A week after its worst performance of the season, the Wofford football team responded with one of its best.
The Terriers’ 30-17 win over East Tennessee State, previously unbeaten in Southern Conference games, pushed Wofford back into the top spot in the league with a month remaining before the national playoffs. The Terriers dominated the Buccaneers, jumping out to a 17-0 lead and allowing only one offensive touchdown.
The win came on the heels of a 34-14 loss at Furman.
“The expectations around here are high, and our guys attacked in the right way this week and responded,” Wofford coach Josh Conklin said after the win over ETSU. “We demanded a lot from the guys this week, and they responded the right way. When they took the field, they were ready to go, and I am extremely proud of them. They were not happy about last week, and I was not happy as a head coach.
“Our guys had something to prove, and they did.”
The Terriers rushed for 295 yards and four scores while limiting the Bucs to 201 yards passing – 71 coming in the fourth quarter.
Those two teams and Mercer have one loss each against league competition. Wofford hosts Mercer this week, while ETSU hosts Western Carolina.
Furman, which like the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and Samford has two SoCon losses, travels to The Citadel, which has three league losses. UTC hosts winless Virginia Military Institute while Samford is off.
Heading into the final week of October, the emphasis is on the league race and the fluid playoff picture. The Football Championship Subdivision STATS (media) site currently has three SoCon teams projected in the playoffs – ETSU, Wofford and UTC – but the league has struggled against nonconference competition, which could play a factor down the stretch.
The SoCon has only five nonconference wins against FCS competition, and of those victims only UT-Martin – which fell 34-24 to UTC on Sept. 15 – owns a win over an FCS opponent. The Skyhawks defeated Austin Peay 37-7.
Players of the week
Western Carolina’s Tyrie Adams, Samford’s Ahmad Gooden and Furman’s Grayson Atkins were named the league players of the week.
Adams had the third-most yards of total offense in a game in league history in the Catamounts’ 59-46 loss at Mercer, with 360 yards passing and 185 rushing. He accounted for four touchdowns.
Gooden had nine tackles and a touchdown off a fumble recovery in a 38-25 win at Furman, and he had four tackles for loss and a pair of sacks.
Atkins was 4-for-4 on field-goal attempts in the loss to Samford, with three field goals of 50 yards or longer, matching an NCAA Division I record.