By MONTE DUTTON

Know what? Charleston Southern’s 24-20 victory over Furman last week was like a first game.

Both coaches with whom I talked on Monday suggested the same. They weren’t griping, just observing.

The Paladins opened with a 76-0 loss at Ole Miss on Aug. 31, and Presbyterian started two nights earlier with a 63-10 fall to Mercer.

The games were such mismatches that it was hard to analyze what happened.

The Paladins made uncommon mistakes in the CSU game, and PC’s Steve Englehart thought the Blue Hose’ 31-14 victory over Erskine was a bit ordinary.

Furman (0-2) gets back to work on Saturday at 2 p.m. against Stetson (2-0), which is in the same league (Pioneer Football) as PC. PC hadn’t played Erskine 52 years, roughly the same span since Furman’s last game versus the Hatters, who lead the series, 2-0.

“Give them credit,’ said Furman’s Clay Hendrix, referring to the Buccaneers. “They did the things they had to do, and we didn’t do the things we needed to do.

“Our approach is to do common task uncommonly well.”

It’s not all relative.

Furman uncommonly committed four turnovers and its defense uncommonly caused none.

“It really felt like it was the opener,” Hendrix said. “I’m not sure I’ve ever felt that way. … We’re still early in this process. We have some challenges.”

It’s a week to commemorate – and perhaps resurrect – excellence at Paladin Stadium since it caps Hall of Fame. Five – basketball’s Stephen Croone, soccer’s Brian Lee, and track/cross country’s Troy Reeder, Allie Buchalski and Chris Borch – are to be inducted into the Furman Athletic Hall of Fame.

Furman looks to achieve its first win of the season after losing to Charleston Southern. The setback halted the Paladins’ 10-game home winning streak and marked Furman’s first home loss to a non-conference foe since 2017.

The Paladins field a young squad likely to include freshman quarterback Trey Hedden, who came off the bench to pass for 193 yards and a touchdown against Charleston Southern in his first significant college action. Hedden made crucial mistakes, particularly in the second half.

“Ball security is job security,” said Hendrix. “That’s always number one in everything we do. … [Hedden’s] got talent.

“It feels like we’ve played two games on an uphill field. … It feels like you’ve got to be perfect in all your calls. Both our quarterbacks (Hedden and Carson Jones) missed a lot of opportunities. Some are mental. They’re not always going the right place with the ball, and it should really be pretty common. … We’ve got some guys who just need to play. They need to play with more confidence because there’s talent there. They’re very capable and I see it in practice.”

Furman also got a solid rushing effort from redshirt junior Myion Hicks, who rushed for 68 yards and a score against the Buccaneers.

Four turnovers, however, proved decisive in last Saturday’s defeat as Charleston Southern converted two of the Paladin miscues into 10 points.

The Paladins’ defense surrendered only 257 total yards to CSU, including just 101 yards in the second half, but Furman has yet to force an opponent turnover this season after ranking among the best in the FCS in takeaways (27) a year ago.

All-SoCon defensive end Luke Clark wrapped up his first sack of the campaign to up his career tally to 13 and into a tie for seventh in Furman history.

“I definitely think we played all right (on defense),” he said. “There are lots of things we need to get better at. Tackling well and creating turnovers are things we pride ourselves in, and we haven’t really done it yet. We kind of played like a young team. I think some guys are a little bit hesitant.

“I think, going into [Stetson], What we can expect is to see some of these guys take that stuff in and become confident players.”

Another red-shirt senior, running back Bailor Hughes of Knoxville, Tenn., said, “It doesn’t really feel like I’ve been here that long. The time kind of flies by. I’ve talked to the young guys … and told them just take it series by series, game by game, and enjoy every day, because it flies by.”

“We practice against each other every day,” said Clark, from Louisville, Ky., “and we know how good this team can be when we’re clicking and doing what we’re supposed to do. We’ve got a process, and we’ve got to embrace it every day.’

The game will be streamed via ESPN+, and aired over flagship The Fan Upstate and its four stations: 97.7 FM/1330 AM in Greenville, and 97.1 FM/950 AM in Spartanburg. 

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