Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Like Pough, Furman's Fowler engineers turnaround

GREENVILLE, South Carolina – Head coaches Bruce Fowler of Furman and Buddy Pough of South Carolina State share much in common from a football career standpoint.

Both men either played in Pough’s case at Orangeburg High School or was an assistant coach as Fowler was at North Carolina State under Dick Sheridan. Each also made the most of their opportunity at a Southeastern Conference school, Fowler as a defensive coordinator for Vanderbilt, Pough coaching running backs at the University of South Carolina.

Now coaching at their respective alma maters, Fowler and Pough have orchestrated one-year turnarounds from losing seasons to face each other Saturday on Willie Jeffries Field at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium in the first round of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.

Like the Bulldogs, who started 0-2 before winning nine of their last 10 games, the Paladins (7-5) labored from a 2-4 start. Once starting quarterback Reese Hannon returned from injury and the younger players began to mature, Furman won five of its last six games to earn a share of the Southern Conference title with Samford and Chattanooga.

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