option attacks while the head coach of The Citadel routinely ranked among the top ground games in FCS football. It will certainly be interesting to see him on the other side of that rivalry now.
VMI's story is comparable in a way to that of Samford's. The Keydets brought in a coach to return the Keydets to its roots and some familiarity it enjoyed in a bygone era running various versions of the option/wingbone/flexbone offenses over the years, while Samford's hire sees it bring in a head coach that has plenty of local ties to the state Alabama, including having been a successful head coach at a former local rival FCS program.
Both coaching hires provide a feel of familiarity in different ways. Obviously, Ingram's experience as a head coach and background as an option-based coach at the Naval Academy will serve him well in his new spot, both being familiar with the lifestyle and getting the Keydets back to having a successful, physical ground game, which is something the Keydets have lacked in recent seasons.
On Dec. 4, 2025, John Grass was officially named the 37th head coach of the Samford football program. Grass was previously on staff at Clemson, where he was a special teams and offensive analyst for the Tigers, and has served in that capacity with the Tigers in the 2022and '23 seasons before serving as the program's offensive assistant and quarterbacks coach assistant in the 2024 and '25 seasons.
Similar to recent basketball hires, and in particular, former Samford head basketball coach Bucky McMillan, Grass will bring close relationships with local high school talent in the Birmingham area and surrounding because, like McMillan, Grass was at one time a highly-successful high school football assistant and head coach in the area, spending 22 years in one of those two capacities, serving at seven different programs.
Grass served as an assistant coach at Ashville HS (1990-92) and Eufaula HS (1993-94) before getting the nod as a head coach for the first time at Ashville HS for a four-year stint (1995-99). He would then serve under Rush Probst as the offensive coordinator for two seasons at Hoover (2000-01) before head coaching stops at Albertville (2002), Moody (2003-05), Spain Park (2006-07), and Oxford (2008-12), finishing with a career record of an impressive 123-60 at the prep level.
Grass joined the highly successful Jacksonville State football program in 2013, as the assistant head coach/offensive coordinator before taking over as the head coach the following season in 2014. Grass would be named OVC Coach of the Year in each of his first three seasons as the head coach.
Grass would help lead and maintain JSU's status as an elite level FCS program over his eight seasons as the head coach, posting a 72-26 overall record, which included winning six Ohio Valley Conference titles, including five-straight league crowns from 2014-18, which included reaching the FCS national title game in 2015, where the Gamecocks were beaten, 37-10, by FCS juggernaut North Dakota State. Following that championship appearance, Grass was named the AFCA National Coach of the Year for the 2015 campaign.
During his time as the head coach of the Gamecocks, Grass coached 31 All-Americans and 109 All-OVC selections, and in 2021, he helped Jacksonville State to a benchmark win as a program, as his FCS Gamecocks garnered a 20-17 upset of Florida State. Grass has been directly involved with the Clemson offense each of the past four years.
Grass' new staff in Homewood will have a large Clemson influence, as he brings in former Clemson safeties coach Mickey Conn, who was recently let go by the Tigers before being hired by Grass. Conn will look to continue a strong tradition of defensive backs to come from the Samford football program, including guys like Courtland Finnegan, James Bradberry and Jaquiski Tartt.
The final new coach installed is a familiar name to the program in which he takes over, as Joel Taylor became the fourth head coach for Mercer football since its return to the gridiron back in 2014 after a 72-year hiatus.
Taylor, who served on staff as the Bears' highly respected defensive coordinator under Drew Cronic from 2020-23, has spent each of the past two seasons helping West Georgia make the transition from NCAA Division II to the FCS level, and in only two seasons, he helped the Wolves become a title contender in the UAC. Now he'll be asked to help the Bears sustain the winning culture, which was originally established while he was on staff as the defensive coordinator in his previous stint with the Bears under Cronic.
Over the past five seasons, the Bears have won 48 games, including a 37-11 mark in league play since the start of the 2020-21 season. The Bears have a 21-3 mark over the past three seasons in league play, and have made three-straight FCS Playoff appearances, and will enter the campaign with a string of 12-straight league wins.
A New Era Begins in 2026:
The hope of a new football season always brings about a new hope for each program, and that can certainly be said for the 2026 football season in the Southern Conference, as the Golden Eagles are set to begin playing in the league in 2026.
The Golden Eagles were the class of the Big South/Ohio Valley Conference this past season under the direction of second-year head coach Bobby Wilder.
Wilder has brought the excitement back to Cookeville, and the Golden Eagles, who finished 11-2 overall and 8-0 in their final season in the Big South/OVC, will enter the SoCon in 2026 as one of, if not the overall league favorite.
Tennessee Tech opened the 2025 season with 10-straight wins before eventually suffering a loss to FBS Kentucky, with a 42-10 loss to the Wildcats. The Golden Eagles would eventually see their season come-to a close with 31-6 loss in the second round of the FCS Playoffs, suffering 31-6 home loss to North Dakota, which was a game that would see the Golden Eagles commit six turnovers.
Keeping momentum moving forward in a new league will be something to watch in 2026 under Wilder. Also, we know he can win games, as he has done it before when he helped a program like Old Dominion be successful right away as a startup program back in 2009.
Wilder's project at Tennessee Tech now is a different, and it's at a program that appears to have an administration dedicated to make sure that sustained success becomes more than a dream in Cookeville, but also a reality.
The Golden Eagles have spent the previous 76 years as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference, so joining the SoCon is a different adventure and a chance for advancement for not only its football program, but all of its sports programs in a new league.
Not only did the Golden Eagles win 11 games during the 2025 season, but also made just the second FCS Playoff appearance in program history. The bar has been raised for the Golden Eagles in their first season as a Southern Conference member, and the new standard for the program is competing for championships, year-in and year-out.
Tennessee Tech's 2025 season would open with an easy 65-0 win over a non-Division I foe, Cumberland, as quarterback Kekoa Visperas led a Golden Eagles offense, which ended the day with 570 yards to go with the second-most points scored in a game in program history.
Visperas connected on 17-of-26 passes for 250 yards and three scores and no INTs in his first game with the Golden Eagles' football program.
The next game would be the first time the Golden Eagles would get a little bit of a taste of Southern Conference football, as Chattanooga paid a visit to a rainy Tucker Stadium for an early September showdown.
The Mocs, at least this time around, were no match for the talented Golden Eagles squad, as Tennessee Tech started a season 2-0 for the first time since 2012, posting a 45-17 win over Chattanooga.
Just a little less than three-and-a-half minutes into the contest, the Golden Eagles were already on the board, as Q'Daryius Jennings capped off a drive with a 10-yard scoring scamper that would give Tennessee Tech the early lead, and help the tone for the remainder of the afternoon. It would be part of a 21-3 start to the game for the powerful Golden Eagles offense against their SoCon opposition.
It was the first of three scoring runs for the Golden Eagles, which also got a pair of scoring scampers from Aidan Littles (48 yds and 37 yds) helped set the tone for the Golden Eagles' ground attack for the remainder of the game, while Chattanooga, behind new starter Camden Orth under center, struggled for the second-straight game to find any sustained success on the offensive side of the ball.
Jude Kelley's 36-yard field goal with 4:36 remaining in the opening quarter, as the Mocs took advantage of a Golden Eagles turnover would turn out to be the the lone points of the opening half. By the time the Mocs scored a gain a little over four minutes into the third quarter, the game had already gotten out of hand, with the Golden Eagles up 31-3 before the Mocs could find the end zone. When they did, it was Markell Quick, who hauled in a 33-yard pass from Orth, making it a 31-10 game, giving the Mocs the faintest of pulses.
However, late in the third quarter, the Golden Eagles all but put the game away, as Maury Sullivan hauled in an 18-yard scoring strike from quarterback Kekoa Visperas to conclude a short four-play, 33-yard drive, giving the Golden Eagles a seemingly safe 38-10 lead.
Former Furman quarterback Jace Wilson came in and delivered the final blow for Tennessee Tech, as he came into the contest in relief of Vesperas. Wilson delivered a 52-yard scoring strike to Luke Shields to increase TTU's advantage to 35 before Ryan Ingram tacked on a meaningless 1-yard score for the Mocs with 33 seconds left to set the final margin.
The next program the Golden Eagles would overwhelm came from the Pioneer Football League, which was one that the SoCon had its fair share of struggles against during the 2025 season.
The Golden Eagles scored a 72-14 win over Davidson, and it was a Davidson team that, if we use the transitory property, the Wildcats beat Presbyterian who beat both Mercer and Furman in back-to-back weeks to open the season.
With that said, the Golden Eagles had little trouble brushing the Wildcats aside, it marked the first 3-0 start to a season since the 1977 season for the Golden Eagles. Quintell Quinn led a comprehensive ground effort from the Golden Eagles, posting 122 yards and a pair of touchdowns on the ground, averaging an incredible 13.6 YPG on the ground.
It was another strong passing performance from Kekoa Visperas, as he finished connecting on 23-of-32 passing for 246 yards and three touchdowns, as the Golden Eagles rolled up another 576 yards of total offense en route to win No. 3. The Golden Eagles ended the day with a huge 300-74 edge in ground yards.
Next up was game four and that meant the start of Big South/OVC play, as the Golden Eagles headed to Nashville to open up league play against the Tennessee State Tigers.
It was another game in which Bobby Wilder's Golden Eagles could essentially put it on cruise control after halftime, scoring 35 unanswered points before the Tigers finally got on the scoreboard with a field goal in the third quarter.
It was another 100-yard rushing effort from Quintell Quell, who finished the contest with 107 yards and a touchdown on just seven attempts.
The Golden Eagles held a 384-294 advantage in total offense, and as much as the offense had been the story through the early portions of the season, but it was an opportunistic defense that helped the Golden Eagles to get over the top by causing four turnovers, which included three INTs and a fumble recovery in getting a key win.
Andrew Smith highlighted the day by coming up with an INT and returning it 94 yards for a touchdown, recording one of the plays of the season for the Golden Eagles defense.
Next up came another lopsided win, as the Golden Eagles claimed what was a 66-20 win over Western Illinois, as the program began a season 5-0 for just the third time in school history. The win also gave the Golden Eagles the longest active winning streak in the FCS. The win by the Leathernecks stretched their winning streak to 10-straight games, which of course dated back to the end of the 2024 season.
Kekoa Visperas had another outstanding game throwing the football, as he finished the contest connecting on 24-of-38 passes for 358 yards with four TDs and no INTs, while also leading the team with 73 yards rushing.
Even backcup quarterback Jace Wilson got into the act, as his only completion of the day turned into a 94-yard scoring strike. Visperas also led the team in rushing, finishing the contest with 74 yards on eight carries, as he finished the contest by posting 431 yards of total offense
Noah Robinson was the favorite of the receiving targets in the contest, as he hauled in seven passes for 126 yards and three scores. The offensive onslaught by TTU would see it amass 618 yards of total offense (452 passing/166 rushing), as the Golden Eagles held a 618-375 advantage in total offense at the end of the day.
The Golden Eagles would then be in the Low Country of the Palmetto State the following week, where they would end up picking up what was a maybe tougher than expected 27-13 win over Charleston Southern. The win saw TTU improve to 6-0 overall . Kekoa Visperas continued his efficiency under center for the Golden Eagles, as he connected on 15-of-25 passes for 141 yards, with a pair of INTs and a touchdown.
Maury Sullivan hauled in a 2-yard scoring pass to open the scoring and give the Golden Eagles a 7-0 lead in the opening quarter. However, Zach Gordon would close out the quarter with a 37-yard field goal, getting the Bucs to within four, at 7-3, with 5:52 remaining in the opening quarter.
The Golden Eagles had been absolutely blitzing teams through the opening halves of play through the first six games of the season, outscoring foes a combined 87-10 in the opening quarter of games, while outscoring foes 175-35 in the opening halves of the first six games of the season.
Following the field goal by the Bucs, the Golden Eagles responded with a 68-yard drive, with Obie Sanni capping the drive with a six-yard scoring run just six seconds into the second quarter, as Tennessee Tech assumed a 13-3 lead. The Golden Eagles missed the PAT, leaving the margin at 10.
Charleston Southern would find the end zone when Zolten Osborne connected with Rashawn Cunningham for a 9-yard scoring strike, making things interesting, with the score 13-10, with just under five minutes remaining in the half.
But the Golden Eagles would restore order, churning out a nine-play, 75-yard drive to go up 20-10 when Q'Darius Jennings scored on a 1-yard plunge with just 1:39 to play in the opening half of play.
The only score in the third quarter would come with late in the frame, as Aidan Littles capped a nine-play, 58-yard drive to make it 27-10 with 3:11 remaining in the third.
The only points the rest of the way came on a field goal from Gordon on a 24-yard connection with just over four minutes remaining, setting the final margin at 14.
The Golden Eagles would breeze through the next two weeks, improving to 8-0 with wins over Lindenwood (W, 52-28) on the road and SEMO (W, 42-23) at home, setting up a solid test against Gardner-Webb to open the month of November.
Though the Bulldogs put up a valiant effort, but the Golden Eagles, who were now up to No. 8 in the nation, were able to rebound from a 14-3 deficit to come away with a gut-wrenching 27-21 win over the Bulldogs in arguably Tennessee Tech's toughest league test of the season.
The Bulldogs got on the board with the first two touchdowns of the contest, as Carson Gresock scored on one and two-yard runs in the first and second quarters, while holding the Golden Eagles to only a Dom LeBlanc field goal, assuming a 14-3 lead with just 5:16 remaining in the half.
However, the Golden Eagles would finally get into the end zone when Quintell Quinn found paydirt on a 10-yard run to conclude a 65-yard drive that needed only four plays to conclude, making it a 14-10 game with 3:57 remaining in the half.
Tennessee Tech wouldn't assume its first lead of the game until eight seconds into the fourth quarter, Tre Holloway hauled in a 60-yard scoring strike from Kekoa Visperas, making it a 17-14 contest.
A little less than three minutes later, Tennessee Tech would go up by a couple of scores, when Theron Gaines picked up a GWU fumble and returned it 10 yards for a score with 7:47 left to give the Golden Eagles a 27-14 lead.
Gardner-Webb would add one more score late in the game to set the margin at six, as the Golden Eagles improved to 9-0 for just the second time in school history, and for the first time since 1952.
The following week at Eastern Illinois, the Golden Eagles made it a 10-0 start to the season with a 21-9 win over the Panthers, marking the second time in school history the Golden Eagles have won 10 games in a single-season, and it marks the first time since 1972 that the Golden Eagles have totaled as many wins in a season.
The defense would be the story of the game for the Golden Eagles, holding the Panthers to just a grand total of 326 yards of total offense to go along with only nine points. The Golden Eagles were stingy all afternoon against the Panthers' ground game, limiting EIU to just 137 total yards on the ground in the contest.
TTU also limited the hometown team to just a 4-of-13 effort on third down. Kekoa Visperas would finish off the day by setting a Golden Eagles single-season record, tossing his 22nd touchdown of the season and finished the contest connecting on 17-of-23 passes for 151 yards, with one touchdown and an INT. Visperas was also effective on the ground, rushing 11 times for 57 yards.
The defensive effort was once again led by linebacker Theron Gaines, who finished the contest with 11 tackles, two tackles-for-loss, two sacks and scored his second touchdown of the season, as he recovered an EIU fumble late in the fourth quarter and rumbled 10 yards for a score to put the finishing touches on another big win.
Tennessee Tech opened the game by getting on the board twice in the opening quarter, courtesy of touchdowns from running back Q'Daryius Jennings and wide receiver Maury Sullivan.
Jennings scored on a 5-yard scamper to conclude a 7-play, 70-yard drive to make it 7-0 with 6:13 remaining in the opening quarter. That would be followed by the Golden Eagles defense forcing an EIU three-and-out and then Sullivan hauled in a 48-yard scoring striking from Visperas--his school-record setting 22nd scoring strike of the season to make it a 14-0 game with just 37 seconds remaining in the opening quarter.
The lone points of the second quarter would come from the Panthers, as Drew Schiller would connect on a 20-yard field goal to conclude a 12-play, 71-yard drive and make it a 14-3 game with 5:03 remaining in the half.
The Golden Eagles would hold an 11-point lead throughout the third quarter and for most of the fourth quarter until linebacker Theron Gaines recovered an EIU fumble and returned it 10 yards for a score with just 3:50 left in the contest to increase the Golden Eagles lead to 21-3.
EIU would finally find paydirt in the game with just over a minute left, as DeAirous Smith hauled in an 16-yard scoring pass from Cole LaRue to make it 21-9 after the two-point conversion was unsuccessful. The Golden Eagles recovered the on-sides kick by the Panthers and ran off the remaining time on the clock to preserve the 21-9 win.
Tennessee Tech's lone loss of the
regular season would come a week later when FBS and SEC member Kentucky handed
the Golden Eagles a 42-10 loss in Lexington. The fifth-ranked Golden Eagles did
manage to hold their own for a while against the bigger, faster, stronger and
deeper Wildcats, but eventually wore down as ground, which gained 207 yards,
eventually proved too much to stop for the TTU defense to stop.
Kentucky used three rushing touchdowns
to rush out to a 21-0 second-quarter lead, as Seth McGowan (2) and Cutter Boley
accounted for the three rushing scores, with McGowan scoring on runs of one and
four yards, while Boley's covered 30, as the Wildcats built a comfortable
three-score lead with 3:46 remaining in the opening half of play.
The Golden Eagles would get on the
board just before the half, as they would score just before the half when
tight end Brian Courtney hauled in an 8-yard scoring pass to make it a 21-7
game with just 1:18 remaining in the half.
Unfortunately for the Golden Eagles,
however, the momentum would be owned by the Wildcats at the break, thanks in
large part to Seth McGowan, who plunged over from a yard out to make it a 28-7
Wildcats lead with just 19 seconds remaining in the half, as the Wildcats went
on to coast to the 42-10, out-scoring the Golden Eagles 14-3 in the second
half.
The normally prolific Tennessee Tech
offense was held in check by the bigger, more physical FBS foe, as the Golden
Eagles could muster only 264 yards of total offense.
The loss didn’t affect the Golden
Eagles much in terms of the postseason, however, as Tennessee Tech entered the
postseason with a 10-1 record and the OVC-Big South Champions in their final
season as a league member.
The Golden Eagles would be the No. 6
seed entering the FCS Playoffs, and in the opening round, the Golden Eagles
would face off against the No. 13 North Dakota Fighting Hawks in the opening
round of the playoffs. The Golden Eagles would be at home in the friendly
confines of Tucker Stadium.
Unfortunately, the first home playoff
game since 2011 and just the second all-time FCS Playoff appearance in program
history wouldn’t go quite according to play, as North Dakota came to Cookeville
and overwhelmed Tennessee Tech, posting what was a 31-6 win.
It would end up being a dismal ending
to an otherwise outstanding season for the Golden Eagles. The game would close
through three quarters, and it would be a defensive struggle until the fourth.
Tennessee Tech’s lone points of the game would come on a 45-yard scoring strike
from Kekoa Vesperas to Brian Courtney to make it a 10-6 game with 11:28
remaining in the third. The PAT was blocked by the Fighting Hawks, leaving the
margin at four.
However, the fourth quarter would
belong to the Fighting Hawks, scoring 21 unanswered points to close out the
game, with all three of them being rushing touchdowns. Colton Brunell got the
scoring started with an 8-yard run, which was then followed by a Gaven Ziebarth
3-yard run with just over nine minutes remaining. Charles Langama’s 18-yard
scamper sealed the opening round road win for the Missouri Valley Football
Conference team, as he made it 31-6 with just 3:16 remaining.
Tennessee Tech will enter the Southern
Conference running in 2026, and it will be a program already used to and
conditioned to win when it enters its new league. The Golden Eagles inked one
of the best recruiting classes in all of FCS Football, including the No. 1
ranked transfer class in FCS, according to 247Sports.
Final Power Rankings:
1. Mercer
2. East Tennessee State
3. Western Carolina
4. Wofford
5. Chattanooga
6. Furman
7. The Citadel
8. Samford
9. VMI
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