Tennessee Tech Holds Off Furman on Two Long Field Goals
Carter Brown kicked two field goals from 52 yards, and Tennessee Tech needed both of them. Take those six points away and Furman wins 15-14. Instead the Golden Eagles won 20-15 and moved to 5-1.
Tech scored first and never gave it back. Jax Leatherwood threw 5 yards to Tre' Holloway with 2:58 left in the first quarter, and M.J. Flowers ran in from a yard out with 31 seconds left in the second for a 14-3 lead (Furman's Nathan Chapman had kicked a 31-yard field goal in between). The third quarter belonged to Furman's kicker and its defense: a team safety made it 14-5, and Chapman hit a 53-yarder to make it 14-8.
Then came the first Brown kick, from 52 yards with 13:45 to go, for 17-8. Furman got within two at 17-15 when Connor Ackerley threw 23 yards to Luke Shields with 6:48 left. The Paladins did not score again. Brown's second 52-yarder with 2:50 left made it 20-15, which meant Furman needed a touchdown rather than a field goal, and it did not get one.
The yardage was almost a wash: 289 for Furman and 287 for Tennessee Tech. Furman did not turn the ball over, Tech lost one fumble, and the Paladins still fell to 1-4. Ackerley completed 24 of 39 passes for 222 yards and the Paladins ran for just 67.
Tennessee Tech passed for 212 yards, and Furman, which lost, passed for 222. Shields led all scorers in fantasy with 21.7 points, on seven catches and the one touchdown.