Video: Furman football Coach Clay Hendrix on what QB means to the team
Furman football Coach Clay Hendrix on what quarterback means to the Paladins this season.
This winning thing is all new for Tyler Huff.
Every football player who’s ever strapped on shoulder pads and a helmet does so with the same goal in mind: to win.
Unfortunately for Huff, he’s never experienced much of that – let alone a championship season – throughout his football career.
Not in high school, not at his first collegiate stop at Presbyterian.
“Never had a winning record all through high school or college until last year,” said Huff, who is in his second season as Furman’s quarterback after transferring from Presbyterian. “The best I did in high school was 5-5 one year. Never had been to the playoffs, so winning the first playoff game (last year) was very special.”
If that victory against Elon in the first round of the playoffs last year was special, then Saturday’s 26-7 win against Chattanooga might qualify as downright exceptional.
Happy? Try thrilled.
The victory pushed the Paladins (10-2) into the quarterfinals round of the FCS playoffs for the first time since 2005.
Playing for the first time since a shoulder injury sustained against the same Chattanooga team on Nov. 4, Huff completed 18 of 29 passes for 192 yards. The team’s second-leading rusher, he also rushed seven times for 32 yards, flashing the steadiness and versatility that made him the choice as SoCon Offensive Player of the Year by the league’s coaches.
“Tyler played in eight games and the coaches made him Player of the Year – so that’s what they thought of him,” Furman coach Clay Hendrix said.
Others think highly of Huff, too.
Voted a team co-captain by his teammates, Huff is a commissioned 2nd Lt. in the U.S. Army Reserves and recently was named recipient of the Armed Forces Merit Award by the Football Writers Association of America.
He’s enrolled in Furman’s Master of Arts in Strategic Design program and made the SoCon Academic Honor Roll.
Oh yeah, he’s humble, too.
“I think people give me too much credit,” Huff said. “All of these guys were here. They just needed somebody to help out and facilitate a little bit.
KEEP AN EYE ON: 5 Furman football players to watch as the Paladins begin pursuit of the FCS championship
“The pieces were here. The coaches were here. There’s a reason everybody stuck around because they knew they could do it. They just needed one more little piece.”
Apparently Huff was that piece.
Furman is 19-3 with Huff in the starting lineup during the past two seasons, including an 18-1 record against FCS opponents and a 14-0 mark against SoCon foes.
Winning has returned to Furman in a big way, and there’s no denying that the Paladins’ two-year ticket to the playoffs has coincided with Huff’s arrival, whether he’ll admit or not.
Winning doesn’t come easy.
Just ask Tyler Huff.
But sometimes the waiting and working for that taste makes it even sweeter.
Scott Keepfer covers Clemson athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @ScottKeepfer
2023-12-03 02:02:05
#Furman #footballs #success #means #quarterback #Tyler #Huff
