Furman's Offense Continues to Sputter in 13-9 Loss at No. 19 Richmond

Furman All-America defensive end Joshua Stoneking posted three tackles and a sack in the loss (photo courtesy ofFurman athletics)

RICHMOND, VA.--I've waxed poetic about just how dominant Furman's 2026 defense can be, but it's No. 19 Richmond and its vaunted defensive unit coupled with an offense that did just enough to overcome four turnovers, posting a 13-9 win over Furman Saturday afternoon at Robins Stadium.

Saturday's meeting featured a pair of former SoCon rivals and a pair of coaches that, played and coached at their alma maters, in Clay Hendrix of Furman and Richmond's Russ Huesman, who starred as a defensive back for head coaches Joe Morrison and Bill Oliver back in the late 1970s and early '80s. Furman's Hendrix was an accomplished offensive lineman at Furman during the early to mid '80s, helping the Paladins to make their first of three national titles in program history as a senior in 1985.

On Saturday, both teams played to their personality of each of their respective head coaches, as the two friends knew the game would be a physical, defensive battle.

Furman's second loss in succession sees it fall to 2-3 overall and the Paladins remain 1-0 in the Southern Conference, while Richmond improves to 4-1 overall and have already started 2-0 and look to be a force once again in the Patriot League. 

Saturday's loss left the Paladins 1-2 against ranked FCS opposition this season, and the assignment ahead is pretty cut-and-dry, which is to win the Southern Conference title. The window for an at-large bid might be closed at this point, and even with only one more loss, without winning the SoCon, it seems like it would be a stretch to see the Paladins playing in the postseason without lifting its 16th conference title trophy.

Though it was just a four-point loss by the Paladins, it felt like the game was dominated by Richmond in a lot of ways because of Furman's continued ineptitude on offense through the first five game, as the Spiders snapped the ball 17 more times (78-61) and held a 355-215 advantage in total offense. 

One of the things that continues to be a concern is its lack of any sort of offensive rhythm at any point so far this season, and the Paladins will have to do a full self-examination before strapping on the pads again next Saturday at home against Wofford (2-3, 1-2 SoCon) in a 2 p.m. contest at Paladin Stadium. 

Furman's offensive performance isn't on its players alone, but rather those who are putting them in position to be, or in this case, not be successful. For each of the first five games of the season, Furman has failed to score more than two offensive touchdowns in any game this season, and that includes a game against NCAA Division II Anderson.

Connor Ackerley was making his first start, playing well at times, but much of the time didn't have a fair opportunity to be effective due to lack of time to throw the football. Ackerley was sacked five times on the day, and Furman's offensive line has now surrendered 19 sacks through the first five games of the season. All five sacks recorded by Richmond came in the opening half, and that often set the Paladin offense well behind the sticks and forced Ackerley into having to try and make plays with his arm in third and long-yardage situations. 

Ackerley played well at times, and was particularly good on the final drive, as it was Furman's most successful drive of the day, advancing the football 55 yards all the way to the Spiders 29 to give the offense at least a chance at a throw to the end zone at the end, however, Ackerley hail Mary attempt to the end zone was tipped twice and unable to be corralled by a couple of would-be Paladin targets and the Spiders were able to hold on for a close four-point win. 

The junior from Tempe, AZ, finished off his first start under center by connecting on 15-of-30 passes for 137 yards. Richmond's Ashten Snelsire finished the afternoon connected on 19-of-40 passes for 167 yards, with one touchdown and three INTs.

Richmond's leading offensive weapon was running back Aziz Powell-Foster finished the contest rushing the ball 25 times for 125 yards. Andreas Hill paced the Spiders in receiving with five catches for 38 yards, while Bryce Allen hauled in four balls for 37. The lone touchdown of the afternoon came late in the second quarter, courtesy of backup tight end Carson Devery, who hauled in a short six-yard scoring pass on 4th-and-3 with 9:22 remaining in the half, giving the Spiders a 10-3 lead. 

The Paladins were led by Ackerley on the ground, as he rushed for 35 yards on 14 rush attempts. His favorite target in the passing game was once again Luke Shields, who hauled in four passes for 50 yards, while Daniel Haughton snagged three catches for 20 yards.

Defensively, Richmond's edge rusher Daniel Sellers made his case for FCS Nation Radio's National Defensive Player of the Week honor, as he posted nine tackles, four tackles-for-loss and three sacks. 

Furman's defense intercepted three passes, with Braylon Peebles, Caleb Easterling and Joshua Tarver all recorded INTs. For Easterling, it was his third INT this season, while Tarver registered his second pick of the season. Peebles, a true freshman, recorded the first INT of his career. Easterling and Ryan Earl paced the Paladins with nine tackles apiece.

Offensive inefficiency was not the only problem on the day, but six penalties for 70 yards, many of them untimely proved especially costly. Richmond was flagged for five infractions, totaling 50 yards.

Paladin Offensive Woes Continue

Following Furman's 20-17 loss to No. 16 South Carolina State last week, 10th-year head coach Clay Hendrix hit on the fact that his staff had to evaluate and re-evaluate things they were doing schematically, and if you read between the lines, that seems to hint at maybe the play-calling. Following Saturday's loss to Richmond, Hendrix, who was understandably upset in the wake of enough close loss, 

Over the past couple of weeks, the Paladins have scored just one TD in eight quarters of football. Furman hasn't eclipsed 20 points in any one game this season and has forced a total of 10 turnovers in three weeks, including eight INTs, but has scored just 46 total points against that trio of FCS foes. Furman has a total of 75 points this season. 

Outside of the FBS power four loss to a Tennessee team that could very well be in the College Football Playoff at the end of the season, the Paladins have surrendered 46 points and scored 46 points in each of its FCS games this season, and given up a total of only 49 points to non FBS power four teams. The Paladins gave up 56 to Tennessee, and somehow, despite giving up an average of 12.25 PPG against non FBS foes, sit 2-3 on the season. 

After wins over the Spiders in 2002 (W, 17-7), '03 (W, 31-17) and in the '05 FCS Quarterfinals (W, 24-20), the Paladins dropped their first game to the Spiders since the Spiders posted what was a 19-13 win over the Paladins back in 1977 in Richmond. The Spiders now hold a 16-10 lead in the series, with the two teams slated to meet again in 2029. 

Finally, Furman is 14-of-72 (19.4%) on third down so far this season and the Paladins have surrendered 18 sacks through five games, which is 10 more than the eight sacks that the Paladins defense have recorded in the first month of the season. Furman surrendered 26 sacks last season and 35 sacks in 2024 and now have already surrendered 18 this season with seven games remaining. 

All told, Furman has now surrendered 79 sacks over the past 28 games, dating back to the start of 2024 season. By comparison, the Paladin defense has recorded a total of 51 quarterback takedowns. 

How It Happened:

Connor Ackerley launched a pass into the end zone from the Richmond 29 as time expired, as he was hoping Furman could do what they hadn't done all afternoon--score a touchdown--but after the ball was tipped twice, the ball fell harmlessly to the ground and 19th-ranked Richmond had held on for a 13-9 win over Furman.

It was the exact same margin as when the two teams met 21 years ago, only it was Furman that survived for a 24-20 win over the Spiders to move on to the Division I-AA semifinals on that occasion. 

The Paladins took possession of the football with just over a minute to play, as Furman's defense came up with one final stop and provided the offense with one more opportunity to seemingly win the game in the fourth quarter. 

After taking the ball over at its own 15 following the Richmond and Joshua Tarver return, the Paladins marched to the Richmond 29 where Ackerley had two passing attempts to try and garner the winning points, however, his first pass was incomplete after facing heavy pressure. The second pass was nearly hauled in by the Paladins but the second tip was just out of the reach of the nearest Paladin in the vicinity, which was tight end Jackson Pryor.

To open the second half, the Spiders drove the ball down to the Furman 21-yard line, but the Paladin defense held on 4th-and-1 and Furman's offense got the ball on the turnover on downs. 

On the second play of Furman's drive, Ackerley completed a pass to Luke Shields, who fumbled the ball at the 27 to give the ball right back to the Richmond offense. Warrick Stephenson then gained 18 yards two plays later and the Spiders were in business inside the Furman 10.  Furman's defense would stiffen, however, as back-to-back tackles-for-loss by Garrison Butler, who wrapped up Stephenson for a loss of two before Joshua Stoneking slung Richmond quarterback Ashten Snelsire to the turf for Furman's sack of the day and forcing a 3rd-and-13 for the Spiders. 

Stephenson was stopped for no gain on the next play, and the Spiders were forced to settle for a 30-yard field goal from Kyle Bitsko, who gave Richmond a 13-9 lead with 5:34 remaining in the third quarter. 

On the next play, Garrison Butler broke through the line and smothered Stephenson for a loss of two yards and then on the next play, Joshua Stoneking sack of Ashten Snelsire forced a 3rd-and-13. After the Spiders were stopped for no gain on the next play, Kyle Bitsko came in and knocked through a 30-yard field goal to make it a 13-9 Richmond lead with 5:34 remaining in the third quarter.

The two teams would then exchange punts before Caleb Easterling came up with his third INT of the season, breaking perfectly on a Snelsire pass to set up the Furman offense at the Spider 27. 

However, Richmond's defense, which was at one time known as the "Stonewall Spiders" during Richmond's national title winning season of 2008 when Huesman was the defensive coordinator, would live up to that moniker once again, stonewalling the Paladins on 4th-and-3 at the 20, forcing a turnover on downs with just 2:28 remaining. 

The Spiders would pick up one first down, and Furman was forced to use all three of its timeouts before the Spiders were forced to give the ball back over to the Paladins. Following a fair catch by Joshua Tarver at the Furman 15 with 53 seconds remaining, Ackerley broke off a 13-yard scramble on the first play from scrimmage and then connected with Ben Croasdale on a short pass out of the backfield for a gain of 13 yards two plays later. 

Another pass completion to Boone, N.C. native Jackson Pryor would get the Paladins inside Spiders territory before another Ackerly completion to Shields got the Paladins to the Richmond 29 with nine seconds remaining. Consecutive incompletions by Ackerley ended Furman's attempt at stealing their first ranked non-conference win on the road since Aug. 31, 2005 against No. 20 Jacksonville State (W, 37-35). 

Furman's defensive heroics should not go unnoticed, as time and time again it would set up the Paladins offensively and kept the deficit manageable. Late in the third quarter, Richmond embarked on a drive that looked as if it would put the game out of reach for Furman, driving the ball 70 yards in 12 plays and erasing 7:37 off the game clock. 

 On 4th-and-goal at the 1-yard line, Furman nose tackle Ty Kauserud stripped the ball away from Aziz Powell-Foster and Ryan Earl plucked it from the air, returning it 15 yards to the Furman 15 to set up the Paladin offense with just under 10 minutes left, and thwarting a Richmond potential touchdown drive that likely would have broken the Paladins' spirit. 

In the opening half of play, Furman struggled in what was Connor Ackerley's first start, as the  offense could only muster 110 yards of total offense and just nine points on three field goals, while Ackerley was sacked five times. Thanks to Furman's defense, which picked off a pair Richmond passes, which the Paladin offense was able to convert two of Nathan Chapman's three first-half field goals. Chapman made kicks of 33, 42 and 49 yards in the opening half of play. It would prove to be the only scoring the Paladin offense would do over the course of 60 minutes of football.

Richmond got on the board first when Kyle Bitsko connected on a 49-yard kick to conclude an eight-play, 49-yard drive with 3:42 remaining in the opening quarter. Furman's Joshua Tarver read Ashten Snelsire eyes perfectly and picked off his pass on a 3rd-and-15 play with a little over two minutes remaining in the opening quarter, returning it 26 yards and just inside Spiders territory to the 48. 

The Paladins would reach the Richmond 20 but went no further, and Chapman trotted on to boot through his first of three field goals on the day, connecting from 33 yards out to tie the game, 3-3, on the final play of the opening period. 

The lone touchdown of the game came on Richmond's ensuing drive, as the Spiders marched 75 yards in 11 plays, which was capped by a six-yard scoring toss on 4th-and-3 to give the Spiders a 10-3 lead with 9:22 remaining in the half.

Furman would score the remaining points of the half on two more Chapman field goals. The first was set up by Braylon Peebles' first-career INT, which he returned 34 yards to the Richmond 40, however, the Paladins were flagged for one of six penalties in the game, as Trevor Short was the guilty party on a highly questionable "blindside block" infraction, subtracting 15 yards for a Paladin offense that needed every positive centimeter it could garner on the afternoon. 

Furman would reach the Richmond 26 before settling for a Chapman 42 yarder with 3:20 remaining in the half. Champman's initial attempt was no good, but an offsides infraction against Richmond allowed for the kick to be five yards closer, which Chapman easily converted.

Richmond would drive the ball inside Furman territory late in the opening half; however, the Spiders had to settle for a Kyle Bitsko 50-yard field goal, which was no good and the Paladin offense had one more chance in the half to get points. The Paladins took over at their own 33 with three timeouts left and 36 seconds remaining. 

Ackerley completed passes of 12, nine and 16 yards to get the ball down to the Richmond 32, however, the Paladins had to settle for a 49-yard field goal from Chapman as time expired in the first half, and despite playing so poorly on offense, Furman found itself down only a point at the break, at 10-9.

Furman now begins SoCon play in-earnest next Saturday, welcoming I-85 rival Wofford (2-3, 1-2 SoCon) to Paladin Stadium for a 2 p.m. EST. The Paladins will be looking to end three-game losing skid against the Terriers, as Furman has been held to 13 points in each of the last three games in the series. Richmond will be on the road for a 12:30 p.m. EST contest at Lafayette (1-3).