Nov. 6, 2010

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford football team dropped a 10-3 decision to the seventh-ranked Wofford Terriers in the Bulldogs' Homecoming game Saturday afternoon at Seibert Stadium.

"We got beat by a good football team today," Samford head coach Pat Sullivan said. "There's a reason they are ranked seventh in the country. They made one or two more plays than we did today."

Samford senior running back Chris Evans rushed for 106 yards on 26 carries for his fifth-straight performance of over 100 yards. With Saturday's game, Evans became the all-time leading rusher in the history of the state of Alabama with 4,427 yards. Evans passed the previous record of 4,421 held by Tyrone Rush, who played at North Alabama in 1989 and 1991-93.

Quarterback Dustin Taliaferro completed 14-of-23 passes for 155 yards and one interception in the game. Jeff Ogren caught three passes for 65 yards, and Kelsey Pope had four receptions for 21 yards. Alex Barnett caught three passes for 43 yards.

Defensively for Samford, Patrick Hatcher led the Bulldogs with 11 tackles, all solo. Bryce Smith had nine tackles. Alex Davis had the Bulldogs' lone sack of the game and John Michael Clay had a fumble recovery. Justin Sly added an interception for the Samford defense.

For Wofford, Eric Breitenstein rushed for 227 yards on 28 carries. Quarterback Mitch Allen scored the game's lone touchdown, rushing nine times for 40 yards in the game. Allen completed 3-of-6 passes for 26 yards and one interception.

Blake Wylie, Mike McCrimon and Mike Niam shared the Wofford team lead in tackles with six each. Niam also had an interception for the Terriers.

The teams fought through most of the first half in a scoreless tie. Samford had a chance to take the lead with 2:23 to go in the second quarter, but Cameron Yaw's 30-yard field goal attempt sailed wide right.

Yaw, however got another chance on the last play of the first half. This time, Yaw nailed a 36-yard field goal to send Samford to halftime with a 3-0 lead.

Wofford tied the score on its first drive of the third quarter. Christian Reed kicked a 32-yard field goal to tie the score at 3-3 with 12:33 to go in the third quarter.

Neither team could score for the remainder of the third quarter, and the teams entered the final period tied at 3-3. Allen gave the Terriers the lead for good when he scored on a five-yard run with 12:20 to go in the game. Reed added the extra point to give Wofford a 10-3 lead.

With the loss, Samford drops to 4-5 overall and 2-4 in Southern Conference play. Wofford improves to 8-1 overall and 6-0 in league play, taking over sole possession of first place in the league standings.

Samford will return to action on Saturday, Nov. 13, when the Bulldogs play at Chattanooga. The game is scheduled for a 1 p.m. (CT) start.