The Citadel–Furman football rivalry is an American
college football
College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...
rivalry game played by
The Citadel Bulldogs football
The Citadel Bulldogs football program represents The Citadel in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). The Bulldogs play in the Southern Conference, as they have since 1936. The Bulldogs are coached by Maurice Drayton, wh ...
team of
The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina
The Citadel Military College of South Carolina (simply known as The Citadel) is a public senior military college in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. Established in 1842, it is the third oldest of the six senior military colleges ...
and the
Furman Paladins football team of
Furman University
Furman University is a private university in Greenville, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1826 and named after Baptist pastor Richard Furman, the Liberal arts college, liberal arts university is the oldest private institution of higher l ...
.
History
The series dates to 1913, and has been played every year that both schools have fielded a football team since 1919, with only an interruption of 1943 through 1945 during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. Furman dominated the early years of the rivalry, winning 27 of the first 34 contests, which also included three ties. Since 1955, the series has been remarkably even, with many close, hard-fought games and three of overtime contests since 2005.
The Paladins and Bulldogs have alternated home sites for most of their history, with contests played twice at the Orangeburg County Fairgrounds in
Orangeburg, South Carolina
Orangeburg, also known as ''The Burg'', is the principal city in and the county seat of Orangeburg County, South Carolina, Orangeburg County, South Carolina, United States. The population of the city was 13,964 according to the 2020 United Stat ...
. Furman won both games played in Orangeburg.
The rivalry is enhanced by the stark differences between the two schools: one a military college in coastal Charleston and the other a liberal arts college in upstate Greenville. Many pranks were engineered by cadets and students, most memorably in 1963 when Citadel cadets kidnapped the horse that Furman's Paladin mascot rode during games. While the tale was embellished by
Pat Conroy
Donald Patrick Conroy (October 26, 1945 – March 4, 2016) was an American author who wrote several acclaimed novels and memoirs; his books ''The Water Is Wide (book), The Water is Wide'', ''The Lords of Discipline'', ''The Prince of Tides (no ...
, the horse survived but did not resume its mascot duties.
The series was an end of the season fixture on each team's schedule from 1965 through 1992, and returned to the last regular season weekend in 2012. When The Citadel's other primary rival,
VMI, departed the
Southern Conference
The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. Southern Conference College football, football teams c ...
, Bulldog coaches worked to restore Furman as their primary rival in the minds of their players and fans.
Game results
Other varsity sports
Discontinued sports
See also
*
List of NCAA college football rivalry games
This is a list of List of sports rivalries, rivalry games in college football. The list also shows any trophy awarded to the winner of the rivalry between the teams.
NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision
...
*
List of most-played college football series in NCAA Division I
This is a list of the most-played college football College rivalry, series in NCAA Division I. The The Rivalry (Lafayette–Lehigh), Lafayette–Lehigh rivalry, known as "The Rivalry," is the most-played in Division I at 159 games. Lehigh and Lafa ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:The Citadel-Furman football rivalry
Furman
Citadel
A citadel is the most fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of ''city'', meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core.
...
Citadel vs Furman
1913 establishments in South Carolina