December 19, 2001

FURMAN’S IVORY CLEARED TO PLAY IN
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

CHATTANOOGA, TENN. -- Furman head football coach Bobby Johnson announced today that senior All-America tailback Louis Ivory has been cleared by team medical personnel to play in Friday’s NCAA I-AA national championship game against Montana.

Ivory, who sustained a sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee after rushing for 170 yards in the Paladins’ 24-20 first round playoff win over Western Kentucky on Dec. 1, sat out Furman’s 34-17 win over Lehigh on Dec. 8 and last Saturday’s 24-17 semifinal round victory over Georgia Southern. He returned to practice on Monday and, according to Johnson, “has looked pretty good” the last two days, like he is ready to play.”

Furman’s all-time leading rusher (5,353 yards) and scorer (318 points), Ivory paced the Southern Conference in rushing in 2001 for the second consecutive year with 1,492 yards. Prior to being sidelined, he had recorded 36 consecutive starts at tailback and had rushed for 100 yards in 31 games.

Ivory was named Southern Conference Offensive Player-of-the-Year this year for the second consecutive season. In 2000 he was selected as recipient of the Walter Payton Award, which is given annually to the top offensive player in NCAA I-AA football.

In announcing Ivory’s return, Johnson did not indicate whether the Fort Valley, Ga., product would start in Friday night’s national championship game, which will be televised by ESPN. Kickoff is 5:30 p.m.