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The Presbyterian College football team returns to Bailey Memorial Stadium for the first time since a 45-10 win over Brevard Sept. 1, when it hosts Furman in a noon contest Saturday, Sept. 22. The Paladins will make the trek to Clinton for the first time since taking a 36-7 win back in 1975 at Old Bailey Memorial Stadium.
The game will be televised on Comcast Sports Southeast (CSS), as well as ESPN3. Chuck Hussion will provide play-by-play with Corey Stewart serving as analyst. David Cobb will work the sidelines.
At 0-3, Furman will be looking for its first win of the season, while PC will be trying to win game number two after dropping its last two games at ACC Georgia Tech and SEC Vanderbilt. The Paladins own a 41-11-1 mark over the Blue Hose and have won the last 13 in a row.
Extra Points
- When PC hosts Furman Sept. 22, it will be for the first time since 1975 ... The Paladins won that contest 36-7 ... The contest will be only the eighth meeting between the two teams in Clinton ... Furman owns a 41-11-1 mark over the Blue Hose and won last year's contest 62-21 ...
- PC and Furman met for the first time in 1913, which was the first year of football for the Blue Hose ... The Paladins won that meeting 65-0 ...
- Leading the Blue Hose on the ground in three games is Lance Byrd who is averaging 73.3 yards in 45 carries ... Arthur Williams paces the team in the air, having caught nine passes for 80 yards for an average of 8.9 yards a catch ... Tamyn Garrick is 29-for-54 with two interceptions ... He has thrown for 291 yards with one TD ... Donelle Williams leads the Blue Hose on the defensive side of the ball with 26 total tackles ... He is followed by Cedric Byrd with 16 in three games ...
- A couple of highlights against Vanderbilt included Joey Gilkey who caught a 29-yard reception in the second quarter, a career-long for the tight end ... Jordan Hallums also made his first career catch with a 21-yard reception in the first half, PC's second-longest pass of the day ... Chad Sanders also hit a career mark, with a 14-yard rush in the first quarter ...
- One highlight from the 59-3 loss to Georgia Tech was a 91-yard fumble return by Branden Leston ... He recovered a fumble at the PC goal line and ran it back to the Georgia Tech nine-yard line ... Leston's return set a new Division I record for longest recovery, eclipsing a Chetyuane Reeder 78-yarder set in 2007 against Charleston Southern ...
- The Blue Hose recovered three fumbles, the most lost fumbles for the Yellow Jackets since giving up a trio in the 2010 Independence Bowl against Air Force ...
- Lance Byrd needed just 11 rushing attempts to reach 400 for his career, he surpassed that mark with 18 at Georgia Tech ... Michael Ruff reached a milestone on the team's first drive against Georgia Tech, hauling in a 19-yard reception to push him over 1,000 career receiving yards ... The Blue Hose wideout ranks third in PC's Division I history with 1,014 ...
- The 45-10 win over Brevard marked the first time the Blue Hose have won their season-opening game since a 10-0 victory over West Georgia in 2006, its last year in NCAA Division II ... The margin of victory, 35 points, was the largest since a 62-10 win over Chowan in 2007 ...
- Against Brevard the Blue Hose returned the game's opening kick-off for a touchdown, marking just the second time PC has scored off a kick return ...
- Demarcus Rouse recorded three rushing TDs in the game against Brevard ... his three TDs were not only personal records, but they tied PC's Division I single-game record for most rushing TDs, as well as most total TDs ... Rouse's 18 points is tied for first as well in most points ...
- Cedric Byrd ran back five punts for 33 yards against the Tornados ... the five punt returns broke PC's Division I record for most in a single game ...
- In a game of records, the four rushing TDs against Brevard is tied for second in PC Division I record books ...
- With Lance Byrd's 109 rushing yards against the Tornados he became the first PC player in Division I history to break the 2,000-career yard mark, finishing the game with 2,058 ... he is already the school's leading rusher ... With 2,472 yards he is just 300 yards from catching teammate Michael Ruff for the all-purpose yardage record ... Ruff has 2,772 ...
- Michael Ruff led off the 2012 season with a bang, returning the opening kick-off 92 yards for a touchdown ... It was the longest in PC's Division I history and the first score from the opening kick for the Blue Hose ... It was the second kick-off returned for a TD by PC in PC's Division I history ... Ruff finished with over 100 all-purpose yards for the game (109), earning him College Football Performance Awards National Kickoff Returner of the Week, as well as Big South Special Teams Player of the Week ...
- Patrick Morgano was named to the 2012 College Football Performance Awards Punter Award watch list ... A Big South All-Conference selection in 2011, Morgano was also named CFPA Positional Performer of the Week ... He averaged 40.7 punts in 2011 and put 21 of them inside the 20-yard line, with 10 of them over 50 yards in distance ...
- The Blue Hose were picked to finish fourth in the Big South in 2012 ... The top three pre-season picks all come to Clinton this season with Liberty coming to town Oct. 13, Stony Brook Oct. 27 and Coastal Carolina Nov. 10 ...
Oh Captain
The Captains for the 2012 football season were announced at the end of preseason ... Lance Byrd, Cedric Byrd, Aaron Mayes and Shawn Armstrong were chosen by their fellow teammates to lead the team this season ...
More than Pride
For the first time since becoming a Division I member in 2007, the Blue Hose will be able to play for the conference championship and a spot in the NCAA FCA play-offs ... Since 2007 PC has been a provisional Division I member ... That changed on August 2, 2012, when the NCAA granted PC full Division I membership ...
Honor
Five football student-athletes earned a prestigious honor this summer as they were named to the Honor Council ... Tamyn Garrick, John Hardy, Kaleb Griffin, J.J. Russell and Joe Wideman were chosen to serve on a panel consisting roughly of 55 members that ensure the integrity of all academic and student life affairs ... As a result of the Honor Code being a cornerstone of the PC community, students can trust one another and leave items unattended ... Professors can issue take home tests and can leave testing rooms unattended. In general, the Honor Code is one of PC's greatest assets and traditions ...
This Day in PC Football History
The Blue Hose have played in 12 September 22nd games dating back to a 6-6 tie to Clemson in 1933 ... PC is 3-8-1 in games on this day, the last coming in 2007 as the team lost to Western Carolina, 20-33 ...
2007, Western Carolina, L 20-33
2001, Catawba, L 14-28
1990, Lenoir Rhyne, L 17-41
1984, Lenoir Rhyne, W 16-3
1979, Lenoir Rhyne, W 28-14
1973, Mars Hill, W 27-2
1962, Lenoir Rhyne, L 14-15
1956, Clemson, L 7-27
1951, Clemson, L 6-53
1945, Clemson, L 0-76
1934, Clemson, L 0-6
1933, Clemson, T 6-6
Shutout
PC's record of 61 contests of non-shutout football was broken in the 58-0 loss at Vanderbilt ... the last time the Blue Hose were held scoreless was a 28-0 loss at Elon Sept. 16, 2006 ...
SEC Country
Vanderbilt marked the first SEC opponent for the Blue Hose in their Division I history ... PC will continue the streak in 2013 as the team will travel to Ole Miss ...
On the road
Since moving to Division I in 2007, the road has not been kind to the Blue Hose ... In six seasons PC is 3-30 away from Bailey Memorial Stadium ... Some of the opponents PC has faced on the road include California, Wake Forest, Clemson, Old Dominion and Southern Conference powers Appalachian State, Furman and Wofford ... This season PC was at Georgia Tech and Vanderbilt ...
Smallest to Smallest
Presbyterian College, with an enrollment of 1,200, is the smallest football-playing Division I school in the NCAA, as well as the Big South Conference ... When the Blue Hose traveled to Vanderbilt, which has an enrollment of 12,700, they faced the smallest school in the SEC ...
Record Watch
Several players are close to career milestones at PC ... With 18 at Georgia Tech, Lance Byrd reached 400 rushing attempts for his career, he has 421 currently ... He is already first on the list ... With 19 yards at Vanderbily Michael Ruff eclipsed 1,000 career pass reception yards ... he is just 196 from moving to second in that category ... He also needs to five receiving TDs to become the PC Division I leader, and only 33 receptions to take the top spot ... His 13 total TDs is tied for third, just four away from the top spot ... With 98 total points, kicker Aaron Mayes is just 9 points from second in career total points scored ... Ruff has 68 kick returns, which is only four from the top spot ... Justin Bethel may hold the career mark for interceptions but Antarius Terrell is closing in with four of his own ... Cedric Byrd is second on the pass breakup career list, just three from Bethel 16 ...
