#38 Furman FCS Football Preview


Furman Paladins

Overall Rank: #38
#5 Southern

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2010 Record: (5-6, 3-5)
2010 Postseason: none
Coach: Bruce Fowler (First year at Furman, 0-0 overall)

Returning Leaders:
Rushing: Jerodis Williams, RB, 389 yards
Passing: Dakota Derrick, QB, 196 yards
Receiving: Colin Anderson, TE, 242 yards
Tackles: Kadaron Anderson, LB, 121
Sacks: Josh Lynn, DE, 2.0
Interceptions: Ryan Steed, CB, 4

Furman started out the 2010 campaign quite strong, but lost four of their last five games. That led to a coaching change and Bruce Fowler is taking over the reins. Coach Fowler was a former player and coach at Furman. For the last nine years he has been an assistant coach and a defensive coordinator at Vanderbilt. The Paladins return a lot of talent on both sides of the ball and the coaching change should not stunt the development of what was a young team in 2010.

Strengths:
The Furman defense did not put up the greatest numbers, but they did a great job of creating turnovers and creating opportunities for the offense. The biggest issue was getting to the quarterback. Nobody on the team tallied more than two sacks the entire season. And two of the four losses on defense are from the line in end Aaron Riley and nose tackle Pete Sanders. However, Josh Lynn and Colton Keig are a good duo to build around and Coach Fowler’s defensive mentality will find some ways to get to the quarterback. That could involve linebackers Kadarron Anderson, Chris Wiley and Greg Worthy as well. Anderson is the star of the unit and led the team with 121 total tackles. The secondary has a couple players to replace, most notably rover Max Lerner, but they have one of the best corners in the conference in Ryan Steed and Nathan Wade has emerged a solid safety. The rest of the secondary will fit in nicely around those two.

Weaknesses:
The offense has a few more questions, but they also have a ton of dangerous weapons. Yet, the offense ranked 7th in the conference last season with 321.55 yards per game and they had most of these weapons last season too. To be fair, Furman often did not need to go too far to score thanks to the defense and the best turnover margin in the Southern Conference, but still there is room for improvement. Running backs Jerodis Williams and Tersoo Uhaa are back after leading the rushing attack last season. The big loss on offense is receiver Adam Mims. He caught 55 passes for 724 yards and five touchdowns. Nobody else on the team had more than 20 catches. However, tight end Colin Anderson is a nice big target and receivers Tyler Maples, David Hendrix and Sederrick Cunningham are ready to step up. With three starters returning to the offensive line, the Paladins should be strong on the ground and have plenty of time to find receivers through the air.

The Bottom Line:
The question is who is going to pass the ball? Chris Forcier is a good rushing quarterback who can be a dynamic playmaker with a little more passing accuracy. He was seeing action last season before going down with a season-ending shoulder injury in the second game of the season. Dakota Derrick emerged as the starter late in the 2010 campaign and has outplayed Forcier in the spring. Derrick can make some plays with his feet too, but the junior will have to increase his completion percentage if he wants to hold onto the starting job. At the least, Furman has a couple relatively experienced quarterbacks to replace the departed Cody Worley.

Projected Postseason: none

2010 Team Stats:
Rushing Offense: 151.09 (56th in nation, 7th in conference)
Passing Offense: 170.45 (79, 6)
Total Offense: 321.55 (85, 7)
Scoring Offense: 30.27 (25, 4)
Rushing Defense: 211.73 (108, 9)
Pass Defense: 160.91 (14, 3)
Total Defense: 372.64 (83, 7)
Scoring Defense: 25.55 (66, 5)
Turnover Margin: .82 (12, 1)
Sacks: .82 (114, 9)
Sacks Allowed: 2.27 (76, 8)