September 27, 2003
FURMAN RUSHES PAST GARDNER-WEBB, 45-0
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Hindley Brigham rushed for two touchdowns and propelled a ground attack that rolled up 409 yards in leading NCAA I-AA eighth-ranked Furman to a 45-0 win over Gardner-Webb Saturday afternoon at Paladin Stadium.
Brigham, a senior tailback from Birmingham, Ala., scored on runs of 4 and 6 yards to help Furman (3-1) to a 14-0 lead, and the Paladins rode a strong defensive effort in limiting Gardner-Webb (3-2) to 220 total yards on the way to notching the program’s15th victory in its last 16 home games.
Furman’s punishing rushing performance, the program’s first 400-yard effort since a 45-10 win over Georgia Southern in 2000, came despite six turnovers by the Paladins, including five in the second half, after building a 24-0 halftime lead. Furman, however, also forced six Bulldog miscues.
“We won a game with six turnovers; I didn’t that was possible,” said Furman head coach Bobby Lamb. “I thought in the first half we played pretty well, particularly on defense, but the second half was really sloppy with all the turnovers. We made several big plays when we needed them and rushed for over 400 yards. That’s pretty good, but we’ve still got plenty of work to do.”
“We stopped them on their first possession, but a penalty on fourth down gave them a first down and they took advantage,” said Gardner-Webb head coach Steve Patton. “Penalties like that are like turnovers. You just can’t make the number of mistakes we did against a Top 10 team and expect to win.”
Furman jumped out front on its first possession, taking advantage of a fourth down offsides penalty on Gardner-Webb for a first down on a 9-play, 79-yard march that ended on a 4-yard touchdown run by Brigham.
The Paladins increased the advantage to 14-0 on Brigham’s second score of the contest, a 6-yard run with less than a minute into the second quarter, to cap a 6-play, 51-yard drive.
Furman reeled off 10 straight running plays on its next possession, including a 24-yard sprint by quarterback Bo Moore to the Gardner-Webb 16, to set up a 10-yard scoring run around left end by backup tailback Lamar Rembert that made it 21-0 with 8:40 to go in the first half.
A Danny Marshall 24-yard field goal 14 seconds before intermission extended the Furman margin to 24-0.
Both teams committed a pair of third quarter turnovers before Furman’s Brian Bratton took an option pitch and bolted 52 yards for a touchdown at the 2:13 juncture of the quarter for a 31-0 lead.
The Paladins added two more scores in the fourth period, including a 44-yard interception return by Shelton Riley and Justin Stepp 57-yard punt return.
Furman’s ground attack, which featured 12 ballcarriers, was paced by junior quarterback Bo Moore with 12 rushes for 84 yards. Moore also threw for 96 yards, completing 10-of-17 passes but with two interceptions. His favorite target was Bratton, who collected a game high six receptions for 50 yards while also rushing for 58 yards.
Gardner-Webb was paced offensively by quarterback Nick Roberts, who completed 14-of-23 passes for 100 yards. The Bulldogs entered the game averaging 30.8 points per game.
Junior linebacker Mike Killian topped Furman’s defense with 13 tackles and a fumble recovery, and sophomore linebacker William Freeman, the league’s reigning defensive player-of-the-week, tallied 10 stops, a tackle-for-loss, and a sack.
Furman returns to Southern Conference play next Saturday when it takes on Western Carolina in Cullowhee in a 6:00 p.m. game. Gardner-Webb, meanwhile, will play at Coastal Carolina next Saturday with kickoff scheduled for 7:00 p.m.