Western Carolina Beats Furman 27-26 on Bryan McCollum's 36-Yard Field Goal With 4 Seconds Left

Western Carolina scored two touchdowns before its offense had run a play, then spent the rest of the afternoon watching Furman chip away. In the end, it came down to one kick.

Bryan McCollum made a 36-yard field goal with 4 seconds left, and Western Carolina beat Furman 27-26 on Saturday in Greenville, South Carolina. Furman had taken a 26-24 lead on Nathan Chapman's fourth field goal of the day with 1:57 to play. Western Carolina needed nine plays to answer.

Furman outgained Western Carolina 388 to 321 and ran for 268 yards, but the Paladins turned the ball over four times, and two of those giveaways went back for Western Carolina touchdowns in the game's first 70 seconds. Western Carolina improves to 4-5 and 2-3 in the Southern Conference. Furman falls to 2-7 and 1-4.

Two touchdowns in 61 seconds

Furman's afternoon started about as badly as an afternoon can. On the Paladins' first snap, quarterback Trey Smith was dropped for a 10-yard loss and lost the ball, and Ken Moore Jr. returned the fumble for a Western Carolina touchdown with 14:51 left in the first quarter. Bryan McCollum added the extra point.

Furman's next possession went no better. With 13:50 left, Jermiyah Douglas intercepted Smith and returned it 37 yards for another touchdown. Western Carolina led 14-0 before its offense had done much of anything.

Furman claws back

The Paladins did not panic. Nathan Chapman kicked a 39-yard field goal with 9:37 left in the first quarter to finish an 11-play, 54-yard drive. Then Furman's special teams struck. Gram Smithson blocked a Western Carolina punt, and Connor Adams scooped it up and returned it 7 yards for a touchdown with 2:24 left in the quarter. Just like that, it was 14-10.

Smith then made up for the early mistakes in one play. With 4:58 left in the second quarter, the Furman quarterback broke a 79-yard touchdown run to cap a seven-play, 95-yard drive, and Furman led 17-14.

Western Carolina answered twice before halftime. McCollum hit a 22-yard field goal with 1:46 left to tie it at 17. Then Lex Thomas found Jai Boyd for a 40-yard touchdown with 15 seconds left in the half, and the Catamounts took a 24-17 lead into the locker room. Chapman also missed a 48-yard field goal in the second quarter.

Chapman keeps chipping away

The second half belonged to Furman's offense and Furman's kicker. Chapman made a 49-yard field goal with 8:42 left in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 24-20. Early in the fourth quarter, a 47-yard pass from Smith to Cameron James started a 12-play, 76-yard drive that ended with Chapman's 39-yard field goal with 11:21 to play. Western Carolina's lead was down to 24-23.

Western Carolina's offense could not put the game away. Pinned deep, the Catamounts got off only a 24-yard punt, and Furman took over at the Western Carolina 37 with 6:38 to play. The Paladins leaned on the ground game, handing to Ben Croasdale and letting Smith run, and moved to the Western Carolina 8 over nine plays and 4:41. Chapman kicked a 25-yard field goal with 1:57 left. Furman led 26-24, its first lead since the second quarter.

The turning point: 1:53 to answer

Western Carolina needed only a field goal, and it had 1:57 to get one. Thomas hit Matthew Keener for 31 yards to the Furman 44 on the first play of the drive, then ran for 7 yards and 14 more to the Furman 23.

From there, the Catamounts played for the kick. Josh Perry ran for 1 yard, and Furman called timeout with 1:12 left. Perry then picked up 9 yards to the Furman 13. Perry lost 2 yards, a pass to Keener fell incomplete, another run lost 2 more, and Western Carolina used a timeout with 8 seconds left to set up McCollum at the Furman 17.

McCollum's 36-yard kick was good with 4 seconds left, and Western Carolina led 27-26. The drive took nine plays and 1:53.

There was one more scare. Furman tried a desperation kickoff return with a string of laterals, and the ball went from player to player before it hit the ground. AJ Mintze fell on it for Western Carolina, and the game was over.

The numbers that matter

Furman won most of the categories that usually decide games. The Paladins ran 55 times for 268 yards, held the ball for 31:34 and had 21 first downs to Western Carolina's 17. They committed fewer penalties, 5 for 52 yards to Western Carolina's 9 for 80.

The turnover column is where the game went the other way. Furman lost two fumbles and threw two interceptions. Western Carolina turned it over once, on a Thomas pass that Daco Coleman intercepted. Neither offense did much on third down. Western Carolina went 3 for 15 and Furman 5 for 15, and the Catamounts' only fourth-down try was successful.

Smith was Furman's best player and its most costly one. The Furman quarterback ran 22 times for 162 yards and the 79-yard touchdown, but completed 9 of 19 passes for 120 yards with two interceptions and lost the fumble on the opening snap. Croasdale added 82 yards on 23 carries, and James caught one pass for 47 yards. Raleigh Herbert led the Furman defense with 14 tackles, and Demetrius Baldwin had two sacks.

For Western Carolina, Thomas completed 22 of 37 passes for 195 yards with a touchdown and an interception, and added 36 rushing yards on 15 carries, including the 14-yarder on the winning drive. Boyd caught four passes for 83 yards and the touchdown. AJ Colombo had five catches for 35 yards, and Keener's two catches went for 36 yards. Braylon Jones made 11 tackles, and Joshua Collins had a sack. On the ground, Western Carolina managed 126 yards on 33 carries. Perry carried 11 times for 14 yards, and Richard Hollis broke the longest run of the day for the Catamounts, a 36-yarder.

The kickers had their own duel. Chapman went 4 for 5 on field goals, with makes from 39, 49, 39 and 25 yards. McCollum made both field goal tries, from 22 and 36 yards, and the second one was the only kick that mattered at the end.

What it means

Western Carolina moves to 4-5 and 2-3 in league play and gets a needed lift after a 41-18 loss at Chattanooga last week. The Catamounts sit sixth in the Southern Conference, tied with Samford, behind East Tennessee State, Chattanooga, Tennessee Tech, Mercer and Wofford.

For Furman, it is a second straight one-score loss. A week after a 13-6 loss to Samford, the Paladins lost by a point despite running for 268 yards. Furman falls to 2-7 and 1-4 in conference play. The Paladins have now scored 32 points in their last two games and lost both.

Up next

Western Carolina hosts Wofford on Nov. 7, plays at Samford on Nov. 14 and closes at home against The Citadel on Nov. 21. Furman plays at The Citadel on Nov. 7, hosts Chattanooga on Nov. 14 and finishes at VMI on Nov. 21.

The takeaway

Furman did enough to win this game for long stretches, and Kerwin Bell's Catamounts were outplayed on the ground. But Western Carolina's defense scored 14 points in the first 70 seconds, and when the game came back to the Catamounts with under two minutes left, the offense found just enough. Clay Hendrix's Paladins will spend the week wondering how a 268-yard rushing day ended in a loss.

Sources: ESPN box score and play-by-play; Furman Athletics; earlier Undrafted coverage. More college football coverage on Undrafted.

Photos: Furman Athletics (file photo).