The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team is well aware of the challenges Furman presents.
Last season the Paladins got off to an 0-3 start before running off seven consecutive wins and advancing to the second round of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs. This season has followed a similar script: The Paladins were 0-3 with one loss to an Atlantic Coast Conference program (Clemson this time) but then started to find their way.
UTC and Furman will battle Saturday at 1 p.m. at Paladin Stadium in a must-win game. UTC is 4-2 and Furman is 3-2 in the Southern Conference, and the loser likely will be out of the playoff picture while the winner still has an outside shot at a share of the league championship.
Having seen what an 0-3 Furman team can do once it figures things out, the Mocs are very aware of this opponent.
“I think Furman is very dangerous,” UTC coach Tom Arth said. “They have a very good football team; they’re coached well, they’re tough and they present a lot of challenges schematically – especially on the offensive side of the ball. They’re unlike most option teams in that they have all those elements, but they’re also capable of having a very sophisticated passing game and a quarterback that can do it.”