After a disappointing 3-8 season last year, Furman football is looking to bounce back strong in its third season under Bruce Fowler.

The Paladins open the season on the road against Gardner-Webb. They will also travel to LSU and Georgia Southern, clearly the toughest away games this year.

The Paladins will host Presbyterian, Elon, Appalachian State, Samford and Wofford this year at the newly renovated Paladin Stadium. The new additions consist of artificial turf and major upgrades to the press box.

At the beginning of August the Athletic Department also revealed new uniforms for the start of the season: the addition of black jerseys and pants updates the traditional combination of white and purple. These new uniforms and new facilities have given the Paladins momentum that they hope to carry onto the gridiron.

A number of players are returning on both offense and defense.

On offensive, returning starting quarterback Reese Hannon looks to improve on his freshman season, during which he accumulated 1,896 passing yards and threw 7 TD passes in 10 games.

Running back Hank McCloud got significant playing time last year behind then-senior running back Jerodus Williams and is ready to take on the majority of the carries this year.

On the offensive line, the Paladins return all five starters. Dakota Dozier and Ryan Storms are the two senior leaders of the group, and their kind of experience on the line should help the offense to sustain longer drives and produce more scoring opportunities.

On defense, two of our top five tacklers from last year are back—Gary Wilkins and Greg Worthy—as well as three other returning starters.

But there are still challenges for the defense. Last year the Paladins were outscored 105-26 in the fourth quarter; they also gave up an average of 30.7 points per game. The Paladins must change both these key stats if they want to contend for a Southern Conference title.

Coming off a positive off-season, expectations are high for the team this year. But it will take more than new uniforms and new additions to Paladin Stadium to bring back the winning tradition of Furman football.