Getty Head coach of the Furman Paladins Clay Hendrix faces VMI this weekend.
VMI will kick its spring campaign off hosting the Furman Paladins (1-0) at Alumni Memorial Field at Foster Stadium in Lexington on Saturday.
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The game (1:30 p.m. ET start time) won’t be on TV, but anyone in the US can watch Furman vs VMI football live on ESPN+ right here:
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Furman vs VMI Preview
The Paladins are coming off a dominating performance against Western Carolina, winning their season opener 35-7 last weekend. They held West Carolina’s offense to 109 total yards, while starting quarterback Hamp Sisson played a great game, going 14-of-22 for 207 yards and three touchdowns.
“I told our team our team afterwards, what a blessing to be out there,” Furman head coach Clay Hendrix said. “The old butterflies come back a bit, which, I think, if you don’t have that, something’s wrong.”
Hendrix also singled out his signal-caller for his poise and leadership. “I thought Hamp played great. He just made a bad decision on the first one as they ran a blitz and he went to the wrong guy. The second one wasn’t a great throw, but still should not have been a pick since it got tipped up,” Hendrix said. “Hamp’s greatest attribute is leadership. He’s a pretty even-keeled guy and I was really pleased with how he responded. He will continue to get better, and our supporting cast around him is pretty good. That will help.”
Furman played lights out on defense in their debut last week, surrendering just five first downs all game, and they’ll look to repeat that performance again this weekend.
On the other side, the Keydets will be seeing their first action of the season Saturday. Junior running back Korey Bridy is expected to get the bulk of the team’s carries this season. Bridy had 38 attempts for 175 yards (that’s 4.6 yards per carry), and his head coach sees big things for the 6′ 0″, 204 pound running back in the future. “If teams want to overplay the pass, we’re comfortable with running the football,” VMI head coach Scott Wachenheim said. “Korey’s got great vision. He’s strong and he’s fast.”
They Keydets coach also listed off a few of his primary concerns heading into this game. “We’ll be much improved on defense, but we’ll get a huge test. Furman’s really good on offense,” Wachenheim added, touching on the team’s run game. “They can run it right down your throat with a complementary pass situation,” he said.
Both teams are young, with VMI looking to come away with a win against a Paladins team they haven’t beaten much over the last six years. The Keydets haven’t had much success against Furman, however, who has won 26 of its last 27 matchups against them. VMI’s only win in that span came in 2014 in Lexington, a 31-15 victory.