By MONTE DUTTON

Gavin Hall rushed for 101 yards against East Tennessee State (Monte Dutton photo).

As Furman prepares for homecoming and the annual invasion of The Citadel, it would be helpful to develop some of that old-fashioned distaste for the combatants of Charleston.

Forty years ago, The Citadel was the last game of the season and the one that mattered. Over the years, Wofford grew into the SoCon and became strong in football and men’s basketball. Spartanburg’s close by and that rivalry grew.

There was a time, though, a long time, when Furman students thought The Citadel’s nickname was Bellhops until they were juniors.

Current head coach Clay Hendrix was a freshman in 1982 and remembers the week of the game.

“All the coaches’ demeanor changed that week,” Hendrix recalled. “I remember going out to practice, and they were different guys. … It got to me pretty quick that this was not just another game.

“When you play them, it’s a fight and you’ve got to know that. That’s the way it’s going to be. That’s the way we want it.

The Citadel’s Maurice Drayton has done his part to spice up Saturday’s game. “Purple makes me puke,” he said earlier this week.

The Paladins are coming off a pair of astonishing losses, which seem less so because life has become so astonishing. Furman (4-3, 2-2) lost 52-7 to Western Carolina and 31-13 to Wofford. The government shut down, and the East Wing of the White House was demolished. LSU lost to Vandy. Florida State lost to Stanford. Mountain View Prep lost to Woodruff.

Furman has played without six scholarship receivers in the past two games, which is in no small part responsible for Trey Hedden’s recent struggles at quarterback. The Tampa, Fla., sophomore has hit 45/78 passes and been intercepted six times. Hendrix said Hedden’s targets are on the way back to the lineup but wouldn’t speculate on which would be ready for The Citadel.

“We’re getting better, you know. I don’t know. I don’t really want to. We’ll let who can play, play. We’ll get them back. It’s just how we get them back,” he said.

The Paladins have averaged only 99.6 yards on the ground so far, led by 446 from sophomore Gavin Hall.

“We’re getting better at it,” Hall said. “I’m starting to get more comfortable with the offensive line and where they’re going to be on certain plays. Week in and week out, it’s all coming together.”

The Citadel (3-4, 2-2) is improved. The Paladins have won the past four meetings. The Bulldogs’ two SoCon wins are road triumphs over Samford (40-13) and Chattanooga (28-10). The losses are both at home, 38-0 to Mercer and 45-38 to Western Carolina last week.

Wofford and Furman have been playing the longest. The Citadel and Furman have played the most. This is the 105^th time, with the Paladins leading, 64-37-3. With the exception of three years during World War II, they’ve played every season since 1919. This year’s kickoff is Saturday afternoon at 2.

A return to the victory column will require better work in possession control, as the Paladins have suffered a combined eight turnovers in the last two games, including six interceptions and two “pick-sixes.”  The expected return of true freshman wide receiver Evan James (32 rec., 379 yds., 2 TDs) should help after he missed the last four games due to injury.

After struggling mightily at Western Carolina two weeks ago, Furman’s defense turned in a better performance versus Wofford, limiting the Terriers to just two first downs and 60 total yards in the second half. The first half was the better defensive showing in Cullowhee.

The Citadel rushed for 278 yards and four touchdowns in a 45-38 shootout loss to Western Carolina.

Cobey Thompkins and Quentin Hayes share the quarterbacking duties, but The Citadel’s offense concentrates on the run. They lead in rushing, combining for 704 net yards. Garrison Johnston Sr. and Sebastian Boyle are both over 200 yards. As a team, the Bulldogs average 4.8 yards a carry.

Defensive tackle Caldwell Bussey, a redshirt soph from Hoover, Ala., said it’s fine by him.

“In comparison to Western Carolina, an air-raid school, I love playing run games, personally,” he said. “Our strength is against the run game. I think we’ll match up very well against [The Citadel].”

Jackie Smith Carson ‘00, who went on to a successful head coaching career at her alma mater after a stellar career playing for the Paladins, has been elected to the Southern Conference Hall of Fame.

 Carson is among five individuals selected to the SoCon Hall of Fame Class of 2026, to be enshrined on March 5, 2026 at Battery Park Hall in Asheville, N.C.

 She will be joined by Georgia Southern football coach Paul Johnson (1997-2001), Citadel football standout Paul Maguire (1957-1959), Davidson men’s basketball coach Bob McKillop (1992-2014) and Appalachian State men’s soccer great Thompson Usiyan (1977-1980).

 Carson, in her third year as Senior Vice President of Women’s Basketball for the Atlantic Coast Conference, is the 10th Furman representative to be elected to the SoCon Hall of Fame, which was created in 2009.  She is the only person in league history to be named both player of the year and coach of the year in either women’s or men’s basketball.

A four-year starter, three-time All-SoCon honoree, and player of the year selection in both 1998 and ‘99, Carson led the SoCon in scoring as a sophomore and junior and topped the league in rebounding in each of her final three seasons. She recorded 52 double-doubles (points-rebounds) and finished with 1,920 points, 1,057 rebounds, ranking second and third, respectively, all-time in Furman history.  She holds SoCon records for most free throws made in a season (212) and career (724) and averaged 16.8 points and 9.4 rebounds per game as a Paladin.

 Carson helped lead Furman to a SoCon regular season title in 1997, her freshman year, and a league tournament championship and NCAA Tournament berth as a senior in 2000. The Paladins posted a 68-46 overall record and 45-22 SoCon mark over her four-year tenure.

The Woodbridge, Va., native is among three Paladins to have her jersey (No. 22) retired.  Carson was inducted into Furman’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2005.

Following assistant coaching stints at Bucknell (2004-05) and James Madison (2006-10), she returned to Furman as head coach in 2010 and directed the Paladin program for 13 seasons, leading Furman to 205 victories, two SoCon Tournament runner-up finishes, and a pair of trips to the WNIT.  She was named SoCon Coach of the Year in 2014 and in 2022 coached the Paladins to their first 20-win campaign since 2000, her senior year.

What with Saturday’s homecoming football game and Sunday’s opening of the renovated Timmons Arena, the weekend is a crowded one on campus.

Bob Richey’s Paladins take on the University of Alabama in an exhibition game at Timmons on Sunday at 3 p.m. The game is to be televised on CW 62 in the Greenville/Spartanburg/Asheville market.

The Crimson Tide has a preseason ranking of 16^th in the USA Today coaches’ poll. Alabama was 28-9 overall and 13-5 in the Southeastern Conference last season, advancing four games into the NCAA Tournament until losing to Duke, 85-65, in Newark, N.J.

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