Oct. 30, 2010

Box Score

STATESBORO, Ga. - Samford senior running back Chris Evans rushed for 165 yards and a touchdown on 34 carries to lead the Bulldog football team to a 20-13 Southern Conference win at Georgia Southern Saturday afternoon at Paulson Stadium.

The Samford defense had a strong game as well, holding the Georgia Southern offense to just 122 rushing yards and 174 yards of total offense. Entering the game, the Eagles were averaging 268 rushing yards and 363 total yards per game

"I could not be happier for our kids and coaches," Samford head coach Pat Sullivan said. "They've fought hard all year. This was a total team effort. Obviously, the defense played well. The offense made some nice plays as well."

Evans rushed for over 100 yards for the fourth-consecutive game. Evans has rushed for 852 yards so far this season and he now has a school-record 4.321 career rushing yards, moving him ahead of Auburn legend Bo Jackson (4,303 yards) for second in state history.

"This was a great win for us," Evans said. "This is one of the toughest places to play in the conference. The crowd was against us from the start, but we stayed together and weathered the storm early. Our defense played a great game and I thought we did a good job on offense."

Samford junior quarterback Dustin Taliaferro returned to his starting role and completed 11-of-21 passes for 108 yards in the win. Alex Barnett had seven rushes for 24 yards and a touchdown.

Defensively for Samford, Bryce Smith had 10 tackles. Sean Thompson had an interception and Michael Prendergast had a fumble recovery. As a team, Samford had 319 yards of total offense to Georgia Southern's 174 yards.

Georgia Southern's offense was led by Robert Brown, rushing 13 times for 42 yards. Quarterback Jerick McKinnon rushed 17 times for 39 yards and a touchdown, and completed 2-of-2 passes for 17 yards. Jaybo Shaw was 3-for-9 passing for 35 yards and an interception.

Georgia Southern struck first when McKinnon scored on a one-yard run. The two-point conversion attempt was no good to make the score 6-0 with 8:07 to go in the first quarter.

Evans put Samford on the scoreboard with a five-yard scoring run with 14:16 to go in the third quarter. Cameron Yaw's extra point gave Samford a 7-6 lead. The score capped a 14-play, 98-yard drive that took 4:20 off the clock.

Yaw added to Samford's lead with a 46-yard field goal with 6.4 seconds to go in the second quarter. The kick gave the Bulldogs a 10-6 lead and was set up when Prendergast recovered a Georgia Southern fumble at the Eagles' 38-yard line.

Samford added to its lead with 5:03 to go in the third quarter when Yaw kicked a 31-yard field goal to make the score 13-6. Barnett scored on a five-yard run with 6:09 to go in the game and Yaw's extra point gave the Bulldogs a 20-6 lead.

A 76-yard return by GSU's Laron Scott on the ensuing kickoff gave the Eagles the ball at the Samford 21-yard line. Three plays later, Shaw scored on an 11-yard run and Adrian Mora's PAT cut the Samford lead to 20-13. The Samford defense, however, stopped the GSU offense on its last two possessions to preserve the win.

With the win, Samford improves to 4-4 overall and 2-3 in SoCon play, while Georgia Southern drops to 4-4 overall and 2-3 in league play. The win was the third-straight for Samford over Georgia Southern.

The Bulldogs will be back in action on Saturday, Nov. 6, when they play host to Wofford for Samford's 2010 Homecoming game. The game is scheduled for a 2 p.m. kickoff from Seibert Stadium.