# 2018 Furman Paladins football team

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.

## Schedule

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

## 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 |

### At Elon

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

### At East Tennessee State

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

### Western Carolina

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

### Wofford

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

### Samford

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

### At The Citadel

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

### Chattanooga

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

### At VMI

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

### At Mercer

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

## Ranking movements

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