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Clemson Football Early Opponent Analysis: Furman Paladins

By Andrew Boardwine

CHARLOTTE, NC - DECEMBER 02: Head coach Dabo Swinney of the Clemson Tigers watches his team warm up against the Miami Hurricanes at the ACC Football Championship at Bank of America Stadium on December 2, 2017 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
CHARLOTTE, NC - DECEMBER 02: Head coach Dabo Swinney of the Clemson Tigers watches his team warm up against the Miami Hurricanes at the ACC Football Championship at Bank of America Stadium on December 2, 2017 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /
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Throughout the summer, we will take an early look at each Clemson football opponent. We start our coverage with the Furman Paladins.

Throughout the summer, we will take an early look and offer some analysis on each Clemson football opponent for the 2018 season.

While it’s important to cover every single angle of the Tigers themselves, we also want to make sure that Clemson fans have a grip on each opponent.

Today, we will start our coverage with the Furman Paladins.

Clemson Football Early Scouting Report:

Who: Furman Paladins

Game Date: Saturday, Sept. 1 at 12:20 p.m. in Death Valley (Clemson, S.C.)

Conference: SoCon

Head Coach: Clay Hendrix (2nd season)

2017 Record: 8-5, 2nd in the SoCon

Key Players: QB Harris Roberts, RB Darius Morehead, RB Kealand Dirks, DB Amir Trapp

2018 Opponent Outlook:

Furman has a great chance to compete in the SoCon this coming season. They lose their leading rusher (Antonio Wilcox), but return two running backs (Morehead and Dirks) that saw significant playing time last season.

Second-year coach Clay Hendrix led the Paladins to a FCS Playoff berth in his first season and is looking to improve on that this year.

Harris Roberts, a redshirt senior, is expected to take over at quarterback this season for the Paladins.

Amir Trapp, the former Clemson football player, could be the best defensive back for the Paladins this upcoming season.

Early Game Analysis:

Furman is going to try to run the ball a lot against Clemson. They’ll look to shorten the game and run the clock out as much as they can.

The Paladins will be led by the rushing duo of Morehead– a shifty and speedy back– and Dirks — a guy that runs in between the tackles and goes north-and-south.

At the end of the day, though, Furman just doesn’t have the talent or depth to keep up with Clemson. This game will be over, most likely, by the end of the first quarter.

Next: Could Chase Brice lead Clemson to a CFB Playoff berth?

With this being the season-opener, all eyes will be on the quarterback position for Clemson. This will be the first official game for freshman Trevor Lawrence and that is probably the biggest and most important storyline of the game.

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