By Will Vandervort.

By Will Vandervort

Time for this week’s edition of Countdown to Kickoff.  Clemson and Furman battle Saturday in Death Valley.

About the Paladins: Furman enters Saturday’s game coming off two heart-breaking losses, a 24-21 loss to Samford and a 47-45 triple overtime loss at Coastal Carolina. Coastal kicked a 45-yard field goal as time expired in regulation to force overtime at 25-25. Furman then failed to convert on a two-point conversion in the third overtime session.

The Paladins offense: Furman is averaging 33 points and 399 yards per game thus far, but they have had problems getting off to a good start. The Paladins have been outscored 17-0 in the first quarter. Jerodis Williams is the top rusher with 183 yards. He is averaging 5.2 yards per carry. Former Greer, SC standout Reese Hannon will get his first career-start after throwing for 255 yards on 22-35 passing in leading the Paladins back from the 17-0 deficit.

The Paladins defense: Furman’s defense is led by middle linebacker Matt Soloman, who has 23 tackles. He had 15 against Coastal Carolina. Fellow linebacker Gary Wilkins has 22 tackles and free safety Nathan Wade has 21.

The Paladins Special Teams: Kicker Ray Early is 2-for-3 on field goals with a long of 41 yards and is also in charge of punting. He is averaging 40.7 yards a punt.

Series record: Clemson leads 41-10-2

Current streak: Clemson has won 29 in a row

Last meeting: September 15, 2007: Clemson 38, Furman 10

First meeting: October 31, 1896: Clemson 14, Furman 6

Clemson’s biggest margin of victory: 94 points (94-0 in 1915)

Furman’s biggest margin of victory: 30 points (30-0 in 1926)

State worth noting: Clemson has a 29-game winning streak against Furman entering Saturday’s game. It is the second 29-game winning streak for the Clemson program against an opponent. The other one was against Virginia as the Tigers won the first 29 meetings in the ACC game which went from 1955-’89. That streak ended in 1990 as the Cavaliers finally beat Clemson with a 20-7 victory in Charlottesville. The No. 29 is also the number for the longest home basketball winning streak. Former tennis player Pender Murphy won 29 straight matches in his Clemson career at one point, and Clemson beat Furman 29 straight times in baseball (1984-2002) before the Paladins ended the streak with a 10-8 victory in 2003.

Memorable game: (September 6, 2003, Clemson 28, Furman 17) The Paladins gave Clemson a run for their money in 2003 as quarterback Bo Moore directed three Furman scoring drives, including a touchdown pass to Brian Bratton in the second quarter, which ended a streak of eight games in which Furman did not score a touchdown on the Tigers. In the end Clemson had too much for Furman as Charlie Whitehurst threw for 301 yards and wide receiver Kevin Youngblood caught 10 passes for 100 yards to lead the Tigers to a 28-17 victory. This game is also memorable because it was the last game in which Hall of Fame broadcaster Jim Phillips called a Clemson game. Phillips died suddenly the following Tuesday morning (September 9).

—compiled by Will Vandervort