GREENVILLE, S.C. — No. 18 South Carolina State jumped out to an early two-touchdown advantage and leaned on a strong defensive effort to hold off Furman 20-17 Saturday night at Paladin Stadium.
The Bulldogs improved to
4-0 on the season with the road victory, while Furman fell to 2-2. South Carolina State led 14-0 after the opening quarter and never trailed before a crowd of 9,217.
South Carolina State wasted little time establishing control. Quarterback
Keely Watson connected with
DJ Maultsby for a 65-yard touchdown on the Bulldogs' first offensive play, giving SC State a 7-0 advantage just nine seconds into the game.
The Bulldogs followed with a methodical 12-play, 80-yard scoring drive.
Josh Shaw capped the possession with a 9-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 14-0 with 6:28 remaining in the first quarter.
Furman got on the board with Nathan Chapman's 27-yard field goal in the second quarter, but
Jett Jackson answered for SC State with a 42-yard field goal to send the Bulldogs into halftime with a 17-3 advantage.
The Paladins chipped away at the deficit with field goals of 49 and 44 yards to pull within 17-9 early in the fourth quarter. South Carolina State responded with a critical eight-play, 45-yard drive that consumed 4:23 before Jackson connected from 28 yards to push the advantage to 20-9 with 3:03 remaining.
Furman made one final push when Connor Ackerley connected with Luke Shields on a 67-yard touchdown pass with 2:47 remaining. Ackerley then found Daniel Haughton for the two-point conversion, trimming SC State's lead to 20-17.
The Bulldogs' defense shut the door from there. After SC State was forced to punt, Furman took possession at its own 28 with 2:20 remaining. The Paladins managed just 8 yards before turning the ball over on downs with 1:57 left, allowing SC State to run out the clock.
Watson finished 12 of 25 passing for 186 yards and a touchdown, while Maultsby led the receiving corps with four catches for
118 yards and a touchdown. Shaw paced the Bulldogs on the ground with
55 yards and a touchdown on nine carries, while
Mason Pickett-Hicks added 52 yards on 15 attempts.
South Carolina State finished with
332 yards of total offense, including 208 through the air and 124 on the ground. The Bulldogs held Furman to just
53 rushing yards on 34 attempts, an average of 1.6 yards per carry. SC State also controlled possession for 31:57 and limited Furman to
3-of-17 on third down.
Defensively,
Marquis Lane-Owens led SC State with seven tackles. Jadin Jones and Jabin Ford added six tackles apiece. The Bulldogs recorded
nine tackles for loss and three sacks, with
Jordan Dollard,
Ka'Von Chisolm and Jayden Fuller each recording a sack. Mike Evans forced a fumble, which Tyler Jones recovered.
Jackson also played a key role on special teams, converting both of his field-goal attempts from 42 and 28 yards and both extra-point attempts. Punter MaxCeon Cobb averaged
44.4 yards on seven punts, including a long of 54 yards.
The victory keeps the
18th-ranked Bulldogs unbeaten at 4-0 and gives South Carolina State another nonconference road win as it continues its 2026 campaign.
