Furman's Secondary Is Second to None in SoCon

Over the past 25 years, the Furman football program has played host to some great defenses.

Furman fans will not soon forget the 1988 unit, which ranked No. 1 nationally in scoring defense (9.7 PPG) and helped the Paladins capture their only national title as a program.

When looking back at those great defenses, it was usually the linebacker and defensive line units that drew the most praise and acclaim, while the secondary was probably the unit that most would identify as the "weak link" by default in comparison to a perennially strong front seven during a time of such defensive prowess for the program.

Furman, though having had solid defensive backfields over the years, such as the 1999 unit, which featured All-SoCon free safety Walter Booth, future All-SoCon cornerback Rodney Johnson and SoCon Defensive Player of the Year John Keith, did not produce solid talent in the secondary consistently. 

In recent history, some have even called Furman "slow" and "athletically challenged" against the ever-evolving speed at wide receiver in the SoCon. But things have begun in regards to such characterizations as mentioned above.

Two years ago, Furman endured one its seasons defensively in school history. In fact, the Paladins surrendered a school-record 431.3 YPG and 31.4 PPG to rank as one of the weakest defenses in the FCS.

The Furman pass defense was a large part of the problem, as the Paladins ranked 111th out of 118 FCS teams in pass defense, yielding 257.7 YPG and allowing opponents to complete 66.0 percent of its passes.

The good news for Furman was most of the problem was inexperience. Ryan Steed was one of those young talents on that 2009 secondary, and now a senior preseason All-America cornerback, according to The Sports Network.

But after getting indoctrinated into big-time Division I college football facing the big-play passing attack of Missouri, which featured NFL lottery pick Blaine Gabbert and big-play future NFL talent DaNario Alexander, the Paladin secondary would reap plenty of benefits from the 52-12 loss.

For Steed, it was a day in which he came of age making some bone-rattling hits in breaking up a couple of passes, while also leading the Paladins with seven tackles.

Steed wasn't the only young performer in the secondary to see action on that dreary afternoon in Columbia, Mo., as safety Nathan Wade, Jordan Griffin and Derrick Murray all saw action in the 40-point loss to the Tigers.

Two of those three players return for the 2011 season, as Jordan Griffin was involved in an offseason drug bust and was kicked out of school.

Wade was involved to a minor degree but was reinstated to the team in the early summer. Wade will likely serve a suspension, but his presence in the secondary will make a big difference, as he has all-league potential.

The big-hitting safety was a SoCon All-Freshman in 2009, completing the campaign second on the team in tackles, with 77 stops. He also had an INT and three PBUs in his first season as a starter in the Paladin secondary.

As the season progressed, Furman would improve leaps and bounds in the secondary, and that improvement led to some late-season momentum, which propelled Furman to a 6-5 record after a winning record looked in jeopardy, with the Paladins 4-5 heading to Statesboro to take on Georgia Southern.

That particular early mid-November afternoon would see the Furman secondary, and in particular Steed, set the tone for a 30-22 road win over the Paladins' arch-rival.

On GSU's opening drive of the day, Steed stepped in front of a Lee Chapple pass intended for Raja Andrews and returned it 43 yards for a score to give the Paladins an early 7-0 lead.

That set the tone for a first half controlled by the Paladins, as Furman took a 24-0 lead to the locker room. Steed would pick off another pass later in the contest, recording his first-career multi-INT game.

Most attributed Furman's stark improvement in pass defense in 2010 to The Citadel and Georgia Southern both transitioning back to triple-option attacks.

Heading into the game against Chattanooga last fall, the Furman pass defense ranked second in the nation, and the secondary played a large role in the Paladins' 27-10 road win at Samford a week earlier.

It was a crucial game for the Paladins in Birmingham, and the Furman secondary showed up and showed out, especially Steed. It was the junior cornerback, who got the Paladins on the board for the first time on the day, intercepting a Connor Lowery pass and returning it 52 yards for a TD to give the Paladins a 7-0 lead.

It would be the first of two INTs that Steed would take to the house in consecutive weeks.

Then, just before the half, Samford was driving for what could have been a momentum-changing score. But it would be the Paladin secondary that would come up big once again.

With the game tied 10-10 late in the second quarter, sophomore free safety Nathan Wade would make maybe the biggest play of the afternoon for the Paladin defense.

Wade stepped in front of a Lowery pass headed for a Samford receiver in the back of the Furman end zone, but the Paladins were called for a late hit on the quarterback and penalized half the distance of the goal line.

On the very next play, Wade would get himself involved again, deflecting Lowery's pass this time, and rover safety Max Lerner intercepted the pass, and this time there were no flags.

That intereption by Lerner changed the direction of the game for Furman, and allowed the Paladins to go on and get a 27-10 road win.

The following week, the Paladins returned home for a crucial game against Chattanooga, with plenty of SoCon playoff implications. Early on, it would once again be the Furman pass defense that would set the tone, and it was Steed that once again provided the excitement.

Steed intercepted a tipped, B.J. Coleman pass and took it back 62 yards for a Paladin score, making it a 7-0 Paladin lead in identical fashion to the Samford game.

Also in eerily similar fashion to the Samford contest a week before, safety Nathan Wade played a big role in preventing a momentum-changing Mocs score before the break.

With UTC inside the Furman red zone, Wade picked off the pass in the back of the end zone, ending the Mocs scoring threat and allowing Furman to take a 21-10 lead to the break.

Max Lerner intercepted two passes, including one on the opening drive of the second half, leading to another Furman score.

In total, the Furman secondary was directly responsible for leading to 14 Furman points on the night, while likely preventing at least three points with Wade's INT at the end of the half.

In fact, the Furman secondary would account for all four INTs on the day, but yielded a season-high 432 yards. Adding even more salt to the wound was the fact that the SoCon's leading receiver, Joel Bradford, set a new Paladin Stadium record with 274 yards receiving.

The Mocs came all the way back to claim a 36-28 win after trailing 28-10 early in the fourth quarter.

One of the final positives on the day was the play of safety Greg Worthy, who came into the contest for an injured Sterling Johnson, and would establish his presence as one of the hardest hitters on the defensive side of the football for the Paladins for the remainder of the season.

Johnson, the player who Worthy replaced, was the original starter at 'Bandit' safety last season, will likely move to the strong safety spot, with Furman transitioning from the 4-2-5 defensive scheme to a more traditional 4-3 look. Johnson also had an INT return for a score, taking his pick back 21 yards for a score in the 56-14 rout of Howard last fall. Johnson and Worthy add physicality and the ability to come up and make plays against the run.

Worthy may also be used at outside linebacker some this fall, as will another reserve safety, in Mitch McGrath.

The Paladins will not have the services of Max Lerner, or the aforementioned Griffin returning for the 2011 season, but will have Steed as a starter at corner, while Johnson, Worthy and McGrath all boast starting experience at safety, although one of those players will likely start at outside linebacker, with Furman boasting so much experience and talent at the various safety spots.

The only real decision to be made in fall camp is who replaces Griffin. That will likely be Cortez Johnson, who is reportedly one of the fastest players on the Furman roster. Though Johnson will receive some stern competition from Leander Jones and Austin Williams.

Both Wade and Johnson will likely serve suspensions for their involvement in those offseason drug-related arrests, although neither were involved in the incident in a serious manner.

In total, the Furman secondary finished the season with 14 INTs to finish fourth in the league last season. The 14 picks by the Paladins were the most since the Paladins intercepted 17 passes in 2002.

Furman, which had four INT returns for scores in 2010, set a new school mark in that category. Three of those INT returns for scores came from the secondary, and 12 of Furman's 14 INTs were recorded by the secondary.

Steed's two INTs returned for scores in a single season tie the school record previously established by Don Calhoun in 1970.

Steed has already set a new career mark for career INT returns for TDs with three. He also set a new record for single-season return yardage, as he racked up a total of 209 yards on INTs and fumble returns, including 120 alone on INTs.

His 20-career PBUs rank him tied for 10th on Furman's career ledger, while his 10-career picks have him tied with Rodney Johnson (1998-2002) for 14th on the school's career list.

Steed heads into his senior season ranked asthe top corner in the FCS by NFL Draft Scout.com, and joins Paladin linebacker Kadarron Anderson on the preseason Sports Network Buck Buchanan Award watch list.

Most can say what they want to about the SoCon being more of a run-oriented league last season than it was in 2009, but the fact is Furman improved 97 places in its season-ending national rank in pass defense.

The Paladins went from ranking 111th (257.7 YPG) in '09 to ranking 14th (160.9 YPG) last fall, which is, ironically, an improvement of 97 yards. Perhaps the stat that makes the the No. 14 national rank most impressive is the fact that Furman's nine sacks ranked it 114th of 117 FCS teams last fall.

In sumation, the Furman secondary will be the best in the SoCon this fall. First-year head coach Bruce Fowler, once a walk-on DB himself at Furman, will take special pride in coaching this unit and he might have one of the most athletic, deepest units in the country.

Back in 2001, Fowler had the opportunity to coach one of the most talented secondary units in recent memory, with Richie Jackson, Josh Cooper and Rodney Johnson all members of that unit.

This secondary is good enough to change the general attitude of "athletically challenged" that the program has worn as a heavy burden since the increase of speed at skill positions has become a recruiting priority for teams implementing the spread.

However, Furman has finally matched that speed and athleticism, affording the Paladins to take mix things up and take more chances various blitz schemes. This defensive backfield has a chance to be "second to none" in school history this fall.