Furman hosts Elon this Saturday at 3 p.m. ET in a showdown of 3-1 Southern Conference teams. This preview is part of a two-parter highlighting the Elon defense and Furman offense. Click here to read about Elon's defense. Follow the game live via Gametracker or on Furman All-Access

A finely tuned offense is a machine with many working parts, and each part must work for the machine to function.

The Furman Paladins' offensive engine has been humming along at the tune of 32 points and 412 total yards per game, so it's no wonder wide receiver Adam Mims said: "Our game...is about being balanced."

Mims has certainly found his niche in that balanced attack. The wideout has been the top target for quarterback Jordan Sorrells, catching 27 balls through four games for an average of 87 yards an outing and a touchdown.

Mims' potential after catching a pass is something Sorrells said keeps defenses on their toes.

"Once he gets the ball in his hands, he's electric," Sorrells said.

His electricity is just one spark in that Paladin offense. Boasting a pair of big play rushers in Tersoo Uhaa and Jerry Williams at a combined 113 yards per game, Furman has grown its air attack from its ground game.

"We establish the pass from the run," Mims said.

And that pass game has clicked. Sorrells is averaging 225 yards passing an outing and has six touchdowns to four different receivers. Furman's even, team-over-individual mentality comes from its interaction on and off the field according to both Sorrells and Mims.

"We're always having fun...cracking jokes. It's a football team - it's like a second family. It's a close bond, a lot of close relationships," Mims said, adding that he and Sorrells are both friends away from the gridiron.

That, he said, has gone along way to making the duo a potent threat.

"The two of us just spent a lot of time [in the off-season] working one-on-one; running routes, a lot of catch and throw," Mims said.

"We really committed to getting better and getting our timing down and have done the things we needed to get better," Sorrells said.

Those extra hours have paid dividends, and according to Sorrells opened the field for the rest of the offense.

"Any time you've got one guy the defense feels it needs to key in on it takes some of the pressure away from other areas to where you can spread the ball around.

"The coaches have done a great job drawing up a game plan to get him 15 touches a game," Sorrells added.

Saturday against an Elon team yielding just 14 points and 193 yards per game, Furman gets to test both facets of its game.

"People have certainly tried to run the ball on [Elon]. They're really good up front, and the linebackers behind them are good players," Sorrells said. "We have to really commit to running the ball to win the game, and our passing game will come from that."

Furman should have no shortage of looks to throw at that stingy Elon defense. In addition to Mims and the two-headed ground attack of Uhaa and Williams, the Paladins have three receivers with over 100 yards on the campaign.

"All of our guys have made plays. It's something we've worked hard on. R.J. [Webb] has made good plays with the ball in his hands; Jerry and Tersoo have done a great job carrying the ball," Sorrells said.

The Paladins' offensive weapons will need to be in synch in an important early season Southern Conference game, as Furman pursues its 13th league title.

"It's a big momentum builder - big game for [Elon], and a big game for us. Every game in the Southern Conference is big. It's getting better year in and year out."

Furman hosts Elon this Saturday at 3 p.m. ET in a showdown of 3-1 Southern Conference teams. This preview is part of a two-parter highlighting the Elon defense and Furman offense. Click here to read about Furman's offense. Follow the game live via Gametracker or on Furman All-Access

Elon defensive end Andre Campbell

Speed and strength are a dangerous combination on the football field.

Elon defensive end Andre Campbell bench presses 500 pounds, squats 700, and runs a 4.5-second 40-yard dash.

Think that's a dangerous combination? Opposing quarterbacks just might agree with you. Campbell has broken into opposing backfields for 4.5 sacks and seven tackles for loss thus far, and coming into a Southern Conference showdown with Furman says he's hungry for more.

And for Campbell and the rest of his Phoenix teammates, that hunger is "a competition within the competition.

"On defense, we're all in competition with ourselves to get a sack. It's a race [among the team] to get a tackle, it's a race to get a sack.

"When you watch our game film, you'll see...about five people around the ball trying to get a tackle."

That intrasquad competition is helping the Phoenix defense click. Elon is holding opponents to just 14 points, 57 rushing yards and below 200 yards of total offense per game.

"Playing with passion and playing for one another," defensive back Cameron McGlenn cited as another factor behind Elon's impressive performance.

"We made a goal to not end our season like we ended last season," Campbell said. After a 7-1 start, the Phoenix dropped three of their final four games including a first round playoff loss to Liberty.

"After the season was over, we decided to turn it up -- got in the weight room, got strong, and got guys in the right positions."

And Campbell individually is reaching new heights.

"This summer I worked my hardest and reached some big goals," Campbell said. Among those, he said, were the aforementioned squat of 700 pounds and bench press of over 500 pounds. "And for a guy my size, 245 [pounds], I think a 4.5 [second] 40 [yard dash] is impressive. That's helped me come off the edge, not a lot of guys can stop that kind of speed."

The end is among a corps of seniors anchoring Elon. The time together has made the Phoenix mesh well, McGlenn said.

"This is our third year playing together, so everybody knows how to step up for everyone else's flaws. We just try to feed off each other and our high energy," he said.

Elon was in the hunt for the 2008 Southern Conference championship but fell short. Both Campbell and McGlenn said they hope to leave the program with a ring en tow. The team got started in that direction last week with a 28-14 win over Georgia Southern.

Elon defensive back Cameron McGlenn

A road test against Furman is the next step Saturday, 3 p.m. ET at Furman Paladin Stadium.

"We want to make a statement in the conference this year, and Furman is a benchmark. They've won many conference championships since they've been in the SoCon.

"We're just trying to get to the level their on and get respect from everybody," McGlenn said.

The Paladins have 12 SoCon championships to their credit dating back to 1978.

"We don't want to lose, and we don't plan to lose. It's nothing but hard games the rest of the way, so this would be a big win for us. We're trying to get that conference championship, and that's that."

Added McGlenn: "It's going to be a dogfight for 60 minutes."

Northern Arizona RB Alex Henderson fights his way to the end zone vs. Arizona. (Photo by Jamie Hines/NAU Media Relations)

Fifteen titles in 17 years. That kind of consistent dominance gives a team a certain mystique. Montana brings its championship aura with it to Flagstaff, Ariz. Saturday for a Big Sky tilt with Northern Arizona. And if that weren't enough for the perennial powerhouse Grizzlies, Montana boasts an 11-game win streak over the hosting Lumberjacks in a clash of ranked conference foes.  

Is 24th ranked NAU intimidated? Not if you let defensive end Brandon Vance tell it.

"Dominate Montana, that's our No. 1 goal," he said.

An ambitious aspiration, especially given the various streaks Montana has to its credit. The Grizzlies have won 11 of their Big Sky best 18 league crowns in consecutive seasons dating back to 1998. They have a 10-game regular season win streak and an eight-game Big Sky streak, both of which have been uninterrupted since Oct. 4 of last year. And for the Lumberjacks, there's that 11-gamer.

"We definitely want to break that," said NAU running back Alex Henderson of the NAU losing streak.

Ending the Grizzlies' winning ways means solving a defense that through three games has allowed just nine points per game. Henderson comes in boasting 112 yards per game on the ground through two, with three touchdowns -- two more than the Grizzlies have yielded.

"I'm going to have to hit the holes the offensive line makes," Henderson said, adding taking advantage of every opportunity is key against a defense that allows few.

"Disciplined," is the word Henderson used to describe Montana. "All their players know their roles and they don't make mistakes."

That extends to the offensive side of the ball, where UM employs a balanced attack of 166 rushing yards and 253 passing yards per game.

Vance, the Lumberjacks' sack leader, echoed Henderson's sentiment of capitalizing on every advantage presented the Lumberjacks.

"They're a great team and they run their offense well," he said.

Vance added that attacking the Grizzlies in waves is one point of emphasis for the team.

"We have a lot guys who can come in and back [the starting line] up," he said.

To enact this gameplan, NAU head coach Jerome Souers will have to rely heavily on youth. There are 40 freshmen on the NAU roster, more than any other class. Henderson is one of 18 seniors, and said: "The upperclassmen are going to have to help the underclassmen so they know where to be, how to react."

The interjection of youth could translate to a fresh start for NAU, in more ways than one. The Jacks have finished 6-5 each of the last three seasons, and last made the playoffs in 2003 -- the same year the team shared a split of the Big Sky title with Montana.

Last season, the team began 6-1 but dropped its final four. Henderson said facing stiff challenges in its first two forays could prove crucial in helping the team off to a strong start, but importantly a strong finish. NAU was within a touchdown of Arizona in the second half Sept. 12 before falling 34-17, and last week held off Southern Utah for a 42-39 victory.