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12th Southern Conference championship on the way to No. 5 final national ranking. Paladins win first three in impressive fashion and then, after losing starting safeties Cam Newton and Shelton Riley to injury, narrowly miss upsetting eventual Fiesta Bowl participant Pittsburgh, losing 41-38 in overtime. Furman rebounds to win seven of its final nine games, including 33-14 triumph over The Citadel that saw the Paladins limit the Bulldogs to no first downs in the first half. Furman takes down second-ranked Georgia Southern 29-22 in front of 17,145 fans at Paladin Stadium and then knocks off Wofford 31-24 for third straight win in Spartanburg, snapping the Terriers' 13-game home winning streak. Furman clinches league crown with 51-31 triumph over Chattanooga and opens NCAA I-AA playoff action with 49-7 victory over Jacksonville State. Furman takes 13-7 second half lead against James Madison but surrenders last minute score to fall 14-13 to eventual national champion. Junior linebacker William Freeman registers team leading 100 tackles on SoCon's top scoring defense and is consensus SoCon Defensive Player-of-the-Year selection. Strong safety Andrew Thacker captures SoCon Freshman-of-the-Year honors, and Bobby Lamb is tabbed league coach-of-the-year. Offensive tackle Ben Bainbridge is named SoCon Jacobs Blocking Award winner and joins defensive end Roy Ravenell and Freeman in garnering All- America accolades. Quarterback Ingle Martin throws for school record 2,792 yards and another school best 22 touchdowns. Program finishes 12th in NCAA I-AA in home regular season attendance, averaging 14,109 over five contests. semifinal round of NCAA I-AA playoffs before dropping 29-23 decision to eventual national champion Appalachian State in Boone. Paladins open the season with dramatic 37-35 win at Jacksonville State on 8-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Ingle Martin to flanker Justin Stepp on game's final play, and later reel off six straight wins during regular season, including a pair of overtime triumphs over Hofstra (44-41) and The Citadel (39-31), and 34-31 victory over Appalachian State in Greenville. Furman edges Nicholls State (14-12) in first round playoff action and Richmond (24-20) in quarterfinal round. Quarterback Ingle Martin breaks his own season passing record by throwing for 2,959 yards and 20 touchdowns and completes two-year career with 15 2005 — Furman rolls up 11-3 record and advances to 2012 FURMAN PALADINS p FOOTBALL 2004 — Furman posts 10-3 record and wins program's Historical Highlights school records, including Furman's all-time passing (5,761 yards) and total offense (6,277 yards) standards. Jerome Felton rushes for Furman fullback record 940 yards and 18 touchdowns. Three Paladins — Martin, center Corey Stewart, and offensive guard Patrick Covington — are named All-America. Martin, who also leads the SoCon in punting (43.2 avg.), is selected by the Green Bay Packers in the fifth round of the NFL Draft. NCAA I-AA playoff bid. Freshman quarterback Jordan Sorrells throws game winning 19-yard touchdown pass to Brantley Kendall with 28 seconds left in 17-13 season opening win over Jacksonville State. Paladins pile up 521 yards offense in 45-42 loss to North Carolina. Fullback Jerome Felton scores SoCon record six touchdowns in 42-7 whipping of Western Carolina and goes on to set new school season rushing touchdowns (23) and scoring standards (140 points). Scott Beckler kicks game tying 23-yard field goal on final play of regulation in Paladins' eventual 28-22 overtime win over Chattanooga. Paladins extend home winning streak to 13 games with 13-10 victory over Georgia Southern in regular season finale. Offensive guard Adi Filipovic becomes school's 12th Academic All-American and garners NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship and NACDA FCS National Scholar Athlete-of-the-Year accolades. 2006 — Furman goes 8-4 and earns third straight seven games, including 52-49 shootout over 15th-ranked Elon and 24-22 victory at 11th-ranked Georgia Southern, to secure winning season. Jerome Felton completes his career as school's all-time leading rushing fullback and leading scorer (414 points), and is selected by the Detroit Lions in fifth round of NFL Draft. sixth-ranked Delaware. Paladin offensive tackle Joel Bell claims SoCon Jacobs Blocking Award and garners All-America honors along with cornerback William Middleton. Middleton is selected by the Atlanta Falcons in the fifth round of NFL Draft, and Bell signs free agent contract with Buffalo Bills. 2008 — Furman goes 7-5 and registers 23-21 win over place SoCon finish on the strength late season wins over Georgia Southern (30-22) in Statesboro and over Wofford (58-21) in 2009 — Furman notches 6-5 record and 5-3, third Cornerback William Middleton earns All-America honors and is selected by the Atlanta Falcons in the fifth round of the NFL Draft. 2008 ▼ 2005 ▲ Inlge Martin passes for school record 2,792 yards and 22 TDs in 11-3 campaign 2010 ▲ Bruce Fowler is named Fur- man's new head coach on Dec. 10. 2011 ▲ Chris Forcier passes for 2,265 yards and 23 TDs en route to leading the nation in passing efficiency. 2007 — After 1-3 start, Furman wins five of final Greenville. Paladins play two FBS foes, Missouri and Auburn, for first time since 1982. Quarterback Jordan Sorrells sets new school career passing yards standard (6,278 yards) and linebacker Kadarron Anderson leads team with 123 tackles and is named Sports Network All-American. suffer first losing season (5-6) since 1998. Adam Mims catches 10 passes for 202 yards and a touchown versus FBS 13th-ranked South Carolina and sets new Furman career receptions (198) and receiving yards (2,433) records. Freshman kicker Ray Early con- nects on 11-of-12 field goals, including 52-yarder (2nd longest in FU history) in 27-10 win over Samford and leads Paladins in scoring. Bobby Lamb resigns at season's end, ending his nine- year head coaching tenure with a 67-40 record. Former Paladin assistant coach and defensive coordinator Bruce Fowler is named Furman's new head coach on Dec. 13. 2010 — Paladins drop four of their final five games to Fowler, Furman rebounds with winning season (6-5) and notches a two-game improvement (5-3) in SoCon play en route to fourth place finish. Victories over fifth-ranked Wofford (26-21) and third-ranked Appalachian State (26-21) highlight campaign. Quarterback Chris Forcier passes for 2,265 yards and 23 TDs to lead the nation in passing efficiency (172.36), and running back Jerodis Williams (1,055 yards) becomes first Paladin 1,000-yard rusher since 2003. Tight end Colin Anderson joins linebacker Kadarron Anderson and cornerback Ryan Steed in earning All- American honors, and four Paladins — Forcier, Ryan Lee, Kadarron Anderson, and Steed — sign NFL free agent contracts. 2011 — Under the direction of new head coach Bruce 175