2018 Furman Paladins football team

2018 Furman Paladins football
SoCon co-champion
Conference	Southern Conference
Record	6–4 (6–2 SoCon)
Head coach	Clay Hendrix (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	George Quarles (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Chadd Staggs (2nd season)
Captain	Harris Roberts, Jaylan Reid, Aaquil Annoor
Home stadium	Paladin Stadium

2018 Southern Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 13 Wofford +^		6	–	2					9	–	4
No. 22 East Tennessee State +^		6	–	2					8	–	4
Furman +		6	–	2					6	–	4
Samford		5	–	3					6	–	5
Chattanooga		4	–	4					6	–	5
The Citadel		4	–	4					5	–	6
Mercer		4	–	4					5	–	6
Western Carolina		1	–	7					3	–	8
VMI		0	–	8					1	–	10
+ – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2018 Furman Paladins team represented Furman University as a member of the Southern Conference (SoCon) during the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by second-year head coach Clay Hendrix, the Paladins compiled an overall record of 6–4 with a mark of 6–2 in conference play, sharing the SoCon title with East Tennessee and Wofford. After tiebreakers, Furman did not receive the SoCon's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Football Championship playoffs and the team did not receive an at-large bid. Furman home games at Paladin Stadium in Greenville, South Carolina.

Preseason

Preseason media poll

The SoCon released their preseason media poll on July 25, 2018, with the Paladins predicted to finish in second place. The same day the coaches released their preseason poll with the Paladins predicted to finish in third place.

Media poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Samford	204 (20)
2	Furman	174 (2)
3	Wofford	163 (1)
4	Mercer	133
5	Western Carolina	114
6	Chattanooga	88
7	The Citadel	83
8	East Tennessee State	53
9	VMI	23

Coaches poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Samford	63 (7)
2	Wofford	53 (1)
3	Furman	52 (1)
4	Western Carolina	39
5	Chattanooga	34
6	Mercer	32
7	The Citadel	28
8	East Tennessee State	15
9	VMI	8

Preseason All-SoCon Teams

The Paladins placed seven players on the preseason all-SoCon teams.

Offense

1st team

Kealand Dirks – RB

2nd team

Reed Kroeber – OL

Jake Walker – TE

Thomas Gordon – WR

Defense

1st team

Elijah McKoy – LB

Aaquil Annoor – DB

2nd team

Jaylan Reid – DL

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	12:20 p.m.	at No. 2 (FBS) Clemson*	No. 23	Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC	ACCN	L 7–48	80,048
September 8	6:00 p.m.	at No. 15 Elon*	No. 25	Rhodes Stadium Elon, NC	CBSI Digital/CBS SportsLive	L 7–45	8,058
September 15	1:00 p.m.	Colgate*		Paladin Stadium Greenville, SC	WYCW	Cancelled
September 22	7:30 p.m.	at East Tennessee State		William B. Greene Jr. Stadium Johnson City, TN	ESPN3	L 27–29	8,453
September 29	2:00 p.m.	Western Carolina		Paladin Stadium Greenville, SC	WYCW	W 44–38	7,201
October 13	1:00 p.m.	No. 6 Wofford		Paladin Stadium Greenville, SC (rivalry)	WYCW	W 34–14	7,006
October 20	2:00 p.m.	Samford		Paladin Stadium Greenville, SC	WYCW	L 25–38	6,016
October 27	2:00 p.m.	at The Citadel		Johnson Hagood Stadium Charleston, SC (rivalry)	ESPN+	W 28–17	8,574
November 3	1:00 p.m.	Chattanooga		Paladin Stadium Greenville, SC	WYCW	W 16–10	4,332
November 10	1:30 p.m.	at VMI		Alumni Memorial Field Lexington, VA	ESPN+	W 49–13	3,922
November 17	3:00 p.m.	at Mercer		Five Star Stadium Macon, GA	ESPN+	W 35–30	8,811
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Game summaries

At Clemson

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 23 Paladins	0	0	0	7	7
No. 2 (FBS) Tigers	10	17	14	7	48

See also: 2018 Clemson Tigers football team

At Elon

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 25 Paladins	0	0	0	7	7
No. 15 Phoenix	14	14	10	7	45

See also: 2018 Elon Phoenix football team

At East Tennessee State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Paladins	7	6	14	0	27
Buccaneers	3	3	7	16	29

See also: 2018 East Tennessee State Buccaneers football team

Western Carolina

	1	2	3	4	Total
Catamounts	7	3	14	14	38
Paladins	14	17	7	6	44

See also: 2018 Western Carolina Catamounts football team

Wofford

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 6 Terriers	0	7	7	0	14
Paladins	14	7	6	7	34

See also: 2018 Wofford Terriers football team

Samford

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	10	0	21	7	38
Paladins	3	9	7	6	25

See also: 2018 Samford Bulldogs football team

At The Citadel

	1	2	3	4	Total
Paladins	7	7	0	14	28
Bulldogs	3	7	7	0	17

See also: 2018 The Citadel Bulldogs football team and The Citadel–Furman football rivalry

Chattanooga

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mocs	0	0	3	7	10
Paladins	7	6	0	3	16

See also: 2018 Chattanooga Mocs football team

At VMI

	1	2	3	4	Total
Paladins	21	14	14	0	49
Keydets	7	0	0	6	13

See also: 2018 VMI Keydets football team

At Mercer

	1	2	3	4	Total
Paladins	7	13	9	6	35
Bears	7	3	14	6	30

See also: 2018 Mercer Bears football team

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	23	25	RV	RV	—	—	—	RV	—	—	RV	RV	RV
Coaches	21	21	RV	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	RV	RV