BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. - Junior quarterback Josh Kellett scampered six yards for the go-ahead score and defensive end Lamarkis Branson recovered a Gardner-Webb fumble to secure Samford's 49-41 win in triple overtime in Division I-AA action at Ernest Spangler Stadium.

Kellett scored the winning touchdown and found tight end Daniel McClurkin in the left corner of the end zone for the two-point conversion to run the score to the final, 49-41.

"This is what college football is all about," Kellett said after the game. "Coach Hurt told us at halftime that in the first half we had just been shooting ourselves in the foot, and that we needed to just keep playing hard until we won. That's what we were here to do and we did."

Hurt, who celebrated his 45th birthday on Saturday, echoed his starting quarterback. "We beat a good football team tonight," Hurt said. "You could go on and on about who made big plays for us in the game, but I told them all it takes is one play from somebody, and it came down to a lot of guys making a play at key points in the game. I've never been prouder of a team's heart and desire as I am of this team tonight."

Josh Kellett found Aryvia Holmes on fourth-and-11 for a 26-yard strike and Chip Walters booted the extra point to tie the game 41-41 and to force the third extra stanza.

Samford's new offense showed its potential, finishing the game with 448 yards of total offense, 239 rushing and 209 passing. Samford also forced four GWU turnovers while committing five of its own, including four fumbles. Gardner-Webb tallied 465 yards of total offense, 203 on the ground and 262 through the air.

Fred Gilliam scored Samford's first overtime touchdown, a 4-yard run that gave Samford the lead 34-27 with Walters' extra point. Gilliam finished with career highs in carries and yardage with 142 yards on 27 carries with two touchdowns. Other Bulldogs set career highs in the win, including Holmes' eight catches for 130 yards and Chip Walters' 44-yard field goal in regulation.

Darin Bradford hauled in a 10-yard pass from Jeremy Martin and GWU knotched the game at 34. Martin then scored on a 14-yard run to give GWU the lead 41-34 and Samford answered with the Kellett-to-Holmes strike.

Samford junior Chip Walters booted a career-long 44-yard field goal with three seconds remaining to knotch the game at 27 and to force overtime. The Bulldogs converted on two fourth down plays in the final drive to set up Walters' kick.

GWU drove 76 yards in 10 plays for Justin Richardson's go-ahead touchdown with 1:30 remaining in the game. Richardson rushed 24 times for 116 yards and carried Samford tacklers five yards for the game winning score. Samford took a 24-21 lead with five and a half minutes to play as Fred Gilliam scampered 26 yards for the apparent game-winner.

The Bulldogs committed five turnovers, including four fumbles, but GWU mistakes in the third and fourth quarters kept the Bulldogs in the game. Samford opened a big second half with a 72-yard kickoff return by Gary Reed, and freshman quarterback Ramon Nelson scored on a 10-yard touchdown scamper five pays later to bring the Bulldogs to within 10, 21-11.

Samford's defense and special teams gave the Bulldog offense several chances in the third quarter, causing two fumbles and freshman Thad Henderson blocked a punt that set Samford up at the GWU 19. Despite having good starting field position, Samford did not convert on the turnovers as Nelson threw his first interception, Samford's fourth turnover of the game, and GWU stopped the Bulldogs on a fourth-and-one on the GWU 39-yard line. It wasn't until GWU punter Graham Whitlock bobbled the snap and Samford set up shop inside the GWU five-yard line. Freshman John Williams scored two plays later, but spiked the ball in the end zone to receive an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. The penalty backed up the Bulldogs on a key extra point that Chip Walters missed, and the Bulldogs trailed at that point, 21-17.

Both teams scored on their opening possessions, GWU a 13-yard touchdown reception by William Andrews from Martin and Samford a 24-yard field by Chip Walters. Walters' field goal was set up by a 36-yard pass from Kellett to Holmes. GWU upped its lead to 13-3 early in the second quarter on Maxwell's 19 yard return. Bulldog linebacker Derrick Wheeler blocked the ensuing extra point and Robert Evans returned it 87 yards for two points to cut the GWU lead to 13-5.

A 5-yard touchdown reception by Andrews gave GWU a 19-5 lead at the 10:02 mark of the second quarter, and holder Bo Bartik ran the extra point across on a fake for the 21-5 lead that the Runnin'Bulldogs took into halftime.