2017 Furman Paladins football team

The 2017 Furman Paladins team represented Furman University as a member of the Southern Conference (SoCon) during the 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by first-year head coach Clay Hendrix, the Paladins compiled an overall record of 8–5 with a mark of 6–2 in conference play, tying for second-place in the SoCon. Furman received an at-large bid to the NCAA Division I Football Championship playoffs, where they defeated Elon in the first round before losing to the SoCon champion, Wofford, in the second round. The team played home games at Paladin Stadium in Greenville, South Carolina.

2017 Furman Paladins football
NCAA Division I Second Round, L 10–28 vs. Wofford
Conference	Southern Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 22
FCS Coaches	No. 25
Record	8–5 (6–2 SoCon)
Head coach	Clay Hendrix (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Drew Cronic (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Chadd Staggs (1st season)
Captain	P. J. Blazejowski, Matthew Schmidt, Jaylan Reid, Dillon Woodruff
Home stadium	Paladin Stadium
Seasons ← 2016 2018 →

2017 Southern Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 6 Wofford $^		7	–	1					10	–	3
No. 18 Samford ^		6	–	2					8	–	4
No. 19 Furman ^		6	–	2					8	–	5
Western Carolina		5	–	3					7	–	5
Mercer		4	–	4					5	–	6
The Citadel		3	–	5					5	–	6
Chattanooga		3	–	5					3	–	8
East Tennessee State		2	–	6					4	–	7
VMI		0	–	8					0	–	11
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	6:00 p.m.	at No. 11 Wofford		Gibbs Stadium Spartanburg, SC (rivalry)	ESPN3	L 23–24	7,237
September 9	1:00 p.m.	Elon*		Paladin Stadium Greenville, SC	ESPN3	L 31–34	6,342
September 16	12:20 p.m.	at NC State*		Carter–Finley Stadium Raleigh, NC	ACCN	L 16–49	56,166
September 23	1:00 p.m.	at Colgate*		Crown Field at Andy Kerr Stadium Hamilton, NY	STADIUM	W 45–14	4,119
September 30	1:00 p.m.	East Tennessee State		Paladin Stadium Greenville, SC	ESPN3	W 56–35	7,104
October 7	4:00 p.m.	at Chattanooga		Finley Stadium Chattanooga, TN	ESPN3	W 41–17	9,651
October 14	1:00 p.m.	VMI		Paladin Stadium Greenville, SC	ESPN3	W 42–10	7,216
October 21	1:30 p.m.	Mercer		Paladin Stadium Greenville, SC	7C/ESPN3	W 28–21	8,108
October 28	3:30 p.m.	at No. 18 Western Carolina		Bob Waters Field at E. J. Whitmire Stadium Cullowhee, NC	ESPN3	W 28–6	9,973
November 11	2:00 p.m.	The Citadel	No. 21	Paladin Stadium Greenville, SC (rivalry)	7C/ESPN3	W 56–20	10,105
November 18	3:00 p.m.	at No. 17 Samford	No. 20	Seibert Stadium Homewood, AL	STADIUM	L 20–26	4,673
November 25	2:00 p.m.	at No. 15 Elon*	No. 22	Rhodes Stadium Elon, NC (NCAA Division I First Round)	ESPN3	W 28–27	2,934
December 2	2:00 p.m.	at No. 8 Wofford*	No. 22	Gibbs Stadium Spartanburg, SC (NCAA Division I Second Round)	ESPN3	L 10–28	5,153
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Game summaries

At Wofford

	1	2	3	4	Total
Paladins	3	7	7	6	23
No. 11 Terriers	7	3	0	14	24

See also: 2017 Wofford Terriers football team

Elon

	1	2	3	4	Total
Phoenix	21	0	3	10	34
Paladins	0	10	21	0	31

See also: 2017 Elon Phoenix football team

At NC State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Paladins	3	10	0	3	16
Wolfpack	14	14	21	0	49

See also: 2017 NC State Wolfpack football team

At Colgate

	1	2	3	4	Total
Paladins	21	17	7	0	45
Raiders	0	7	7	0	14

See also: 2017 Colgate Raiders football team

East Tennessee State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Buccaneers	7	10	0	18	35
Paladins	14	14	14	14	56

See also: 2017 East Tennessee State Buccaneers football team

At Chattanooga

	1	2	3	4	Total
Paladins	7	20	7	7	41
Mocs	3	7	0	7	17

See also: 2017 Chattanooga Mocs football team

VMI

	1	2	3	4	Total
Keydets	0	10	0	0	10
Paladins	7	7	14	14	42

See also: 2017 VMI Keydets football team

Mercer

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	7	0	14	0	21
Paladins	0	14	7	7	28

See also: 2017 Mercer Bears football team

At Western Carolina

	1	2	3	4	Total
Paladins	0	7	14	7	28
No. 18 Catamounts	0	0	0	6	6

See also: 2017 Western Carolina Catamounts football team

The Citadel

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	0	0	14	6	20
No. 21 Paladins	14	21	14	7	56

See also: 2017 The Citadel Bulldogs football team and The Citadel–Furman football rivalry

At Samford

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 20 Paladins	7	10	0	3	20
No. 17 Bulldogs	7	10	6	3	26

See also: 2017 Samford Bulldogs football team

At Elon—FCS First Round

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 22 Paladins	0	14	7	7	28
No. 15 Phoenix	7	0	14	6	27

At Wofford—FCS Second Round

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 22 Paladins	0	10	0	0	10
No. 8 Terriers	7	7	7	7	28

References