The year was 1982. Furman University was part of the recently created NCAA 1-AA classification in football and was establishing a tradition of championship football in the Southern Conference. The Furman football team travelled to the University of South Carolina for a matchup with the in-state Gamecocks. Right before half-time, USC was preparing to punt, and one student trainer at the time, Clay Waldrip, recalls the defensive line telling Ernest Gipson that he would have a lane to block the punt, “It’ll be wide open for ya, Ernest!”
It indeed was wide open, and Gipson went on to block the punt, leading to a score, swinging momentum in Furman’s favor, and propelling the Paladins to a 28-23 victory over their big-school foe.
Over the course of the next four seasons, Furman would claim a victory over a big school. In 1983, Furman strode into Atlanta, GA ready to roll and pulled off an upset win over Georgia Tech by a final margin of 17 -14. Furman would then roll into Raleigh, NC in 1984 and stun the Wolf Pack with a 34-30 win, but NC State hadn’t had enough. The next year, seeking redemption, NC State brought the Paladins back to Raleigh and the Paladins, en route to the schools’ first ever trip to a football national championship game, were all over the Wolf Pack, and walked off the field with a 45-17 victory. From 1982-1985, Furman rolled into stadiums that were bigger with crowds that were louder to play against teams that had more players and scholarship money to give those players, and came out with a victory.
This week, our Furman Paladins go down the road to Clemson to take on the Tigers. I encourage you to make the trek to Clemson, fellow Paladins. Wear your Furman purple with pride, get there early and tailgate, stay in your seat at halftime to watch the band rock Death Valley, and be fired up to watch this year’s Paladins take their aim at a big school foe.
The stadium will be bigger, the crowd will be louder, they’ll have more players, but to quote the defensive line of the 1980s: “It’ll be wide open for ya, Furman!” Go get ‘em Paladins!
Furman opened the season on Saturday, Sept. 1 with a tough 24-21 loss against Samford University, and despite a monumental effort and incredible display of heart, fell to Coastal Carolina in triple overtime at Furman. Although they’ve started the season 0-2 and they face their toughest foe of the season (the Tigers are ranked eleventh in the latest AP poll), there is still a lot to be optimistic about.
