Football Falls to Furman in SoCon Rivalry Battle, 28-14

Saturday, October 7

Greenville, S.C.

2:00 PM

The Citadel

0-6 , 0-3

Furman

4-1 , 2-0

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
The Citadel	0	0	6	8	14
Furman	7	7	14	0	28

Photo by: The Citadel Athletics

Football Falls to Furman in SoCon Rivalry Battle, 28-14

10/7/2023 5:37:00 PM | Football

Box Score

GREENVILLE, S.C. – In spite of an aggressive first-half effort followed by an attempted second-half comeback, The Citadel (0-6, 0-3 SoCon) proved unable to overcome Southern Conference rival Furman (4-1, 2-0 SoCon) down the stretch, faltering by a final 28-14 mark Saturday afternoon at Paladin Stadium.

GAME INFORMATION
Score: Furman def. The Citadel, 28-14
Records: Furman (4-1, 2-0 SoCon), The Citadel (0-6, 0-3 SoCon)
Location: Paladin Stadium
Series: Furman leads 63-37-3

KEY PLAYS & STATS

Despite The Citadel's first two drives either breaching or starting inside the Furman red zone, the Bulldogs failed to punch in a score, initially turning the ball over on downs before a Paladin interception cut the second drive short.
The Citadel would again fight into the red zone near the close of the first half, this time coming up empty due to a lost fumble on a reverse.
Overall, the Bulldogs managed five red zone appearances on the day, scoring touchdowns on two of them -- a seven-play, 77-yard battle followed soon after by a 10-play, 80-yard drive -- in the most threatening offensive performance of the season. By comparison, The Citadel entered the contest with just eight total red zone appearances across the first five games.
Along a similar thread, the offense overall composed multiple drives of notable length as, in addition to the seven-play, 77-yarder and the 10-play, 80-yarder, the Bulldogs compiled a 14-play, 55-yarder and a 13-play, 49-yarder for the game. The Citadel also set a new season-best for first downs with 18, surpassing last week's previous top mark of 17.
The Bulldog offense also broke the 200-yard passing mark for the first time this season, as Graeson Underwood concluded the matchup with 226 yardfs on 18-of-33 with two interceptions under center while James Platte contributed a single completion for 13 yards on a fake field goal for a total 239 total yards through the air.
Appropriately, the receiving benefited from the bolstered passing game, as two wideouts -- Jay Graves-Billips and Ha'Keem Monroe -- hit the 50-yard mark on a joint seven receptions. Cooper Wallace grabbed one big catch for 37 yards while Tyler Cherry, Malachi Taylor and Patrick McSweeney combined for 67 yards as a unit on six catches.
On the ground, Johnny Crawford III led the way with 26 yards on 10 carries for one touchdowns. Underwood picked up 16 yards yards himself off six rushes for one TD as well.
Defensively, The Citadel composed six tackles-for-loss -- another season-high -- and picked up one turnover on a diving play from Jamond Dubose. The Bulldogs also surrendered a season-low 146 passing yards on a 19-of-24 showing from Furman QB Tyler Huff.
The Paladins punched in two touchdowns during the opening half to enter the midway break with a 14-0 advantage before tacking on another pair of TDs in the third quarter. The Citadel battled back, however, late in the third and into the fourth, initially getting on the board via a five-yard Crawford III rush before Underwood and the O-Line forced in the final score of the contest.

NEXT UP
The Citadel returns to Charleston for the program's second SoCon home clash of the year, hosting rival VMI on Saturday, Oct. 14 at Johnson Hagood Stadium, kickoff set for 1 p.m.