The Citadel–Furman football rivalry

The Citadel–Furman football rivalry is an American college football rivalry game played by The Citadel Bulldogs football team of The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina and the Furman Paladins football team of Furman University.

The Citadel–Furman rivalry

The Citadel Furman
Sport	Football
First meeting	November 1, 1913 The Citadel, 75–0
Latest meeting	October 7, 2023 Furman, 28–14
Next meeting	2024
Statistics
Meetings total	103
All-time series	Furman, 63–37–3^[1]
Largest victory	75–0, The Citadel (1913)
Longest win streak	9, Furman (1982–1990)
Longest unbeaten streak	13, Furman (1939–1954)
Current win streak	3, Furman

150km
100miles

Furman

The Citadel

  

Locations of The Citadel and Furman

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. 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. 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, the horse survived but did not resume its mascot duties.^[2][3][4]

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, Bulldog coaches worked to restore Furman as their primary rival in the minds of their players and fans.^{[5][6][7][8][9]}

Game results

The Citadel victories

Furman victories

Tie games

No. Date Location Winner Score 1 November 1, 1913 Charleston, SC The Citadel 75–0 2 November 1, 1919 Greenville, SC Furman 21–6 3 October 9, 1920 Charleston, SC Furman 21–6 4 October 29, 1921 Greenville, SC Furman 42–0 5 October 19, 1922 Charleston, SC Furman 28–0 6 October 20, 1923 Greenville, SC Furman 30–14 7 October 25, 1924 Charleston, SC The Citadel 6–0 8 October 10, 1925 Greenville, SC Furman 7–0 9 November 20, 1926 Charleston, SC Furman 7–0 10 November 19, 1927 Charleston, SC Furman 6–0 11 November 10, 1928 Greenville, SC Furman 13–0 12 November 9, 1929 Charleston, SC Tie 0–0 13 November 22, 1930 Greenville, SC Furman 31–6 14 November 14, 1931 Charleston, SC Furman 33–7 15 October 27, 1932 Orangeburg, SC Furman 20–0 16 October 14, 1933 Greenville, SC Furman 14–0 17 November 10, 1934 Charleston, SC Furman 6–0 18 November 2, 1935 Greenville, SC Furman 35–0 19 October 10, 1936 Greenville, SC Furman 13–7 20 October 16, 1937 Charleston, SC The Citadel 8–0 21 October 15, 1938 Greenville, SC The Citadel 9–6 22 October 14, 1939 Charleston, SC Furman 7–0 23 October 11, 1940 Greenville, SC Furman 36–7 24 October 18, 1941 Charleston, SC Tie 13–13 25 November 7, 1942 Greenville, SC Furman 20–0 26 October 19, 1946 Charleston, SC Furman 14–0 27 October 17, 1947 Greenville, SC Furman 7–0 28 October 23, 1948 Greenville, SC Furman 9–0 29 October 21, 1949 Charleston, SC Furman 19–7 30 October 21, 1950 Greenville, SC Furman 21–7 31 October 19, 1951 Orangeburg, SC Furman 35–14 32 October 17, 1952 Greenville, SC Tie 7–7 33 October 2, 1953 Charleston, SC Furman 27–0 34 October 16, 1954 Greenville, SC Furman 31–20 35 October 15, 1955 Charleston, SC The Citadel 25–19 36 October 27, 1956 Greenville, SC Furman 7–0 37 October 26, 1957 Charleston, SC The Citadel 18–14 38 October 25, 1958 Greenville, SC The Citadel 24–6 39 October 24, 1959 Charleston, SC The Citadel 18–14 40 October 22, 1960 Greenville, SC The Citadel 7–6 41 October 21, 1961 Charleston, SC The Citadel 9–8 42 October 27, 1962 Greenville, SC Furman 33–25 43 October 26, 1963 Charleston, SC Furman 34–25 44 October 24, 1964 Greenville, SC The Citadel 17–0 45 November 20, 1965 Charleston, SC The Citadel 28–0 46 November 19, 1966 Greenville, SC The Citadel 10–6 47 November 18, 1967 Charleston, SC Furman 14–6 48 October 5, 1968 Greenville, SC The Citadel 31–12 49 November 15, 1969 Charleston, SC The Citadel 37–21 50 November 14, 1970 Greenville, SC Furman 28–21 51 November 13, 1971 Charleston, SC The Citadel 35–33 52 November 11, 1972 Greenville, SC The Citadel 19–13 No. Date Location Winner Score 53 November 10, 1973 Charleston, SC The Citadel 26–21 54 November 16, 1974 Greenville, SC The Citadel 24–0 55 November 15, 1975 Charleston, SC The Citadel 13–9 56 September 25, 1976 Greenville, SC The Citadel 17–16 57 November 19, 1977 Charleston, SC The Citadel 10–3 58 November 18, 1978 Greenville, SC Furman 17–13 59 November 17, 1979 Charleston, SC Furman 45–44 60 November 22, 1980 Greenville, SC Furman 28–15 61 November 21, 1981 Charleston, SC The Citadel 35–18 62 November 20, 1982 Greenville, SC Furman 27–0 63 November 19, 1983 Charleston, SC Furman 49–21 64 November 17, 1984 Greenville, SC Furman 42–14 65 November 16, 1985 Charleston, SC Furman 42–0 66 November 22, 1986 Greenville, SC Furman 37–14 67 November 21, 1987 Charleston, SC Furman 58–13 68 November 19, 1988 Greenville, SC Furman 30–17 69 November 18, 1989 Charleston, SC Furman 44–9 70 November 17, 1990 Greenville, SC Furman 30–17 71 November 23, 1991 Charleston, SC The Citadel 10–6 72 November 21, 1992 Greenville, SC The Citadel 20–14 73 October 16, 1993 Charleston, SC The Citadel 20–10 74 October 15, 1994 Greenville, SC The Citadel 52–44 75 October 14, 1995 Charleston, SC Furman 24–3 76 October 19, 1996 Greenville, SC Furman 35–25 77 October 18, 1997 Charleston, SC Furman 21–7 78 October 17, 1998 Greenville, SC The Citadel 25–24 79 October 16, 1999 Charleston, SC Furman 31–17 80 October 14, 2000 Greenville, SC Furman 33–7 81 October 13, 2001 Charleston, SC Furman 30–7 82 October 19, 2002 Greenville, SC Furman 37–10 83 October 18, 2003 Charleston, SC The Citadel 10–9 84 October 16, 2004 Greenville, SC Furman 33–14 85 October 15, 2005 Charleston, SC Furman 39–31^3OT 86 October 14, 2006 Greenville, SC Furman 23–17 87 October 13, 2007 Charleston, SC The Citadel 54–51^OT 88 October 18, 2008 Greenville, SC Furman 34–20 89 October 24, 2009 Charleston, SC The Citadel 38–28 90 September 25, 2010 Greenville, SC Furman 31–14 91 September 10, 2011 Charleston, SC Furman 16–6 92 November 17, 2012 Greenville, SC The Citadel 42–20 93 September 28, 2013 Charleston, SC Furman 24–17 94 November 8, 2014 Charleston, SC The Citadel 42–35^OT 95 October 24, 2015 Greenville, SC The Citadel 38–17 96 September 10, 2016 Charleston, SC The Citadel 19–14 97 November 11, 2017 Greenville, SC Furman 56–20 98 October 27, 2018 Charleston, SC Furman 28–17 99 October 19, 2019 Greenville, SC The Citadel 27–10 100 April 10, 2021 Charleston, SC The Citadel 26–7 101 October 16, 2021 Greenville, SC Furman 24–14 102 October 8, 2022 Charleston, SC Furman 21–10 103 October 7, 2023 Greenville, SC Furman 28–14 Series: Furman leads 63–37–3

Other varsity sports

Sport	Last Matchup					All-Time Series
	Date	Location	Winner	Score	Attendance	Leader	Record
Basketball (M)	February 2, 2022	Timmons Arena • Greenville, SC	Furman	102–83	1,749	Furman	130–87^[10]^[11]
	February 26, 2022	McAlister Field House • Charleston, SC	Furman	94–59	2,573
Tennis (M)	April 16, 2022	Mickel Tennis Center • Greenville, SC	Furman	7–0	NA	Furman	65–30^[12]^[13]
Soccer (W)	October 6, 2022	Eugene E. Stone III Stadium • Greenville, SC	The Citadel	2–0	301	Furman	21–3
Volleyball (W)	September 21, 2022	Alley Gym • Greenville, SC	The Citadel	3–1	477	Furman	42–7^[14]^[15]
	October 19, 2022	McAlister Field House • Charleston, SC	The Citadel	3–0	103

Discontinued sports

Sport	Last Matchup					All-Time Series
	Date	Location	Winner	Score	Leader	Record
Baseball^[a]	March 29, 2019	Latham Baseball Stadium • Greenville, SC	Furman	5–4	The Citadel	137–105–2^[16]^[17]^[18]^[19]
	March 30, 2019	Latham Baseball Stadium • Greenville, SC	Furman	20–6
	March 31, 2019	Latham Baseball Stadium • Greenville, SC	Furman	7–2
Soccer (M)^[b]	August 30, 2002	WLI Field • Charleston, SC	Furman	3–0	Furman	28–11–2^[20]^[21]
Wrestling^[c]	December 5, 1990	McAlister Field House • Charleston, SC	The Citadel	25–12	The Citadel	14–0^[d]^[22]

1. Furman discontinued its baseball program after the 2020 season, which was canceled prior to the series against The Citadel.
2. The Citadel discontinued its men's soccer program after the 2002 season.
3. Furman discontinued its wrestling program after the 1990–91 season.
4. The results of 3 dual wrestling meets are undocumented.

See also

• List of NCAA college football rivalry games
• List of most-played college football series in NCAA Division I

References

1. 2012 The Citadel Football Fact Book (PDF). The Citadel. pp. 110–111. Retrieved March 12, 2013.
2. Amy Clarke Burns (December 16, 2014). "What happened to the Furman Paladin's horse?". Greenville News. Greenville, South Carolina. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
3. "The Citadel, Furman Renew One of the Most Colorful FCS Rivalries". College Sports Journal. September 2016. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
4. Michael Burns (November 17, 2012). "Similarities, differences make Furman-Citadel rivalry special". GreenvilleOnline.com. Retrieved November 25, 2012.
5. Jeff Hartsell (October 13, 2007). "Furman is Higgins' chosen football rival". Post and Courier. Charleston, SC. Retrieved November 1, 2012.
6. John Hooper (May 3, 2012). "Southern Conference's Greatest Rivalries: Furman vs Citadel". BleacherReport.com. Retrieved November 13, 2012.
7. "President Plyler's Scrapbook Collection". James B. Duke Library, Furman University. Retrieved November 13, 2012.
8. Phil Kornblut (January 27, 2012). "Citadel and Furman return to end of season football rivalry". Sports Talk Radio Network. Retrieved November 13, 2012.
9. "Furman, Citadel renew long, fierce rivalry". Times and Democrat. Orangeburg, SC. October 18, 2008. Retrieved November 12, 2008.
10. 2021 Men's Basketball Record Book (PDF). Furman Paladins. p. 30. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
11. 2019–20 Basketball Record Book (PDF). The Citadel Bulldogs. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
12. Tennis Records vs. All Opponents (PDF). The Citadel Bulldogs. p. 10. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
13. 2021 Men's Tennis Record Book (PDF). Furman Paladins. p. 10. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
14. Volleyball Record Book (PDF). The Citadel Bulldogs. pp. 33–34. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
15. 2020 Volleyball Record Book (PDF). Furman Paladins. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
16. 2020 Baseball Record Book (PDF). The Citadel Bulldogs. p. 147. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
17. 2019 Baseball Record Book (PDF). Furman Paladins. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
18. "2019 Baseball Schedule". Furman Paladins. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
19. Kennington Lloyd Smith III (May 18, 2020). "Furman University to cut baseball and men's lacrosse programs". Greenville News. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
20. Men's Soccer Fact Book (PDF). The Citadel Bulldogs. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
21. 2020 Men's Soccer Record Book (PDF). Furman Paladins. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
22. 2020 Wrestling Record Book (PDF). The Citadel Bulldogs. p. 2. Retrieved February 25, 2021.