Oct. 16, 2010

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Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Turnovers and penalties proved costly as the Samford football team dropped a 27-10 Southern Conference game to the Furman Paladins Saturday afternoon at Seibert Stadium.

With the loss, Samford drops to 3-4 overall and 1-3 in SoCon play. Furman improves to 4-2 overall and 2-1 in league play.

"Give Furman some credit, they are a good football team and we knew that coming in," Samford head coach Pat Sullivan said. "I thought our guys came out and played with a lot of enthusiasm. When it came down to it, it was the same thing that has happened to us earlier this year in that we had some costly penalties and we had some turnovers. You can't do that against an evenly-matched team."

Samford committed three turnovers (two interceptions and one fumble) to just one interception for Furman. The Bulldogs committed 10 penalties for 78 yards, compared to two penalties for 29 yards for the Paladins.

The Samford offense was led by senior running back Chris Evans with 23 rushes for 157 yards and a touchdown. Quarterback Connor Lowery completed 13-of-23 passes for 100 yards and two interceptions. Quin Roberson led the Samford receivers with three catches for 31 yards.

Defensively for Samford, Bryce Smith had 13 tackles, including 12 solo stops and two tackles for a loss. Alex Davis had three sacks for a loss of 16 yards. Samford punter Bob Hooper punted four times for an average of 46.5 yards per kick.

Furman's Cody Worley completed 14-of-25 passes for 149 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Adam Mims caught seven passes for 74 yards and a touchdown. Ryan Steed had 10 tackles and an interception returned 52 yards for a touchdown to lead the Paladin defense.

Furman jumped on top first when Steed intercepted a Lowery pass and returned it 52 yards for a touchdown with 12:12 to go in the first quarter. Ray Early's extra point gave the Paladins a 7-0 lead.

Cameron Yaw put Samford's first points on the board when he kicked a 35-yard field goal with 4:29 to go in the first quarter to cut the Furman lead to 7-3. Furman's Early added a 52-yard field goal with 1:16 to go in the first quarter to give the Paladins a 10-3 lead.

Samford tied the score on its first possession of the second quarter. Evans score on a 33-yard run. Yaw added the extra point to tie the score at 10-10.

The teams went to halftime tied at 10-10. In the first half, the Samford offense outgained Furman, 233 yards to 107 yards. For the game, Samford had 348 yards of total offense to 283 yards for Furman.

The teams remained tied through most of the third quarter until Furman's Jerry Williams scored on a two-yard run with 4:43 to go in the quarter. Early added the PAT to give the Paladins a 17-10 lead.

Early added a 31-yard field goal with 10:35 to play in the fourth quarter to stretch the Paladins' lead to 20-10. Mims caught a 16-yard touchdown pass from Worley with 6:56 to play and Early's PAT made the final score 27-10.

Samford will take the next week off from competition. The Bulldogs will return to action on Saturday, Oct. 30, when they play at Georgia Southern.