When Furman and Georgia Southern meet there’s usually something more than pride at stake.
Almost without exception a Southern Conference championship or a spot in the Division I-AA playoffs is riding on the outcome. Twice a national championship was on the line.
This year’s game will be no exception — for the Paladins. The two meet Saturday at Furman (7-3, 5-1) and it is a must win situation for the team in purple. Georgia Southern (3-6, 2-4), on the other hand, finds itself in the position of playing out the season. Game time is 3:30 p.m., and the game will be televised on CSS.
Georgia Southern will be playing without starting defensive end Charrod Taylor, one of the top defensive linemen in the SoCon. Taylor has been suspended for the game due to a violation of team rules.
Coach Bobby Lamb’s team must beat the Eagles to qualify for the I-AA playoffs. The playoff field will be announced a week from Sunday, and it is an unwritten rule four-loss teams don’t qualify.
“Obviously it’s not your typical Georgia Southern team as far as the record is concerned,” said Lamb. “I know they’re disappointed with their record, but anytime you have Georgia Southern and Furman going head-to-head on the football field it’s a big, big game.
“We’ve got to try and take care of business,” said the fifth-year Paladin head coach, a man in his 25th consecutive year at the school as a player, assistant coach and now head coach.
Lamb’s freshman year at Furman was the year the Eagles resumed football. In 1985, his senior season, Lamb and the Paladins dropped a thrilling 44-42 decision to Georgia Southern in the national championship game. Furman won its only national title three years later with a 17-12 win over GSU.
“Georgia Southern is coming in here wanting, obviously, to keep us out of the playoffs and to try and get a win,” said Lamb. “We’re trying to win a football game to become 8-3 to become eligible to be another Southern Conference team in the I-AA playoffs.”
Many would look at an Eagle win over the Paladins as a highlight for an otherwise forgettable season. Georgia Southern has lost three straight games, and has not looked especially good in its last two, losses at The Citadel and Wofford.
However, Eagle coach Brian VanGorder is not looking at the Furman game as one in which his team could ruin its arch-rivals’ season, and as one which could build momentum that would carry over into both next week’s season finale with Central Arkansas and next season.
While acknowledging the importance of the rivalry and Furman’s current playoff situation, he is not taking the approach of being a spoiler.
“Not really, naw, naw,” said VanGorder when asked about the Eagles being in that role this week. “We’re not really talking about that.
“The one thing, again, I’ve been pleased with is we’ve (only) had one week where our guys, I thought, didn’t practice better,” said VanGorder. “As long as we go out and our kids are working hard in preparation, paying attention in the meeting rooms and doing those things I don’t want to disturb them with that kind of talk. That’s not the central idea of this game although we all know it exists.”
Furman is 32-4 at Paladin Stadium under Lamb, and has won 15 straight at home since last losing to eventual national champion James Madison in the 2004 playoffs.
The Paladins are currently second in the SoCon in scoring offense, second in scoring defense, second in total defense and is third in total offense behind Appalachian State and Georgia Southern.
Cedrick Gipson has 767 yards rushing for the Paladins to rank seventh in the conference at 76.7 yards per game. Southern’s Chris Covington is fourth at 96.9 per game and he is followed by teammate Lamar Lewis at 84.1
Furman has been forced to play both junior Reynaldo Gray and freshman Jordan Sorrells at quarterback this season due to injuries. Gray, who will start against the Eagles, is the first cousin of App State quarterback Armanti Edwards.
Paladin linebacker Andrew Jones, who Lamb considers to be one of the best linebackers to ever play at Furman, is averaging 10.6 tackles per game, second best in the conference and just ahead of the Eagles’ John Mohring.
One statistic which stands out is Furman’s success on third down. The Paladins have converted 63 of 129 opportunities to rank first in the league. Southern is last, having converted 42 of 133. Also, the Paladins are second in the SoCon in red zone offense while the Eagles are last in red zone defense.
Almost without exception a Southern Conference championship or a spot in the Division I-AA playoffs is riding on the outcome. Twice a national championship was on the line.
This year’s game will be no exception — for the Paladins. The two meet Saturday at Furman (7-3, 5-1) and it is a must win situation for the team in purple. Georgia Southern (3-6, 2-4), on the other hand, finds itself in the position of playing out the season. Game time is 3:30 p.m., and the game will be televised on CSS.
Georgia Southern will be playing without starting defensive end Charrod Taylor, one of the top defensive linemen in the SoCon. Taylor has been suspended for the game due to a violation of team rules.
Coach Bobby Lamb’s team must beat the Eagles to qualify for the I-AA playoffs. The playoff field will be announced a week from Sunday, and it is an unwritten rule four-loss teams don’t qualify.
“Obviously it’s not your typical Georgia Southern team as far as the record is concerned,” said Lamb. “I know they’re disappointed with their record, but anytime you have Georgia Southern and Furman going head-to-head on the football field it’s a big, big game.
“We’ve got to try and take care of business,” said the fifth-year Paladin head coach, a man in his 25th consecutive year at the school as a player, assistant coach and now head coach.
Lamb’s freshman year at Furman was the year the Eagles resumed football. In 1985, his senior season, Lamb and the Paladins dropped a thrilling 44-42 decision to Georgia Southern in the national championship game. Furman won its only national title three years later with a 17-12 win over GSU.
“Georgia Southern is coming in here wanting, obviously, to keep us out of the playoffs and to try and get a win,” said Lamb. “We’re trying to win a football game to become 8-3 to become eligible to be another Southern Conference team in the I-AA playoffs.”
Many would look at an Eagle win over the Paladins as a highlight for an otherwise forgettable season. Georgia Southern has lost three straight games, and has not looked especially good in its last two, losses at The Citadel and Wofford.
However, Eagle coach Brian VanGorder is not looking at the Furman game as one in which his team could ruin its arch-rivals’ season, and as one which could build momentum that would carry over into both next week’s season finale with Central Arkansas and next season.
While acknowledging the importance of the rivalry and Furman’s current playoff situation, he is not taking the approach of being a spoiler.
“Not really, naw, naw,” said VanGorder when asked about the Eagles being in that role this week. “We’re not really talking about that.
“The one thing, again, I’ve been pleased with is we’ve (only) had one week where our guys, I thought, didn’t practice better,” said VanGorder. “As long as we go out and our kids are working hard in preparation, paying attention in the meeting rooms and doing those things I don’t want to disturb them with that kind of talk. That’s not the central idea of this game although we all know it exists.”
Furman is 32-4 at Paladin Stadium under Lamb, and has won 15 straight at home since last losing to eventual national champion James Madison in the 2004 playoffs.
The Paladins are currently second in the SoCon in scoring offense, second in scoring defense, second in total defense and is third in total offense behind Appalachian State and Georgia Southern.
Cedrick Gipson has 767 yards rushing for the Paladins to rank seventh in the conference at 76.7 yards per game. Southern’s Chris Covington is fourth at 96.9 per game and he is followed by teammate Lamar Lewis at 84.1
Furman has been forced to play both junior Reynaldo Gray and freshman Jordan Sorrells at quarterback this season due to injuries. Gray, who will start against the Eagles, is the first cousin of App State quarterback Armanti Edwards.
Paladin linebacker Andrew Jones, who Lamb considers to be one of the best linebackers to ever play at Furman, is averaging 10.6 tackles per game, second best in the conference and just ahead of the Eagles’ John Mohring.
One statistic which stands out is Furman’s success on third down. The Paladins have converted 63 of 129 opportunities to rank first in the league. Southern is last, having converted 42 of 133. Also, the Paladins are second in the SoCon in red zone offense while the Eagles are last in red zone defense.
