November 24, 2002

FURMAN TO PLAY AT VILLANOVA IN
FIRST ROUND OF NCAA I-AA PLAYOFFS

GREENVILLE -- The Furman Paladins will play the Villanova Wildcats on Saturday, Nov. 30, in NCAA I-AA first round playoff action, it was announced today. Kickoff is set for Noon EST at Villanova Stadium.

Furman (8-3, 6-2 SoCon), completed its regular season on Saturday with a 35-7 win over Chattanooga. The Paladins finished tied for second in the Southern Conference along with Appalachian State and Wofford. Villanova (9-3, 6-3 Atlantic 10) completed its regular season with a 38-34 win over Delaware on Saturday and finished third in the Atlantic Conference behind Northeastern and Maine.

The winner of the Furman-Vaillanova game will play the winner of Saturday's Northeastern and Fordham contest on Dec. 7 at a site and time to be announced. The NCAA I-AA national championship game is scheduled for Friday, Dec. 20 at Chattanooga's Max Finley Stadium.

Furman's playoff appearance this year is its fourth straight and 12th trip to postseason play since Southern Conference football was reclassified from I-A to I-AA in 1982. Furman sports a 14-10 playoff record and in 1988 won the NCAA I-AA national championship by defeating Georgia Southern 17-12 in Pocatello, Idaho. Last year the Paladins went 12-3 and finished as national runnerup, losing to Montana 13-6 in the national championship game.

"We are very excited to be one of the 16 teams selected," said first year Furman head coach Bobby Lamb. "Despite the number of upsets around the country yesterday, we were still confident in our position, but there was certainly more suspense surrounding the process than what we had experienced the last three years.

"Villanova will be a big challenge for us. Coach Andy Talley has been there for quite a while and has given them stability, and they had the Walter Payton Award winner a year ago in Brian Westbrook. The are very talented on offense and have a fine quarterback, so we will have to have a good week of practice to have a chance to be successful."

Villanova beat Furman 20-0 in Philadelphia during the 1957 season in the only meeting between the two schools.

Following are the match-ups for the first round of competition to be played Saturday, Nov. 30. Complete game times will be released Monday:

November 30 at Lake Charles, Louisiana
Montana State (7-5) at No. 1 McNeese State (10-1)

November 30 at Missoula, Montana
Northwestern State (9-3) at Montana (10-2)

November 30 at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Furman (8-3) at Villanova (9-3), Noon

November 30 at Boston, Massachusetts
Fordham (9-2) at No. 4 Northeastern (10-2)

November 30 at Macomb, Illinois
Eastern Illinois (8-3) at No. 2 Western Illinois (10-1)

November 30 at Bowling Green, Kentucky
Murray State (7-4) at Western Kentucky (8-3)

November 30 at Boone, North Carolina
Maine (10-2) at Appalachian State (8-3)

November 30 at Statesboro, Georgia
Bethune-Cookman (11-1) at No. 3 Georgia Southern (9-2)