August 26, 2002

FURMAN ALREADY TURNING FOCUS TO VANDERBILT;
PALADINS ADD PAIR TO ROSTER

GREENVILLE -- When Bobby Lamb was named head coach at Furman in late December, he probably didn't give much thought to the fact that the move would give his squad a head start in the preseason in preparing for Vanderbilt, the Paladins' Sept. 7 season opening opponent coached by Lamb's Furman predecessor, Bobby Johnson.

"This is kind of unusual for us because we're playing Vanderbilt and they run the same offense and defense we run, so basically we're preparing for them every day," said Lamb after Monday's second practice.

Ordinarily, Furman would not start preparing for its season opening foe until 10 days prior to the game, but the expected similarity in offensive and defensive schemes in the two programs has allowed the Paladins speed up their advance work.

"Last year we played Wyoming and they had five wideouts, and the year before that we played Elon first and had to prepare for their wishbone," added Lamb, who complemented his team's work on Monday. "We had a great practice today with a lot of emotion. It was very competitive."

Furman's young head coach also indicated that a review of Saturday's scrimmage video proved that his team's performance "wasn't as bad as it seemed. There were about four plays during the scrimmage that could have easily been an interception but were completions for the offense, so if you take those four plays and turn them around, the defense played great. The effort was tremendous in that kind of heat."

Furman quarterbacks Billy Napier and Jeremiah Van Dora combined for three touchdowns in he Saturday scrimmage.

Commenting specifically on the play of sophomore cornerback T.J. Wilson, who appears to be on the verge of earning a starting role, Lamb said, "except for the time that he got beat for the touchdown by Isaac West (27 yards), he played well. He's got the number one spot, but Maurice Duncan is right behind him. We put them both in some tough situations out of the edge against some pretty good receivers."

Lamb announced on Monday that true freshman offensive guard Kelsey Grodzicki (Atlanta, Ga.) has retired from football due to a neck condition and that redshirt freshman split end Jamie Tyson (Woodstock, Ga.) had quit the team. Lamb indicated the two vacancies would be filled by freshmen Chip Gibson (Morristown, Tenn.), a center, and Corky Howell (Greer, S.C.), a running back/wide receiver. Both Gibson and Howell were scheduled to join the Furman program at the start of school but are now eligible under the NCAA 90-man preseason practice squad cap.

Furman continues preseason practice on Tuesday with practices at 8:15 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.