LEXINGTON, Va.—The Samford football team totaled 511 yards of offense, while limiting VMI to 290 yards as the Bulldogs earned a 49-13 road Southern Conference win Saturday afternoon at VMI's Foster Stadium.
"We had great energy today," Samford head coach
Chris Hatcher said. "Whenever you go on the road it's difficult, especially when you have a long ride like we did, but our guys responded well and we had a workman-like attitude today."
Senior quarterback
Michael Eubank completed 31-of-42 passes for 337 yards and three touchdowns in the win.
Emmanuel Obajimi had seven catches for 109 yards and two scores.
Gavin Sinclair hauled in three passes for 70 yards and a touchdown.
Denzel Williams led the running game with 14 carries for 55 yards and a touchdown.
"Everything we had was clicking," Eubank said. "Our offensive line was blocking great, so we had time to be able to deliver the ball. I had to do my job. Everybody else was doing their job, and I had to deliver. It was a great game for us."
The Samford defense produced four interceptions on the day.
Justin Cooper led the unit with nine tackles and an interception.
Michael Pierce had eight tackles, including two sacks, and he scored a touchdown on a two-yard run in the second quarter.
Jamerson Blount,
Jake Kingree and
Omari Williams had an interception each. Williams returned his interception for a 59-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.
"Our defense was outstanding," Hatcher said. "We came up with big turnovers time and time again, and finally our offense just wore them down and we were able to run the football effectively. Then we got our passing game going and I thought that Mike (Eubank) may have played the most complete game he's played all year at quarterback."
For VMI, Al Cobb completed 19-of-35 passes for 183 yards, one touchdown and four interceptions. Dane Forlines caught seven passes for 106 yards.
Samford jumped out to an early lead. The Bulldogs struck first when Eubank hit Obajimi for a 15-yard touchdown with 7:39 left in the first quarter. The score gave Samford the early 7-0 advantage.
VMI put its first points on the scoreboard when Dillon Christopher kicked a 20-yard field goal to cut Samford's lead to 7-3 with 9:18 left in the second quarter. Samford answered on its next drive when Pierce scored on a two-yard run to make the score 14-3 with 6:36 to go in the second quarter.
Samford struck again when Eubank connected with Sinclair for a 34-yard score to push the Bulldogs' lead to 21-3 with 3:42 left in the second quarter. VMI came back with a 27-yard touchdown pass from Cobb to Dontae Mack to cut the Bulldogs' lead to 21-10 with just 31 seconds left before halftime.
VMI cut the lead to 21-13 when Christopher booted a 35-yard field goal with 10:24 left in the third quarter. Eubank then hit Obajimi for a 57-yard touchdown pass to get Samford's second-half scoring started and stretch the Bulldogs' lead to 28-13.
Denzel Williams scored on a nine-yard run to push Samford's lead to 35-13 with 12:11 left in the game. On VMI's next possession, Samford's
Omari Williams picked off a pass and returned it 59 yards for a touchdown to make the score 42-13. Samford added one final score when
Jake Wilks scored on a one-yard run with 2:37 left in the contest to make the final score 49-13.
With the win, Samford improves to 3-2 overall and 1-1 in Southern Conference play. VMI falls to 1-5 overall and 0-2 in league play.
Samford will return to action on Oct. 17, when the Bulldogs play host to The Citadel. The game is scheduled for a 2 p.m. start from Seibert Stadium.
