While Clemson continues its fated tour of storm-torn football locales, Furman returns to action, almost dipping its figurative toes in the currently stable Atlantic.

The Tigers miraculously played – and defeated — Stanford last week while surrounded by Helenic despair. This week’s game in in Tallahassee, one of the first sites of the hurricane’s fury.

The Paladins didn’t play Samford, which was stranded at home in Alabama. This Saturday Wofford is playing at weather-torn Western Carolina without fans. The Presbyterians violated the Sabbath as Davidson defeated the Clinton Presbytery, 48-37, on Sunday.

If Furman continues to play Samford (Homewood, Ala.), while Clemson plays Stanford, it could be be branded Confusion Saturday.

By and large, Hurricane Helene was no fan of football.

On Saturday at 2 p.m., Furman and The Citadel are to swap the pigskin around for the 104^th time at Johnson Hagood Stadium. The Paladins and Bulldogs have played each other more often than any other Southern Conference teams.

Few rivalries can boast a more robust home-field significance. Furman (1-3) leads the series, begun in 1919, by a commanding margin of 63-37-3. The margin against the state’s military college is only 25-22-2 in Charleston.

The Paladins won, 28-14, last season in Greenville, and 21-10 in Charleston in ’23, but at Paladin Stadium and its Upstate predecessors, Furman’s edge is 38-15-1.

Furman has won the last three encounters against The Citadel (2-3, 0-2 SoCon), which mimics Sparta to Furman’s Athens.

For the Paladins, Saturday’s contest unexpectedly represents the SoCon opener after last Saturday’s scheduled clash was postponed after Helene intervened with winds and rain that knocked out power in the Upstate, including Furman, which remains closed thru Friday. Coach Clay Hendrix, whose program has suffered three cancellations, all home games, over the last seven-plus years, had to rearrange preparation and practice earlier in the week.

Furman’s last outing, a 34-24 road loss two weeks ago at FCS 12th-ranked William & Mary, while disappointing for the Paladins, offered continued flickers of promising play to give Hendrix reason for optimism heading into league action.

Making only his second start of his career, freshman quarterback Trey Hedden passed for 264 yards and two touchdowns, including an 84-yard connection to sophomore Colton Hinton for the ninth longest pass in program history. Sophomore tight end Brock Chappell had four receptions, punctuated by an acrobatic, one-handed 14-yard touchdown grab. His backup, Jackson Pryor, another freshman, made his career debut with two catches for 88 yards.

The development of an astonishingly young team, on the heels of an astonishingly experienced one that went 10-3, is moving along, though perhaps not as quickly some hoped. They’re coming around.

Defensively, Furman suffered a rare bullying in the ground game, yielding 384 yards to the Tribe, but the continued commitment to play a number of young defenders, particularly along the front, should pay dividends. Three sacks and a pair of forced turnovers helped keep the game’s outcome in question until the closing minute, and that followed a pair of unlikely field goal misses, from 27 and 29 yards, that could have put the Paladins in front late.

Saturday’s game will be streamed via ESPN+ and aired over The Fan Upstate and its four stations: 97.7 FM/1330 AM in Greenville, and 97.1 FM/950 AM in Spartanburg.  Broadcasts can be secured via Audacy.com, as well as through FurmanPaladins.com.

Not nearly so uncommon is Carson Williams and Carly Wilkes being named SoCon cross country Runners of the Week.

It is a regular occurrence for purple-clothed harriers.

Furman competed at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational on Sept. 27 at Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course in Madison. 

Wilkes, a junior from Salem, Va., placed ninth with a six-kilometer time of 20:18, leading the Paladin women to a sixth-place team finish.

A senior from Raleigh, N.C., Williams finished with an 8K time of 24:06 to placed 39th individually out of the pool of 186 runners.

Furman returns to action at the Royals Cross Country Challenge, hosted by Queens Universit, of Charlotte on Oct. 11. 

Women’s soccer has rescheduled its matches versus UNC Greensboro and Western Carolina, which were postponed over the last week due to heavy rains and power outages in the Greenville area.

The Paladins are to host the Spartans on Thursday, Oct. 10, and the Catamounts on Thursday, Oct. 24, at Stone Stadium. Kickoff for both matches is set 7 p.m. and admission is free.

The Paladins (5-4-2, 1-0-1 SoCon) return to action on Sunday when they travel to Homewood, Ala., to face the Samford Bulldogs.

Women’s golf begins play Friday in the fourth annual Evie Odom Invitational, which is being hosted by Old Dominion at the par-70, 5,824-yard Princess Anne Country Club in Virginia Beach, Va.

The 54-hole tournament continues through Sunday with teams teeing off at Nos. 1 and 10 at 8:30 a.m. each day.  Furman tees off at 10:10 a.m. in Friday’s first round and will play in a group with Old Dominion and College of Charleston.   

The Paladin lineup for the Evie Odom Invitational includes sophomore Audry Ryu, senior Alise Knudson, freshman Eva Ringwald, junior Liza Lapeyre, and freshman Jenna Madden.  Sophomore Kelsi Mauzy will compete as an individual. 

Furman is joined in the 14-team field by host Old Dominion, Chattanooga, Coastal Carolina, College of Charleston, James Madison, Miami (Fla.), North Florida, Notre Dame, Penn State, Princeton, Richmond, Sacramento State, and Western Kentucky.

Furman finished third at the Lady Paladin Invitational last month. The Paladins placed five players among the top 25, with Ryu leading Furman in sixth place at 4-under. 

Wellpilgrim.com surpassed the 100,000 mark in page views recently and has already exceeded the numbers of the entire 2023 year. At least one story had been posted for 59 consecutive days. … until Helene arrived.

Recently, like most everything else, it’s been sporadic at best.

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