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| Matt Sochovka forces game-winning fumble/Photo Courtesy of Furman Athletics |
Devin Wynn’s 9-yard scoring run in overtime gave No. 17 Furman
a 44-37 lead, and a Cally Chizik fumble recovery on Samford’s offensive
possession in overtime allowed the Paladins to escape with their first overtime victory since a 28-22 win over
Chattanooga in 2006, snapping streak of five-consecutive overtime losses.
With the win, Furman improved to 2-1 overall and 2-1 in the
SoCon, while Samford dropped to 1-2 overall and 1-2 in league action.
The Paladins finished the day rolling up a 525-407 advantage
in total yards, including a 248-154 advantage in ground yards.
Furman redshirt sophomore quarterback connected on 16-of-21
passes for 277 yards, with three touchdowns and a pair of interceptions.
Samford’s Liam Welch finished the afternoon by connecting on
16-of-21 throws for 253 yards, with a touchdown and an interception.
Wynn’s touchdown in overtime gave Furman its first lead since 7-0 early in
the opening quarter, following what was a fumble by the Bulldogs on the opening
kickoff of the game.
Furman got the day started in strong fashion, following a
fumble on the opening kickoff of the game by Samford, and needed just five
plays to cover 20 yards and take a 7-0 lead following a Hamp Sisson 7-yard
scoring run to give the Paladins a 7-0 lead with 12:21 remaining in the opening
quarter.
Furman’s defense would hold Samford to a three-and-out on
the Bulldogs’ first official possession of the day, and following a 55-yard
punt by Bradley Porcelatto, the Paladins were pinned deep in their own end at
the 12.
However, after driving the ball to the Paladin 44, Sisson
would have his pass picked off and by Samford safety Chris Edmonds and returned
for 45 yards for a score, knotting the score 7-7, with 6:31 remaining in the
opening quarter.
On the ensuing Paladin possession, Furman turned the ball
over on downs at its own 32 and forced the Bulldogs to settle for a 50-yard
Mitchell Fineran field goal, and the All-SoCon place-kicker from Fort Valley, GA,
converted the trifecta to give the Bulldogs a 10-7 lead with 4:42 to play in
the opening quarter.
After the Furman offense could not generate a first down due
to a key holding penalty, the Paladins were forced to punt deep in their own
end. From there, the league’s best punt return threat—Montrell Washington—fielded
a Timmy Bleekrode punt and returned it 55 yards for a score to increase Samford’s
lead to 17-7 with 2:18 remaining in the opening quarter.
After another three-and-out by the Paladin offense and a 53-yard
punt by Bleekrode, a 64-yard run by Jay Stanton on the second play of the drive
put the Bulldogs at the Paladin 14. Two plays later, Stanton capped the drive
with a 2-yard scoring plunge to make it a 24-7 Samford lead at the end of the
opening quarter.
Furman would respond with a 10-play, 56-yard drive, which
was capped by a Timmy Bleekrode 36-yard field goal to make it a 24-10 game with
10:04 left in the half. The field goal was set up by a well-devised end-around
to Ryan DeLuca, which netted 56 yards to get the Paladins deep into Bulldog
territory. However, the drive stalled from there.
The Paladin offense would get the ball back with just over
four minutes remaining in the half, and from there, drove it 73 yards in nine
plays to get within a touchdown, as Sisson capped the drive with a 10-yard
scoring pass to Ryan Miller. Furman would enter the halftime break trailing Samford,
24-17.
In the second half, Furman wasn’t able to generate anything
offensively on its opening drive of the half, and the Paladins were forced into
a Bleekrode punt. After taking the ball over at their own 17, the Bulldogs
moved the ball well on the opening drive, as Liam Welch completed his longest
pass of the day for 40 yards, finding tight end Michael Vice.
Samford eventually moved the ball down to the Furman eight,
and had a first-and-goal, however, Furman’s defense stood strong and were able
to limit the Bulldogs to another Fineran’s field goal, as this one was good
from 22 yards to give the Bulldogs a 10-point lead, at 27-17, with 10:08 remaining
in the third quarter.
The Paladins ended up adding a field goal of their own on
the ensuing drive, as his 24-yard field goal helped bring the Paladins back within
touchdown, bringing an end to a six-play, 68-yard drive with 8:32 remaining in
the third.
On the first play of the ensuing drive, Liam Welch hooked up
with wideout Ty King for an 85-yard scoring strike to Ty King, putting the
Bulldogs back up double digits, at 34-20, with 8:14 remaining in the third.
After Sisson was intercepted for a second time on the day by
Samford’s Edmonds, it would be the Paladin defense that would keep Furman in
the game, as Furman cornerback Darius Kearse registered his second interception
of the season, picking off Welch and returning it 34 yards into Samford territory.
But after seven plays netted only 15 yards, the Paladins were forced to call on
Bleekrode again, and again he came through, as he connected on a 32-yard field
goal to make it a 34-23 game with 3:02
remaining in the third.
It appeared the Bulldogs were going to send Furman to its second-straight
defeat, and take their first road win of the 2021 campaign back to Birmingham
when Fineran connected on a 46-yard field goal to finish off a nine-play,
56-yard drive with 13:53 left, giving Samford a seemingly comfortable 37-23
lead.
However, the Paladin offense, led by Sisson, who had
struggled for a great deal of the afternoon, settled down and showed confidence,
poise and guile when his offensive teammates needed him most.
First, he rolled towards the Furman sideline to connect with
Ryan DeLuca in the corner of the end zone for a 31-yard scoring connection with
6:12 left, getting the Paladins to within a touchdown, 37-30, planting momentum
firmly in Furman’s corner. The scoring pass completed an eight-play, 83-yard
scoring drive.
The Paladins then needed its stout, resilient defense, which
has seemingly responded time and time again to adverse situations in the first
three games of the spring season. That would be the case once again, stopping
Samford on 2nd and 3rd and-1 plays, forcing a Porcellato
punt.
It didn’t take Sisson and the Furman offense long to produce
yet another big play, as he rolled left, and threw all the back to the right
side of the field—a play once used to perfection by former Georgia Southern
head coach Paul Johnson on a number of occasions—on a tight end screen to Ryan
Miller, and it was Miller that did the rest, out-pacing the Samford defense 73
yards to the end zone, tying the game, 37-37, with 2:59 left. That’s how the
game would end, as the two team’s headed into the extra session.
Samford won the toss in overtime and deferred. Sisson
completed a 16-yard pass to DeLuca on the first play and Wynn rushed for what
proved to be the game-winning score on the second play, as the Paladins
finished off the largest comeback win of 17 points in 236 games in the history
of the facility.
Wynn turned in another strong effort running the football
for the Paladins, finishing with 106 yards and a touchdown on 21 attempts,
while Samford’s ground efforts were led by Stanton, who finished with 86 yards
and a touchdown on 18 attempts.
Furman’s receiving efforts were led by DeLuca, who had four
catches for 114 yards and a score, while Miller hauled in three passes for 96
yards and a pair of scores.
Samford’s King caught four passes for 115 yards and a score,
while A.J. Toney caught six passes for 77 yards.
Defensively, Furman got a team-leading nine tackles from
linebacker Nick Kuzemka, which also included half-a-tackle-for-loss. Chizik
added six tackles, 1.0 tackle-for-loss to go with his all-important fumble
recovery.
Samford was led defensively by Ty Herring’s 16 stops, while linebacker
Noah Martin and rush end Joshua Long finished with 11 and 10 tackles,
respectively.
Furman heads back on the road next Saturday with a trip to
Johnson City, Tenn., to take on East Tennessee State, with kickoff set for 1
p.m. Samford hosts Wofford at Seibert Stadium in a 1 p.m. EST contest next
Saturday.
--Furman won consecutive games against Samford for the first time since having won seven-straight vs the Bulldogs from 1997-2010
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