COOKEVILLE, TENN--Something has to give for the 2026 edition of the Furman football. The 121st team in the history of the program dropped its fourth-straight game to an FCS foe by a touchdown or less, as the Paladins head into the much-needed off week on the heels of a 20-15 setback to No. 16 Tennessee Tech Saturday afternoon at a rainy Tucker Stadium.
Furman's fourth-straight loss likely also see its SoCon title hopes and FCS playoff aspirations come to an end once again in 2026, as the Paladins fall to 2-5 overall and 1-2 in Southern Conference play.
The Golden Eagles, meanwhile, rebounded from their 44-20 loss at Western Carolina last week to improve to 5-1 overall and 3-1 in SoCon play, while also improving to 14-2 in Tucker Stadium under the leadership of Bobby Wilder. For Wilder, it was his 100th win as a head coach in his time as head coach at both Tennessee Tech (23 wins) and at Old Dominion (77 wins).
The Paladin offense continued its struggles, as Furman has gone 12-straight quarters without leading a football game in the stretch, and despite the offensive struggles to find points as of late, Furman managed to outgain the Golden Eagles (289-285) and snap the ball 12 more times (72-60), but Tennessee Tech held a slight advantage in time of possession (30:48-29:12).
The Paladins took good care of the football, despite the wet conditions Saturday, as the Paladins won the turnover battle 1-0, while the special teams also recorded their first blocked punt of the season. Furman dominated the second half, allowing only the Golden Eagles just 85 yards in the second half, while gaining 163 yards on offense and outscoring Tech, 12-6.
Once again penalties proved to be a huge deciding factor in the game, with the Paladins committing seven for 40 yards, with two off-sides penalty on the potential game-winning drive for the Paladins proving costly in the loss.
Connor Ackerley performed well once again given the circumstances and struggles in other areas on the offensive side of the ball. He connected on 24-of-39 passes for 222 yards and a touchdown, without throwing an INT.
His opposite number Jax Leatherwood finished the contest 24-of-36 throws for 212 yards with one touchdown and no picks.
Ackerley's favorite target in the passing game was a former Golden Eagle, in wideout Luke Shields, who finished the day by hauling in seven passes for 87 yards and Furman's lone touchdown of the game, which came via one of the receptions of the season, as Shields hauled his scoring reception with one hand in the fourth quarter on a beautifully thrown pass from Ackerley.
Gabe Nunez led Tennessee Tech's receiving efforts, hauling in five passes for 60 yards, while Tre Holloway caught five passes for 34 yards and accounted for TTU's lone aerial score of the afternoon on a five-yard scoring catch in the opening quarter. Eric Weatherly also hauled in a pair of passes for 54 yards, including a 47-yard reception, which was the longest play from scrimmage of the afternoon for the Golden Eagles.
On the ground, Furman was led by Ben Croasdale, who rushed it 15 times for 33 yards. MJ Flowers was solid all afternoon for the Golden Eagles, as he finished the day with 81 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries.
AK Burrell led Furman's defensive efforts with nine tackles, which included 1.5 tackles-for-loss and a pass breakup. Trevor Short posted four tackles and a sack, while Joshua Stoneking finished with three tackles
Furman will head into a much-needed bye week before returning to action on homecoming against Samford on Oct. 24. Tennessee Tech will host former conference rival Eastern Kentucky at Tucker Stadium on Oct. 17 at 2:30 p.m. EST.
How It Happened:
Tennessee Tech looked as if it would have to punt it away on its first drive of the game, as the Paladin defense looked to have held, but Furman was flagged for a pass interference infraction to allow the Golden Eagles to keep their drive alive and it would end with Golden Eagles quarterback Jax Leatherwood to find wideout Tre Holloway for a five-yard scoring strike and a 7-0 lead with just under three minutes to play in the opening quarter. The play concluded a 13-play, 75-yard scoring drive that took a whopping 8:45 off the clock.
After getting one first down and crossing the 50, Furman was forced to punt for the second time in the game and Tennessee Tech took over after a very short punt by Paladins punter Gray Gitter with 28 seconds remaining at its own 38.
On the final play of the opening quarter, the Paladins surrendered another shot play through the air, as Leatherwood found for a 47-yard strike to Eric Weatherly to the Furman 15-yard line. On the first play of the second quarter, Joshua Stoneking recovered a fumble after a miscue by Leatherwood on the handoff.
The Paladins would convert that turnover into their first points of the afternoon, as Nathan Chapman connected on a 31-yard field goal to make it a 7-3 game with 9:47 remaining in the half. It was Chapman's ninth-straight made field goal, and his trifecta concluded an 11-play, 67-yard drive that took 5:12 remaining in the game.
Just before the half, the Golden Eagles put another TD on the board, converting a pair of big third downs to make it a 14-3 halftime drive. MJ Flowers ran it in from a yard out to make an 11-point halftime lead, concluding a 13-play, 85-yard drive that took 5:48 off the clock. The Golden Eagles ended the first half having converted five of its six third downs.
In the second half, the Golden Eagles would get the ball first, but the Furman defense would force a three-and-out.
On the ensuing punt, Furman's Connor Adams broke through and blocked the punt and it caromed all the way into the end zone, where it was apparently recovered in the end zone for a touchdown and then ripped free by a Golden Eagles defender in the melee'. The call would be overturned and it would be ruled a safety after review to make it a 14-5 game.
Furman got the ball at their own 43 after the free kick and return by Joshua Tarver, but a loss of five on first down on a pass that was nearly a lateral and a sack on third and 15 meant Furman had to almost immediately give the ball back over to Tennessee Tech. The Golden Eagles offense would take over the ball at their own 32-yard line.
Following another stop by the Paladin defense, Furman's offense would put more points on the board, however, could not get the ball in the end zone, as they had to settle for another Nathan Chapman field goal, who connected on a 10th-straight field goal, hitting a 53-yard field goal to conclude a 15-play, 49-yard drive with 4:47 remaining in the third quarter.
Furman got a big stop by Joshua Stoneking on third-and-short on a designed draw for Jax Leatherhead and that would force the Golden Eagles to punt the ball back to Furman with just over three minutes left in the third.
The Paladins got it at their own 42 following another good return from Joshua Tarver return. However, the offense continued to struggle and couldn't convert a 4th-and-1 at midfield, despite bringing in a jumbo package that included Caldwell Bussey and Demetrius Baldwin Jr., Ben Croasdale was stopped a half-yard short by the the Golden Eagles defense and Tennessee Tech took over at midfield with 1:29 left in the third.
The Golden Eagles would carry a six-point, 14-8, lead into the final quarter, as the rain picked up and Tennessee Tech driving inside Furman territory at the Paladin 39. The Golden Eagles would eventually have to settle for a 52-yard Carter Brown field goal with 13:45 remaining, concluding a six-play, 17-yard drive to make it a 17-8 deficit for the 'Dins.
The Paladins would make things interesting in the fourth quarter, however, as they would find the end zone for their lone touchdown of the afternoon when Connor Ackerley found former Golden Eagles wideout Luke Shields on a corner fade route in the end zone for a 23-yard scoring strike, as Shields hauled it in with one-hand to convert the highlight-reel catch, making it a 17-15 following the PAT by Nathan Chapman with 6:48 remaining.
The Golden Eagles would pad their lead ever so slightly late in the game, as Carter Brown connected on his second field goal of the game, connecting on a 52-yard trifecta to extend Tech's lead to 20-15 with 2:50 remaining.
Furman would mount one final threat to win the game moving to the Tech 24 before a false start infraction and consecutive incomplete passes to set up 4th-and-15. Hudson Tucker broke through and sacked Ackerley at the 36 to effectively end Furman's hopes of stealing another ranked win on the road.
Tribute to Monte Dutton:
Finally, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention my friend Monte Dutton, who passed away unexpectedly on Thursday, Oct. 8. For the better part of the past five seasons, Monte has been in the seating assignment right beside me at both Furman football and even basketball games.
He was quite the man and he loved Furman football and was a prolific writer of on a wide range of topics.
He was such a talented writer that I genuinely looked forward to how he would describe certain plays and sequences within a game recap, and how he described their occurrence and then I would check my story to see if I had described those same occurrences in a similar fashion. Monte was a standard for not how I wrote, but how I described the facts and the order in which I described them.
The most endearing thing about Monte was his care for those in his circle. Those other folks in the media corps that shared his interest of writing about Furman, to which he always made sure he flashed a smile and always had a story waiting each Saturday upon our arrival.
He also made me laugh about many other quirky things that happened to him or because of him in his life, both in his lifetime as an accomplished NASCAR beat writer at the Gaston Gazette and his experiences covered his time as an SID at Furman that covered a range of topics, which were sometimes even related to basketball concerning former Chattanooga basketball coach Murray Arnold or how the two-minute warning was first introduced in pro football.
Most of all, Monte cared about Furman athletics. In one of the few road games I ever remember he attended, I could remember head coach Clay Hendrix inviting Monte into the locker room at Gibbs Stadium to celebrate a big road win at Wofford. It was the same day back in 2021 that Jace Wilson started his first game as the Paladin quarterback.
I also remember him laughing that day about having to walk up all those stairs at Gibbs Stadium, and taking a moment to catch his breath when back in the press box, said "John, I thought I was going to die right here on the Gibbs Stadium bleachers" to which I let out a laugh...He said "But if you got to go out I guess seeing a win at your rival isn't half bad."
Monte truly was a one of a kind. Nothing delighted him more than Tyler Huff's two years as Furman's quarterback and most of all describing Huff's experiences playing for Kevin Kelly--the coach who didn't believe in punting or kicking a football at all. RIP Monte Dutton. We will miss you a lot. You were truly one of a kind.
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