Furman meets old friend at SoCon opener at Mercer

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Furman will run into an old friend this weekend as the Paladins head to Mercer.

Former Furman coach Bobby Lamb has been building the Bears from scratch since they reinstated football last season. Saturday is Mercer’s first Southern Conference game. Lamb said his team basks in all the excitement at each new challenge.

Lamb won 69 games in nine seasons at Furman, and earlier was a star quarterback for the Paladins too. He was let go in 2010 after suffering the only losing season of his head coaching career

In other games Saturday involving South Carolina’s Football Championship Subdivision teams, Coastal Carolina travels to North Carolina A&T; Charleston Southern hosts Newberry; South Carolina State is at Clemson; and The Citadel travels to Florida State.