Presbyterian College takes its second road trip in as many weeks, as the Blue Hose head to Greenville, S.C. to take on the Furman Paladins in a 1 p.m. kick-off Saturday, Sept. 24. It will be the first televised game of the season for PC, as the game will be broadcast regionally on CSS.
This is the 53rd meeting between the two schools. The series dates back to PC's inaugural season of football with the first game being played in 1913, with the Paladins coming away with the 65-0 win. Furman owns a 40-11-1 series record and has won the last 12 meetings, including a 45-21 decision in 2009. The Paladins have averaged over 33 points in those 12 contests. The last victory for the Blue Hose came in 1979, with PC earning the 17-10 win. Harold Nichols has only faced the Paladins once and it was his debut game as a head coach in 2009.
The Furman Paladins are 1-1 with a season-opening 23-30 loss at Coastal Carolina Sept. 3 and a 16-6 win at The Citadel Sept. 10. Jerodis Williams leads Furman on the ground with 43 carries for a total of 264 yards. He averages 132.0 yards per game. The air belongs to Tyler Maples, who has caught eight for 76 yards (9.5 avg. per carry). Chris Forcier is the starting QB and is 23-for-30 on the year with no interceptions. He's thrown for a total of 208 yards in two games.
The Blue Hose are 1-2 on the season. Leading the rushing yardage for the Blue Hose so far this season is Lance Byrd, who is averaging 78.3 yards on the ground and already has two touchdowns in the young season. He rushed for a season-high 153 yards against NGU. The receptions pace belongs to Michael Ruff, who has 13 catches for 103 yards and is averaging 7.9 a possession. Ryan Singer leads PC at QB and is 28-for-57 this season with three interceptions. He's thrown for 275 yards and is averaging 91.7 a game.
Despite the loss at California, the Blue Hose took home several accolades. Justin Bethel earned Big South Special Teams Player-of-the-Week this past week. Bethel and Patrick Morgano were honored by the College Football Performance Awards (CFPA) as well. Bethel was named National DB and Defensive Performer of the Week, while Morgano was named National Punter of the Week.
It has been a tough road to hoe for PC since making the transition to NCAA Division I. The Blue Hose are just 4-23 outside of Clinton, and have won just once in the last three seasons. The lone road win since 2008 came last year with the 26-24 victory at Gardner Webb. It also marked the first win for Nichols as well as the first Big South victory. Some of the opponents PC has faced on the road include California, Wake Forest, Clemson, Old Dominion and Southern Conference powers Appalachian State and Wofford. Including the trip to California, the Blue Hose are on the road for six of the seven weeks.
The game will be broadcast on 860-WLBG with pre-game show beginning at 10:30 a.m. John Avery will be handling play-by-play, while Duane Dennie will be stepping in for this game to handle color commentary. Fans inside the stadium can listen with their FM headsets on channel 90.5-FM.
Fans are reminded that artificial noisemakers will not be permitted in Paladin Stadium.
