By MONTE DUTTON

It took a while, but Furman wound up glittering as much as its helmets in a season-opening 45-10 conquest of Tennessee Tech in Thursday-night football at Paladin Stadium in front of 9,827.

Nothing like the chrome on display under lights ever appeared on the helmets that passed for silver in the Art Baker years (1973-77). This helmet reflected enough to be in a telescope. With the black helmets and trousers disappearing in the turf as night fell, at times the Paladins looked like fireflies swarming around the Golden Eagles.

Travis Blackshear, the grad corner from Savannah, Ga., took an interception of Ethan Roberts 43 yards to the house in the game’s first three minutes, and after a Kyndel Dean rushing score of six yards and Dominic Roberto’s nine-yard rumble, the Paladins led, 21-10, at halftime. All the points TTU got came from Hayden Olsen’s 38-yard field goal and a Roberts scoring pass of 26 yards to Willie Miller with 46 seconds to go in the first half.

Head coach Clay Hendrix said he thought Blackshear’s pick affected Tech’s play calling for the rest of the game, and “they couldn’t run it consistently.

“We made some good adjustments. … We probably let them gang up on us a little bit too much. We got a lead, and I felt like we’d take care of the football. The one turnover was a tipped pass,” Hendrix added.

Perhaps the Paladins blinded the Eagles with their helmets. More likely, they kept applying unremitting pressure on both sides of the ball, and the game just exploded in the second half.

“Eventually you wear down the defense pounding the ball in their face every single play,” Hendrix said. “Eventually it was gonna pop.”

“It all comes with preparation,” Blackshear said. “Everything you do in the dark always comes to the light, whether it’s the first game or later down the line. You just gotta be patient and do your job. Making the first score is a great feeling.

“Corners don’t get too many opportunities like that. You’ve got to take advantage of it.”

Furman (1-0) was standard No. 6-in-the-nation issue in the final half. Roberto provided yet another 9-yard scoring rush, and Dan Scianna, a senior from Frankfort, Ill., cashed in yet another pick-six, this one from 67 yards, with 5:38 to play. Ian Williams began the breakaway with a 32-yard field goal in the third quarter, but the lead had been just two touchdowns entering the fourth.

Jayquan Smith closed it out with a six-yard rush for the final score with 2:41 on the clock. Axel Lepvreau popped all six of his PATs.

Furman’s offense is deep and balanced, and the statistics reflected it. (Forgive another helmet pun.)

Senior quarterback Tyler Huff was his usual swashbuckling self, rambling where many signal callers fear to tread. He looks like an action-movie star out there. Bond. James Bond. Shaken, not stirred. He passed for 172 yards (15-27, with an interception) and rushed for a net 42.

Imagine Johnny Manziel on good behavior.

Five Paladins rushed in double figures, led by the booming Roberto (18-59), Myion Hicks (2-45) and Huff. Grant Robinson had 26 yards in four carries, Smith 18 in the same. Dean scored a touchdown on his only carry, a misdirection slash from the right flank around left end.

Dean, a second-year graduate transfer from Winston-Salem, N.C., by way of James Madison, snagged five of Huff’s passes, leading nine receivers who shared Huff’s 15 completions and Carson Jones’ one.

Meanwhile, the defense was clipping Tennessee Tech’s second-half wings, limiting the Golden Eagles to only 99 total yards. Safety Hugh Ryan of Irmo made 12 tackles and forced a fumble. Xavier Stephens also picked off a Roberts pass.

The unit that led the Football Championship Subdivision with 29 takeaways in 2022 began this season with six.

The Eagles’ sophomore starter completed 25/38 for 204 yards and a touchdown but was intercepted thrice. Jordyn Potts threw Tech’s fourth pick, by Jack Rhodes.

Punter Ryan Leavy, a junior from Tampa, Fla., boomed each of his four punts, averaging 51.2 with a best of 52.

“I just wanted to help any way possible,” he said. “If my job’s to punt the pigskin down the field, I’m gonna punt it down the field. I’m gonna get my job done.”

The Paladins’ performance was not without its pesky hindrances. Penalties clogged the offense, particularly in the first half. Hendrix cited plenty of “things we need to clean up.”

Colton Hinton, a freshman wide receiver from Ashburn, Va., kept the final scoring drive alive by pouncing adroitly on the ball after Bailor Hughes had a reception stripped loose by TTU’s Cole Putnam.

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