November 15, 2003
WOFFORD HOLDS OFF FURMAN, 7-6
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- The NCAA I-AA fourth-ranked Wofford Terriers wrapped up a perfect Southern Conference season by holding off the 25th-ranked Furman Paladins 7-6 in front of 12,745 fans at Paladin Stadium on Saturday.
The Terriers sealed the victory after Furman failed to handle a low snap for a potential winning 51-yard field goal attempt by Danny Marshall with 1:17 left in the game. The Paladins drove 34 yards to the Wofford 32, but Marshall never got a chance to kick the ball after the snap bounced to holder Jeremiah Van Dora, who was tackled for a 13-yard loss.
With the win, Wofford (10-1, 8-0) halted a four-game losing streak to Furman (5-5, 3-4 SoCon) and claimed its first victory in Greenville since 1970. The triumph also marked the 100th career coaching victory for Mike Ayers, now in his 16th season as head coach at Wofford.
The Terriers, who wrapped up the Southern Conference championship and gained the league’s automatic berth with a 28-14 victory over East Tennessee State last week, will make their first appearance in the NCAA I-AA playoffs, which get underway Nov. 29. Furman concludes its season next Saturday at Chattannooga.
“This was a great, tough, hard-nosed, old fashioned football game,” said Ayers. “This gave us a taste of the playoffs. Furman is great team. We’ve got a bunch of no-names on defense who just play so hard. Our kids are in great shape and they are able to go hard the whole game. Offensively, we were just hunting and pecking. We had some opportunities but let them get away. We’ve got a bunch of kids that nobody believed in, except us. It’s all come together this year, and it’s unbelievable.”
“That last play summed it up for us this year,” said Furman head coach Bobby Lamb, whose team has now lost four conference games this season by a total of 10 points. “It’s been a very difficult year, and I was at a loss for words in there after the game. Offensively and defensively we gave such a great effort and played extremely hard, but we just didn’t take advantage of our opportunities in the red zone and on special teams. That’s been our problem all year.”
Wofford, the nation’s leader in turnover margin coming into the game, turned in another mistake-free performance, and that allowed the Terriers to overcome a 343-180 differential in total offense.
The Terrier defense set up the game’s first score when linebacker Josh Smith stopped Furman’s Brandon Berry for no gain on a fourth-and-two play from the Paladin 45. From there, the Terriers moved 45 yards in 10 plays for the game’s only touchdown, which came on a fourth down, 1-yard touchdown plunge by quarterback Jeff Zolman with 8:52 left in the first quarter.
Furman made it a 7-3 game with a 19-yard Danny Marshall field goal with 3:56 to go in the first quarter to complete a 12-play, 72-yard drive.
The Paladins moved 71 yards to the Wofford 11 on their final possession of the first half, but Marshall missed a 28-yard field goal, keeping it a 7-3 game.
Marshall got a second chance later in the contest when he converted a 26-yard attempt with 14:09 left in the contest and, in the process, become the conference’s all-time kick scoring leader with 304 points.
Furman’s Hindley Brigham led all rushers with 74 yards on 19 carriers, and Paladin quarterback Bo Moore completed 19-of-28 passes for 206 yards. Furman also controlled the football for 35:32 to Wofford’s 24:28, but the Terrier defense, led Jim Thurman’s 11 tackles, limited Furman to only two field goals in three red zone penetrations. The Paladins were paced defensively by linebacker Mike Killian with 15 stops and a blocked field goal.