Nov. 30 (Saturday)
NCAA FCS Playoffs (Opening Round)
Furman at Austin Peay (ESPN3), 1 p.m.
Kennesaw State at Wofford (ESPN3), 4 p.m.
Schedule notes:
ESPN3 is available on Roku
Notes:
• Southern Conference champion and automatic qualifier Wofford is joined in the 2019 NCAA Division I Football Championship field by league runner-up Furman, which earned an at-large selection.
• The SoCon put multiple teams in the field for the fifth straight season and the 32nd time in the last 38 seasons. The league has gone 109-75 (.592) all-time in the FCS playoffs, winning eight national titles.
• Wofford is making its eighth appearance in the last 12 years and has advanced to the quarterfinals five times in that span. Furman is making its 18th appearance, which is tops among current SoCon schools. The Paladins, who won the national championship in 1988 and were runners-up in 1985 and 2001, are in the postseason for the second time in the last three seasons.
• Wofford went 8-3 overall and 7-1 in league play to earn its third straight SoCon title and fourth straight postseason appearance. The Terriers opened the season 0-2 but have rattled off eight straight FCS wins since, losing only to FBS No. 4 Clemson since dropped their lone league game of the season to Samford on Sept. 14.
• The Terriers opened the season ranked in the top 10 in both the AFCA and STATS polls but dropped out after the 0-2 start. Wofford returned to both polls on Oct. 28 and have been ranked for the last five weeks.
• Wofford will host Kennesaw State on Saturday in the first round of the playoffs, getting a chance at redemption against the squad that eliminated the Terriers in the second round last year by a 13-10 score in their first-ever meeting.
• The Owls, ranked ninth by the AFCA and 15th by STATS, finished the regular season 10-2 overall and 5-1 in the Big South Conference to earn an at-large selection to the FCS playoffs. KSU boasts Big South Defensive Player of the Year Bryson Armstrong, a redshirt junior linebacker and a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award.
• KSU and Wofford rank 1-2 in the FCS in rushing offense, averaging 350.0 and 323.5 yards per game, respectively.
• Furman finished the regular season 8-4 overall and 6-2 in league play. The Paladins dropped a pair of one-score games to FBS competition, leading both Georgia State and Virginia Tech at the half before falling by scores of 48-42 and 24-17, respectively.
• Furman has been ranked all season, peaking at No. 7 in the Nov. 11 AFCA poll.
• The Paladins visit No. 17/18 Austin Peay on Saturday for a first-round contest. The Governors went 9-3 overall and 7-1 in Ohio Valley Conference play, sharing the regular-season title and claiming the league’s automatic bid to the FCS playoffs. The squads have never met on the gridiron.
• The Govs are led by Roy Kidd OVC Coach of the Year Mark Hudspeth, who led the program to a school-record nine wins, its first OVC title since 1977 and its first-ever FCS playoff appearance. Hudspeth is a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award.
• Junior defensive back Kordell Jackson is a finalist for the Buchanan Award, while wide receiver Xavier Gipson is a finalist for the Jerry Rice Award.
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