Samford Hands Furman Fifth-Straight Loss on Homecoming Saturday

Furman True Freshman QB Trey Smith

GREENVILLE, S.C.--Samford knows a little bit about spoiling the homecoming narrative. Back in 2014, the Bulldogs came to Greenville and held Furman without a touchdown in Paladin Stadium for the first time since a 1992 home loss to Georgia Southern, as Samford handed one of its worst home losses in program history, winning 45-0. 

While the margin wasn't nearly the same 12 years later, the Bulldogs held the Paladins out of the end zone on Homecoming Saturday and came away with the same result, taking down the Paladins 13-6 before 9,406 fans on-hand on a sun-splashed Saturday afternoon at Paladin Stadium.

With the win, Samford improved to 2-6 overall and 2-3 in SoCon play, while Furman fell to 2-6 overall and 1-3 in SoCon play. The Paladins have now lost five-straight games by a combined 22 points. The win by the Bulldogs helped Samford snap two-game skid in the series.

In Furman's five-game losing streak, the Paladins have not led a football game since the final minute of the 20-13 win at Mercer.

It was the first time the Bulldogs had played the Paladins in Greenville since 2022, which also turned out to be a win, as Samford picked up a controversial 34-27 win in that meeting, with both teams going onto the FCS Playoffs, which included an 11-win campaign and an outright SoCon title for the Bulldogs.

Four years later, things have drastically changed for both program, with Samford re-establishing its culture and program under first-year head coach John Grass, while Furman has struggled to find its 2023 form, although the Paladin defense is close to being mentioned in the same paragraph. 

The game saw Furman go without a touchdown in a game for the second time this season, as the Paladins also failed to find the end zone after a 13-9 loss at Richmond in the fourth week of the season. Following that game, offensive coordinator Justin Roper was relieved of his duties. The Paladins have only eight offensive touchdowns in eight games this season. 

The Paladins failed to score a touchdown in a home game for the first time since Sept. 25, 2021, dropping a 24-3 contest to Mercer. 

While two first half turnovers didn't end up proving costly, the third turnover of the afternoon, which came midway through the fourth quarter, would prove to be the death knell for a Furman offense that has struggled to gain any kind of momentum all season. 

A Ben Croasdale fumble at the Paladins' 11-yard line was recovered by Noah Holton to set up the Samford offense in great position with 8:05 remaining. It appeared that the Furman defense might hold Samford out of the end zone, however, on 3rd-and-13 from the 14, Samford came up with the only touchdown of the afternoon when Gabarri Johnson found Cayden Auckerman on a fade route to the corner of the end zone to give the Bulldogs a 13-6 lead with 6:42 remaining, and that would prove to be enough, as the Bulldogs held on for their second win of the season. 

Furman's defense once again did its part, holding the Bulldogs to just 304 yards of total output and only 13 points, as the Paladins held a slight 313-304 advantage in total offense. 

The Paladins would be forced to play three quarterbacks in the game, as Connor Ackerley left the game after being sacked on third and goal early in the fourth quarter. Jake Garcia would play the next two series for the Paladins before making way for true freshman Trey Smith.

Ackerley finished his abbreviated afternoon by connecting on 15-of-25 passes for 216 yards with two INTs. Furman could muster just 77 yards on the ground. Smith, who nearly helped engineer the game-tying drive on Furman's final possession of the day, connected on 2-of-5 throws for 20 yards.

Samford's Gabarri Johnson finished the contest by connecting on 18-of-26 passes for 206 yards and one score.

Croasdale led Furman's ground efforts with 17 rushes for 49 yards, while CJ Nettles carried it five times for 26 yards. The Bulldogs were led on the ground by Ken Cherry, who rushed for 64 yards on 15 carries.

Johnson's top target in the passing game for Samford was Cayden Auckerman, who hauled in five passes for 68 yards and what proved to be the game-winning touchdown. Marquise Henderson hauled in three passes for 53 yards.

Ackerley and Smith's favorite target in the Furman passing game was Daniel Haughton, who hauled in six passes for 92 yards, while Luke Shields hauled in three passes for 28 yards. 

Defensively, the Paladins got another outstanding performance from Raleigh Herbert, who posted 16 tackles and 2.5 tackles-for-loss, while Eli Lipscomb posted five tackles, 2.5 tackles-for-loss and two sacks. Buck Buchanan Award candidate Joshua Stoneking finished with four tackles, 2.0 TFL and a sack.

Samford was led defensively by Max Steve's 13 tackles.

How It Happened:

Furman won the toss and deferred, giving the Bulldogs the first possession of the game. After the Paladins missed a pair of sack opportunities, Samford found itself inside the five-yard line after Gabarri Johnson connected with former Belton Honea Path standout Marquise Henderson for 27 yards and down to the Furman eight-yard line.

The play came after Furman stopped a reverse for a five-yard loss, and then after Joshua Stoneking had Johnson dead in the rights for a sack, Johnson somehow squirmed free to find a wide-open Henderson down the seam for the 27-yard gain. On 3rd-and-goal from the three, Stoneking made up for his earlier missed tackle by stopping Ken Cherry in the backfield for a three-yard loss, forcing the Bulldogs to settle for a 22-yard Ty Ippolito field goal and a 3-0 lead with 8:49 remaining in the opening quarter.

The Paladins could generate anything offensively on its first possession, and the Bulldogs took possession for the second time on the day at their own 24. After a pair of first downs, the Bulldogs reached midfield before having to punt the ball back to Furman. The Paladins would then come up two yards short on third down and had to punt it right back to the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs drove to Furman 25 before the Paladins again turned away Samford and forced the Bulldogs into a 42-yard field goal, which Ippolito converted with 34 seconds remaining in the opening quarter, making it a 6-0 Bulldogs lead.

The Paladins would advance the ball into Samford territory on the final play of the opening quarter, as Connor Ackerley found Daniel Haughton for a gain of 25 yards to the Bulldogs 38, keeping Furman’s third possession of the day alive. The Paladins had gained only 14 yards to that point in the opening quarter, finishing the opening frame by getting outgained by almost 100 yards (121-39).

Another completion for 21 yards from Ackerley to John Holbrook got the Paladins down to 17, but following a holding penalty and a short gain by Ben Croasdale on the next play, Ackerley’s pass intended for Ethan Harris was picked off by Samford’s Dylan Henderson at the 20 to thwart the scoring opportunity. The Bulldogs marched to the Furman 31, but on 4th-and-4 from the Paladin 33, Johnson’s pass intended for Kevonte Corbin was broken up in the end zone by Daco Coleman to end the scoring threat.

Following an exchange of punts, the Paladins got the ball back with 3:39 remaining in the first half at their own 30. Samford intercepted another Ackerley pass after the ball was batted in the air and picked off by Jackson Bussey with a minute remaining in the half. 

Following a Johnson pass completion fo Maddox Waller to reach the Furman 33, Johnson was sacked on the next play and Samford took a timeout with 41 seconds remaining. A 13-yard completion to Preston Bird got the Bulldogs to the Paladin 22, but the Bulldogs could advance it no further and were out of timeouts, squandering the opportunity to put more points on the board before the break, as the Paladins went to break trailing 6-0. 

Samford went to half holding a 203-116 advantage in total offense in a game that, either to the casual fan or to the diehard on either side, was an eyesore.

Once again, Furman would show signs of life in the second half, and would get on the board for the first time with 3:34 remaining in the third quarter, as Nathan Chapman converted his 11th-straight field goal without a miss by connecting on a 24-yard attempt to conclude a 12-play, 73-yard drive and make it a 6-3 game.

In the fourth quarter, Furman used a 10-play, 61-yard drive to tie the football game, as Chapman nailed his 12th-straight field goal converting from 37 yards out with 11:12 remaining to tie the game, 6-6. Ackerley was sacked for a loss of 12 yards by Noah Holton on third-and-goal from the seven, and he would never return to the game. 

Jake Garcia would enter on the next two possessions, and after a fumble on his first possession, the Paladins used could muster just 21 yards and one first down on the next possession, as Furman was forced to punt the ball back to Samford once again. 

Samford took advantage of a Ben Croasdale fumble at its own 11 and on a 3rd-and-13 from the 14, the Bulldogs scored the only touchdown of the day when Gabarri Johnson hooked up with Cayden Auckerman for a 14-yard scoring pass on a fade route to give the Bulldogs the 13-6 lead with 6:42 left.

Garcia did not appear to be 100% yet, as he was expected to be back next week from an AC sprain suffered against South Carolina State earlier this season. He had been cleared to start practicing again in the middle of the week.

Trailing 13-6, the Paladins turned to true freshman Trey Smith, who logged the first meaningful snaps of his young Paladin career. With great field position following a personal foul penalty by Samford for illegal touching/sideline warning, Smith and the Paladins started at the Samford 41. Smith completed a nine-yard pass to Daniel Haughton and Croasdale gained the needed yard for the first down on the next play. 

Smith then hit Ethan Harris for a gain of 11 yards on the next play and a first down at the Samford 19. However, facing a 3rd-and-7 following a three-yard run, Smith's next pass intended for Jackson Pryor was batted down by Samford's Trey Lenhardt at the goal line. After Furman burned its final timeout, Smith's next pass intended for Harris at the goal line on fourth-and-seven was broken up at the goal line by Samford's Elijah McDowell sealed the Bulldogs win. 

The Paladins were forced to turn the ball over on downs without any timeouts remaining and only 1:18 on the game clock. Samford assumed the victory formation from there to run the remaining time off the game clock to secure the 13-6 win. 

Furman returns to action on Halloween to host Western Carolina (3-5, 1-3 SoCon) with kickoff slated for 2 p.m. EST at Paladin Stadium. The Bulldogs will host Wofford (5-3, 3-2 SoCon) at Pete Hanna Stadium with kickoff time slated for 7 p.m. EST.