Note: The following was written by Scott Keeler, who worked as a reporter at the Greenville News for more than 25 years and continues to cover the Southern Conference. “Keeler’s Corner” will appear throughout the season.
Keeler can be found on Twitter @Scott_Keeler
Welcome to a special postseason edition of “Keeler’s Corner” focusing on the three Southern Conference teams that made the FCS playoffs. Furman, Chattanooga and Mercer account for the highest number of SoCon teams in the postseason field since three made it in 2017. I’ll look back at how each one performed down the stretch of the regular season and look ahead to their playoff matchup. After the playoffs, our final edition will have a wrap up of all nine teams.
No. 6/7 FURMAN (9-2 overall, 7-1 SoCon)
Furman’s November began with a gutsy road win to clinch the SoCon autobid to the playoffs. It was followed by a blowout win to capture its first outright league title since 1990. The regular season ended with a stunning upset loss that may have cost the Paladins a chance at home field advantage throughout the playoffs.
In what turned out to be a SoCon championship game at Chattanooga on Nov. 4, redshirt freshman Carson Jones came off the bench and threw two fourth quarter touchdowns to lift Furman to a 17-14 win. Jones entered in the second quarter when starting quarterback Tyler Huff left with a shoulder injury. The Paladins trailed 14-10 when Jones threw a nine-yard touchdown pass to Wayne Anderson for the go-ahead score with 1:44 left.
Jones made his first collegiate start the next week against VMI and threw four touchdowns in the first half before taking most of the second half off in the Paladins’ 37-3 victory. A total of 85 Furman players participated in that win, which made the Paladins’ league record 15th conference championship the first one it hasn’t shared in 33 years.
Furman hoped to maintain its No. 2 national record and possibly secure the No. 2 seed for the FCS playoffs entering the season finale at Wofford last Saturday. However, its offense struggled mightily in a 19-13 loss. Two fourth-and-one plays - one snapped by Wofford and the other by the Paladins - proved to be the difference. The Terriers had a 53-yard touchdown run on its fourth-and-one play and a 64-yard fumble return for a touchdown on Furman’s.
The loss snapped Furman’s 13-game winning streak in SoCon play and made for a bit more unease during the FCS playoff selection show the next day. While the Paladins undoubtedly slipped, they did earn one of the eight seeds at No. 7. That ensures that Furman has a bye this weekend, which will allow Huff and starting running back Dominic Roberto an extra week to get healthy. Neither played against Wofford.
The Paladins will host either Chattanooga or Austin Peay in the Round of 16 on Dec. 2 at 1 p.m. Furman is obviously familiar with the Mocs and many older players on this veteran team are still likely all too familiar with the Governors. Austin Peay rolled over the Paladins, 42-6, in the opening round of the 2019 playoffs.
Furman racked up some new hardware when the All-SoCon teams and awards were announced Tuesday. A total of 19 Paladins earned all-conference honors. Huff was voted SoCon Offensive Player of the Year from the league’s coaches, while Clay Hendrix was a consensus choice as Coach of the Year. Jones was selected as Co-Freshman of the Year by the coaches and offensive guard Jacob Johanning earned the Jacobs Blocking Award. Johanning is the SoCon-best 16th Paladin to win the award, given annually to the league’s top offensive lineman.
It was also announced this week that Hendrix is one of 20 candidates for the Eddie Robinson award, which is annually given to the top coach in FCS.
Player of the year (so far): Quarterback Tyler Huff. Huff compiled 1,489 yards and nine touchdowns passing, while rushing for 488 yards and five scores in his eight-and-a-half games this season. In Huff’s two seasons as starting quarterback, Furman is 17-1 against FCS opponents and 13-0 against SoCon teams. Earlier this month, the U.S. Army reservist received the Armed Forces Merit Award from the Football Writers Association of America.
*****
No. 19/18 CHATTANOOGA (7-4 overall, 6-2 SoCon)
Chattanooga pulled off the rare feat of making the playoffs after losing its season opener and each of the last two games of its regular season in November. That’s just how good the Mocs were for most of September and October … along with some help from fellow SoCon teams last Saturday.
The playoff committee confirmed that Chattanooga was one of the last four teams to earn at-large bids. Undoubtedly, Western Carolina’s season-ending upset loss to VMI opened the door for the Mocs to get in. Later on Saturday, Samford yanked that door off the hinges with a 27-17 win over UT-Martin. UT-Martin, which had been ranked in the FCS top 25 for much of the season, didn’t make the cut.
Saturday will mark the Mocs first postseason appearance since 2016 when they play at Austin Peay at 3 p.m. in the opening round. The winner plays at No. 7 seed Furman on Dec. 2. Despite the Tennessee schools being just 180 miles of I-24 apart, this will be just the eighth ever meeting. UTC leads the series 6-1. The teams last met in the 2021 season opener, which the Governors won 30-20.
In addition to advancing in the playoffs, Chattanooga would love another shot at Furman after losing a heartbreaker to the Paladins, 17-14, for the SoCon title to open November. Javin Whatley’s 67-yard touchdown pass from Chase Artopoeus late in the first half gave Chattanooga a 7-3 lead at the break.
The Mocs trailed 10-7 midway through fourth quarter when Jamoi Mayes turned disaster into a dream. On a play where Artopoeus’ arm was hit as he threw, the ball fluttered about six yards forward right into the arms of Mayes. Mayes caught the ball in between the hash marks and then outraced everyone down the right sideline for a 70-yard touchdown.
After Furman regained the lead with 1:44 left, the Mocs drove to its own 43 on its ensuing possession. On fourth-and-three, Whatley took an end around handoff and wanted to pass. With nobody open, he tried to run for the first down but was stopped for no gain to seal Furman’s win.
A bye the following Saturday, followed by a 66-10 loss at Alabama last Saturday, made for a long nervous wait for Chattanooga until selection Sunday. Ironically enough, that 2016 playoff team also ended the regular season at Alabama.
The lone bright spot in this year’s Alabama game - which Artopoeus missed with an injury - was Gino Appleberry. Running behind an offensive line that didn’t allow a sack Saturday, Appleberry rushed for 104 yards including a 40-yard touchdown.
After hearing its name called Sunday, more good news for Chattanooga came Tuesday when Jay Person was once again voted by the SoCon’s media and coaches as the league’s Defensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive season. It’s the first back-to-back winner by the Mocs for the award since Davis Tull won it three consecutive seasons from 2012-14.
Player of the year (so far): Defensive end Jay Person. Person leads the SoCon in tackles-for-loss (16) and sacks (8.5) this season. It was also announced this week that Person is one of 30 finalists for the Buck Buchanan Award for the second straight season. The Buchanan award is given to the top defensive player each year in the FCS.
*****
No. 20/No. 17 MERCER (8-3, 6-2)
One new thing led to another for Mercer this season. Ten years after bringing the football program back to life, the Bears won eight Division I games for the first time ever this season. Those eight wins included a four-game winning streak to close out the regular season, which helped Mercer earn its first ever trip to the FCS playoffs.
Like Chattanooga, Mercer was also one of the last four teams in the field so a bit of help was likely needed. No help was better than when Samford defeated nationally ranked UT-Martin, 27-17, last Saturday a week after Mercer’s 28-21 win over Samford.
The Bears not only made the FCS playoffs for the first time this season, they also secured an opening round home game. Mercer will host Gardner-Webb at 3 p.m. Saturday. The only other meeting between the Bears and Runnin’ Bulldogs came last season at Gardner-Webb. Mercer’s defense had three interceptions and held Gardner-Webb to just 47 yards rushing in the Bears’ 45-14 win.
Saturday’s winner will play at No. 1-ranked South Dakota State next week.
Mercer opened November with a 38-16 win over The Citadel on Nov. 4. The Bears trailed the Bulldogs before Carter Peevy connected with Devron Harper on a 14-yard touchdown pass with 25 seconds left in the first half to give Mercer a 14-10 lead at the break. Harper’s touchdown kicked off a 31 point-run as the Bears took command.
On Nov. 11, Mercer trailed Samford 7-6 at the half. Harper ran for a 23-yard touchdown midway through the third quarter to give the Bears the lead. That lasted for just 47 seconds before Bulldogs tied the game at 14-14. Mercer quarterback Carter Peevy had his second and third rushing touchdowns to give the Bears a 28-14 lead.
After Samford cut the lead to 28-21 with 4:35 left, the Bulldogs got the ball back two more times. Their first possession ended on a Lance Wise interception, while the second ended on a sack by Solomon Zubairu as time expired.
Then Mercer had the long wait until selection Sunday as the Bears had last Saturday off.
A byproduct of the Bears’ best season ever in Division I came Tuesday when a school-record nine Mercer players earned All-SoCon honors. Also this week, Wise was announced as one of 30 finalists for the Buck Buchanan Award, while Ty James was tabbed as one of 30 finalists for the Walter Payton Award. The Buchanan is annually presented to the top defensive player in the FCS, while the Payton goes to the FCS’ best offensive player.
Wise ranks 14th nationally with four interceptions this season, two of which he’s returned for touchdowns. The four-year starter owns a school-record 10 interceptions in his career and is one of two players in school history with more than 300 career tackles.
Player of the year (so far): Wide receiver Ty James. James ranks seventh nationally with 1,002 yards receiving this year. He’s got 54 receptions and seven touchdowns this season, highlighted by a 14-catch, 285-yard day at East Tennessee State. The four-year starter owns 10 school records, including the career record for receiving yards with 3,236.