Accustomed to road challenges, Furman football is off to Montana in FCS quarterfinals
Go west, young men.
And we’re talking far west – Missoula, Montana, to be exact.
Furman football is set to play in the quarterfinals of the FCS playoffs Friday (9 p.m. ET, ESPN2) at No. 2 seed Montana (11-1), which is quite the trek by any measure. That would be a 1,835-mile flight from Greenville. For Furman fans hoping to make the cross-country trek by car, be sure to allot at least 33 hours to make the 2,259-mile journey.
In other words, leave now.
That’s the way things are in the FCS playoffs, which have become a western-heavy proposition by all accounts.
Furman’s 26-7 victory against SoCon rival Chattanooga last week has the No. 7 seed Paladins (10-2) in the FCS quarterfinal round for the first time in 18 years, further evidence that Furman’s football program continues to experience an impressive rebirth under coach Clay Hendrix.
Furman has played Montana before, losing 13-6 to the Grizzlies in the 2001 FCS Championship Game, but that game was played in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Should the Paladins find a way to victory this time, plenty more far west teams await. Eight of the 16 teams that made the FCS playoffs are located west of the Mississippi River. As in way west.
These teams include North Dakota, North Dakota State, South Dakota and South Dakota State as well as Montana, Montana State, Idaho and Sacramento State.
Five of the those eight received top 8 national seeds, including each of the top four teams in the field, so it’s not surprising that Hendrix refers to the prospects as “challenging.”
Chattanooga coach Rusty Wright was a bit more emphatic.
“We’ve got to get to point where it’s not so west coast biased,” Wright said. “Give everybody a legitimate shot.”
Given seedings and home field advantage, North Dakota State and South Dakota State have combined to claim 10 of the last 12 national titles and it shows no sign of slowing down.
On the positive side, Hendrix believes his team is largely unfazed by playing in such challenging surroundings, having played against both SEC and ACC opponents on a regular basis.
“We played in Columbia in a sold-out SEC stadium this year and it should have been tied up at the half,” Hendrix said.
Furman led 14-7 with 8½ minutes left in the second quarter, and wound up losing 47-21, but the Paladins left feeling like the final result should have been considerably closer.
Hendrix, who cut his coaching teeth while regularly taking his team into such daunting road environments as Huntington, West Virginia (Marshall), Statesboro, Georgia (Georgia Southern) and Boone, North Carolina (Appalachian State), now wants his players to embrace playing on the road.
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“I don’t think we care where we play,” Hendrix said. “We’ve had a great road team – I just think that’s the makeup of who we are. We’re a focused and mature team and we’ve played some of our best games on the road. I think we’re a tough out no matter where we go.”
Yes, even if it’s Missoula, Montana.
Scott Keepfer covers Clemson athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at skeepfer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @ScottKeepfer
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Next stop for Furman football is Montana in FCS quarterfinals
