By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Last season, Furman's defense was a ball hawk, standing as one of the best pass defenses in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision. The No. 6-ranked Paladins returned most of those players in the 2023 campaign and picked up right where they left off, picking off four Tennessee Tech passes – returning two for touchdowns – as Furman topped the Golden Eagles 45-10 on Thursday night.
Tech (0-1) returns to action next Saturday as the Golden Eagles head to Albuquerque to take on New Mexico.
The Golden Eagles had six turnovers in all in the contest, those leading to 28 points for the Paladins. However, even with the miscues, there were still positives in the contest for Tech. Through the first three quarters, the Golden Eagles had put up better offensive numbers than the Paladins, a credit to both Tech's offense moving the ball and the defense – led by Aaron Swafford's 12 tackles and a fumble recovery – making Furman's offense work for what it did collect.
Tim Coutras and Jacquez McGowan also had six stops each, with Coutras forcing a fumble and intercepting Furman QB Tyler Huff.
Ethan Roberts, in his first career start, had a great outing as he completed 25 of his 38 passes for 204 yards, throwing a touchdown pass to Willie Miller in the second quarter. Roberts engineered several great drives, including an 11-play, 75-yard series for the touchdown, as well as a 13-play, 54-yard narrative with Hayden Olsen knocking through a 38-yard field goal.
Olsen also kicked the PAT after the Miller TD connection to stay perfect in his career and take the reins from Nick Madonia for sole possession of the longest consecutive PAT streak now at 67.
Six turnovers, however, still proved to be costly. It was the most turnovers for the Golden Eagles in a game since losing six against Eastern Illinois in 2015 and one shy of tying the record mark of seven against Southeast Missouri in 2003. The four interceptions were the most since the 2021 meeting against Tennessee and two short of the record six set four times.
Furman spoiled Tech's first drive as Travis Blackshear intercepted a pass toward Brad Clark and the Paladin corner was able to return the ball 43 yards for the score with 12:38 remaining in the first quarter.
The opening stanza ended at a 7-3 Furman lead following Olsen's kick.
Kyndel Dean and Dominic Roberto rushed for second-quarter scores – Dean on a six-yard run, Roberto from nine yards out – then Tech got on the scoreboard as Roberts threw his first career touchdown pass with a 26-yard completion to Miller. Olsen's kick made it a 21-10 game at the intermission.
Furman was held to just a field goal in the third quarter, but the Paladins made it 24 unanswered points in the second half as the fourth quarter saw Roberto pick up another nine-yard touchdown run and a six-yard scoring rush for Jayquan Smith to sandwich a 67-yard pick-six for linebacker Dan Scianna.
Huff ended the game with 172 passing yards, completing 15 of 27 passes. Furman finished the game with 384 yards – 190 through the air and 194 on the ground. Roberto led the Paladins with 59 rushing yards on 18 carries, while Dean and Ben Ferguson each had 56 receiving yards.
Nine Golden Eagles carried the ball and 11 caught passes in the contest, showing a strong amount of depth in the lineup. Brad Clark led the Tech receivers with 73 yards on six catches, while Jayvian Allen rushed for 27 yards on six carries and Marcus Knight has 19 yards on nine totes.
