March 23, 2002

FURMAN PUTS WRAPS ON SPRING PRACTICE WITH
SATURDAY SCRIMMAGE; LAMB PLEASED WITH PROGRESS

GREENVILLE -- Furman wrapped up its 2002 spring practice on Saturday with a two-hour scrimmage at Paladin Stadium, and new head coach Bobby Lamb indicated he was pleased with his team's progress on both sides of the football.

"I think we had 120 plays and got after it pretty well," said Lamb. "You always want your defense to be ahead of you offense, especially in the spring, and I think our defense was ahead today, especially when it came to driving the football down the field. We couldn't really sustain much.

"Offensively we did some great things, but we've got to be more consistent. That's where the repetitions will come in. Overall, though, I thought we had a great day. Everybody was getting after it and making some big plays, and that's what we were looking for."

Headlining the work of Furman¹s offense was rising redshirt freshman tailback Brandon Mays (Arden, N.C.), who rushed 16 times for 103 yards and three touchdowns.

Mays, whose touchdown runs covered 17, 7, and 2 yards, is bidding to join rising juniors Toreico O'Neal (Barnesville, Ga.), Lamar Rembert (Ocala, Fla.), and Hindley Brigham (Birmingham, Ala.) for playing time in 2002 following the graduation of two-time All-America Louis Ivory, the school¹s all-time leading rusher. O'Neal ran six times for 19 yards and had one reception for eight yards. Brigham, meanwhile, had five rushes for 26 yards as well as three receptions covering 16 yards. Rembert sat out the team¹s final session after straining a hamstring in Thursday¹s practice.

"There were years around here where we were looking for one or two tailbacks (to play)," said Lamb. ³Brandon made some great runs. He reminds us of Stanford Jennings in that he is a long strider and has tremendous hands. It's going to be a battle at that position, and we've got to find a way to get all of them playing time."

Also drawing Lamb's praise on Saturday was rising senior All-Southern Conference quarterback Billy Napier (Chatsworth, Ga.), who completed 7-of-12 passes for 53 yards. "Billy hasn't missed a beat," added Lamb. "The best thing he did was check down to our backs underneath. That has been a big emphasis for us this spring, when our receivers are covered downfield to throw underneath to our backs who can get some yardage, and I thought he did a good job with that."

Backup quarterback Bo Moore completed 4-of-5 passes for 42 yards a touchdown, which covered three yards to flanker Brian Bratton, the 2001 Southern Conference Freshman-of-the-Year.

Split end Bear Rinehart (Seneca, S.C.), who will return in 2002 as a senior, had three receptions for 25 yards and rising sophomore flanker Isaac West (Augusta, Ga.) grabbed two passes for 32 yards, including a 19-yard connection from Moore to set up a Mays touchdown run.

Defensive ends Glenn Smith (Mobile, Ala.) and Eddie Overdyke (Lilburn, Ga.) paced Furman¹s defensive effort with a pair of sacks. Junior free safety Paul Billingsly (College Park, Ga.) registered four tackles, including a hit-for-loss.

The defense was without the services of all-conference tackle LeBryan Sperling (Decatur, Ga.), who sustained a broken hand earlier in the week.