2019 Furman Paladins football team

2019 Furman Paladins football
NCAA Division I First Round, L 6–42 vs. Austin Peay
Conference	Southern Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 21
FCS Coaches	No. 19
Record	8–5 (6–2 SoCon)
Head coach	Clay Hendrix (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	George Quarles (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Duane Vaughn (1st season)
Captain	Andy Godwin, Bo Layton, Donavan Perryman, Jordan Willis
Home stadium	Paladin Stadium

2019 Southern Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 16 Wofford $^		7	–	1					8	–	3
No. 21 Furman ^		6	–	2					8	–	4
Chattanooga		5	–	3					6	–	6
The Citadel		4	–	4					6	–	6
Samford		4	–	4					5	–	7
VMI		4	–	4					5	–	7
Mercer		3	–	5					4	–	8
Western Carolina		2	–	6					3	–	9
East Tennessee State		1	–	7					3	–	9
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2019 Furman Paladins team represented Furman University as a member of the Southern Conference (SoCon) during the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by third-year head coach Clay Hendrix, the Paladins compiled an overall record of 8–5 with a mark of 6–2 in conference play, placing second in the SoCon. Furman received an at-large bid to the NCAA Division I Football Championship playoffs, where they lost to Austin Peay in the first round. The team played home games at Paladin Stadium in Greenville, South Carolina.

Preseason

Preseason polls

The SoCon released their preseason media poll and coaches poll on July 22, 2019. The Paladins were picked to finish in second place in both polls.

Media poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Wofford	253 (21)
2	Furman	229 (6)
3	East Tennessee State	187 (2)
4	Mercer	146
5	Chattanooga	134
6	Samford	125
7	The Citadel	111
8	Western Carolina	88
9	VMI	32

Coaches poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Wofford	63 (7)
2	Furman	55 (1)
3	East Tennessee State	44 (1)
4	Chattanooga	40
5	Mercer	34
6	Samford	33
7	The Citadel	22
8	Western Carolina	21
9	VMI	12

Preseason All-SoCon Teams

The Paladins placed seven players on the preseason all-SoCon teams.

Offense

1st team

Bo Layton – OL

2nd team

Devin Wynn – RB

Andy Godwin – OL

Thomas Gordon – WR

Defense

1st team

Adrian Hope – LB

2nd team

Elijah McKoy – LB

Specialists

1st team

Grayson Atkins – K

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 31	1:00 p.m.	Charleston Southern*	No. 19	Paladin Stadium Greenville, SC	ESPN+	W 46–13	6,146
September 7	7:00 p.m.	at Georgia State*	No. 17	Georgia State Stadium Atlanta, GA	ESPN3	L 42–48	20,351
September 14	12:00 p.m.	at Virginia Tech*	No. 16	Lane Stadium Blacksburg, VA	ACCN	L 17–24	52,314
September 21	1:00 p.m.	Mercer	No. 17	Paladin Stadium Greenville, SC	Nexstar/ESPN+	W 45–10	7,667
September 28	1:00 p.m.	East Tennessee State	No. 16	Paladin Stadium Greenville, SC	Nexstar/ESPN+	W 17–10	5,031
October 5	3:00 p.m.	at Samford	No. 14	Seibert Stadium Homewood, AL	Nexstar/ESPN+	W 58–14	6,169
October 19	1:00 p.m.	The Citadel	No. 8	Paladin Stadium Greenville, SC (rivalry)	ESPN3	L 10–27	6,603
October 26	3:30 p.m.	at Western Carolina	No. 14	E.J. Whitmire Stadium Cullowhee, NC	ESPN3	W 28–7	8,174
November 2	2:00 p.m.	at Chattanooga	No. 13	Finley Stadium Chattanooga, TN	ESPN+	W 35–20	7,431
November 9	1:00 p.m.	VMI	No. 9	Paladin Stadium Greenville, SC	ESPN+	W 60–21	7,229
November 16	1:30 p.m.	at No. 21 Wofford	No. 9	Gibbs Stadium Spartanburg, SC (rivalry)	Nexstar/ESPN+	L 7–24	6,457
November 23	1:00 p.m.	Point*	No. 17	Paladin Stadium Greenville, SC	ESPN+	W 64–7	3,207
November 30	1:00 p.m.	at No. 18 Austin Peay*	No. 16	Fortera Stadium Clarksville, TN (NCAA Division I First Round)	ESPN3	L 6–42	3,559
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Game summaries

Charleston Southern

	1	2	3	4	Total
Buccaneers	0	6	7	0	13
No. 19 Paladins	7	17	8	14	46

See also: 2019 Charleston Southern Buccaneers football team

At Georgia State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 17 Paladins	13	7	8	14	42
Panthers	3	14	21	10	48

See also: 2019 Georgia State Panthers football team

At Virginia Tech

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 16 Paladins	0	14	0	3	17
Hokies	3	0	14	7	24

See also: 2019 Virginia Tech Hokies football team

Mercer

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	0	10	0	0	10
No. 17 Paladins	14	14	17	0	45

See also: 2019 Mercer Bears football team

East Tennessee State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Buccaneers	0	7	3	0	10
No. 16 Paladins	7	3	0	7	17

See also: 2019 East Tennessee State Buccaneers football team

At Samford

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 14 Paladins	28	14	10	6	58
Bulldogs	7	7	0	0	14

See also: 2019 Samford Bulldogs football team

The Citadel

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	7	0	14	6	27
No. 8 Paladins	3	0	0	7	10

See also: 2019 The Citadel Bulldogs football team and The Citadel–Furman football rivalry

At Western Carolina

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 14 Paladins	3	10	15	0	28
Catamounts	7	0	0	0	7

See also: 2019 Western Carolina Catamounts football team

At Chattanooga

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 13 Paladins	0	14	7	14	35
Mocs	3	9	0	8	20

See also: 2019 Chattanooga Mocs football team

VMI

	1	2	3	4	Total
Keydets	7	14	0	0	21
No. 9 Paladins	15	17	14	14	60

See also: 2019 VMI Keydets football team

At Wofford

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 9 Paladins	7	0	0	0	7
No. 21 Terriers	7	7	7	3	24

See also: 2019 Wofford Terriers football team

Point

	1	2	3	4	Total
Skyhawks	0	7	0	0	7
No. 17 Paladins	21	22	14	7	64

See also: Point Skyhawks football

At Austin Peay—FCS First Round

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 16 Paladins	0	3	0	3	6
No. 18 Governors	7	0	28	7	42

See also: 2019 Austin Peay Governors football team

The Paladins were selected for the postseason tournament, with a first-round pairing against Austin Peay.

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Final
STATS FCS	19	17	16	17	16	14	11	8	14	13	9	9	17	16
Coaches	17	11	13	15	15	14	11	8	14	13	10	7	15	16