It was not only the season opener for Furman , it was the first ever Thursday night home game for the Paladins. They would get out of the gate fast and roll cross-county opponent North Greenville 52-0. It was over just about as quickly as it started, as Furman jumped out to a 21-0 lead with 4 minutes left in the 1st quarter.
In a bit of a surprise, Tyler Huff got the start at Quarterback for the Paladins. Huff is a Grad Transfer from Presbyterian who graduated from PC in the spring. Jace Wilson had started most of the tail end of the 2021 season as a true Freshman and was expected by many to be the starter in the opener. However, Huff made the most of his opportunity to start. He would throw a 33 yard TD pass on the opening drive to Preseason All-SoCon TE Ryan Miller.
Furman then went up 14-0 when Corner Cally Chizik scored on a 56 yard pick 6. It was his 1st game back after missing all of last season with a back injury and redshirting. He's the son of former Auburn National Championship Head Coach Gene Chizik. Cally's health could be a key to the season for Furman's defense. He plays opposite to All SoCon Corner Travis Blackshear and you would expect that teams won't be throwing Blackshear's way. That means Chizik would likely get the bulk of the work in coverage.
Tyler Huff would scramble for a long TD run to put the Paladins up 21-0 with 4 minutes left in the first. Huff finished the night going 10 of 12 passing for 189 yards and 2 TD's. He also ran for 94 yards and a TD on 5 carries. Jace Wilson was in the back up role at QB, but made the most of his opportunities on Thursday night. Wilson was 8 of 9 for 77 yards. Furman Running Back Dominic Roberto would carry 9 times for 53 yards and 2 TD's on the night as well.
Furman had 9 different players with at least one catch. TE Ryan Miller led the way with 4 catches for 85 yards and a Score. Wayne Anderson also had a TD catch.
The Paladins amassed 589 total yards of offense on the night. They had over 300 yards on the ground, 323 to be exact. The Paladin passing game went for 266 yards. Furman allowed just 227 yards of total offense, the Paladins were + 3 in the turnover margin, forcing 3 takeaways while not turning it over at all on offense.
The Paladins are now off until next Saturday September 10th . The competition ramps up in a major way for Furman, as they travel to Death Valley to take on Clemson. That game is set for a 1:30 PM Kickoff on Sept. 10th. You can hear every Furman game, all season long on the Fan Upstate.
