CULLOWHEE, N.C.—The Samford offense tallied 517 total yards, but it was not enough as the Bulldogs dropped a 56-36 decision at Western Carolina Saturday afternoon at E.J. Whitmire Stadium.
 
"At the end of the day, we didn't execute very well," Samford head coach Chris Hatcher said. "We couldn't sustain our offensive momentum, we dropped a lot of balls and we couldn't run the ball. And then, defensively we couldn't stop the run and we missed a lot of tackles."
 
Redshirt freshman quarterback Devlin Hodges earned his first career start in the contest. Hodges completed 42-of-61 passes for 399 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. He also rushed for 94 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries.
 
"I thought Devlin played really well," Hatcher said. "He had one bad play on the interception they returned to the goal line, but other than that, I thought he played outstanding. He brings a dimension where he can run the ball really well."
 
Karel Hamilton caught nine passes for 65 yards in the game. Kelvin McKnight had eight catches for 64 yards, and Emmanuel Obajimi had six catches for 63 yards and a touchdown. Kevin Marion and Andrew Harris also caught touchdown passes in the game.
 
Defensively for Samford, Ahmad Gooden led the team with16 tackles, including eight solo stops. Justin Cooper had nine tackles in the game, and Michael Pierce had a fumble recovery to go along with his six tackles.
 
For Western Carolina, Troy Mitchell completed 22-of-33 passes for 352 yards and two touchdowns. Steffon Hill caught six passes for 119 yards, while Tyler Sexton caught six passes for 102 yards for the Catamounts.
 
Defensively for the Catamounts, Trey Morgan had 15 tackles, including 10 solo stops. Daniel Riddle had an interception to go along with his 11 tackles in the contest.
 
Western Carolina jumped on top first with a touchdown on the opening possession of the game. Corey Holloway scored on a three-yard run to give the Catamounts a 7-0 lead with 12:44 left in the first quarter.
 
Samford put its first points on the scoreboard on the ensuing drive. Anthony Pistelli kicked a 31-yard field goal to cut the Western Carolina lead to 7-3 with 11:15 to go in the first quarter.
 
The Catamounts added a 23-yard Logan Howard field goal to push their lead to 10-3 with 8:18 remaining in the opening period. Samford tied the game when Denzel Williams scored on a three-yard run to knot the score at 10-10 with 3:46 left in the first quarter.
 
Western Carolina took the lead again early in the second quarter when Howard booted a 42-yard field goal for a 13-10 WCU lead with 11:56 left in the second quarter. On the next drive, WCU's Riddle picked off a Hodges pass and returned it to the Samford two-yard line. On the next play, Holloway ran for the touchdown, but the two-point conversion failed, giving WCU a 19-10 lead with 9:48 left in the second quarter.
 
On Samford's next offensive possession, a snap went over Hodges' head and through the end zone giving WCU a safety and pushing the Catamounts' lead to 21-10 with 9:05 left in the second quarter.
 
The Bulldogs got the scoring started in the second half when Hodges hit Harris for a 68-yard touchdown with 11:24 left in the third quarter. The two-point conversion was no good, leaving the score at 21-16, Western Carolina.
 
Western Carolina answered on the ensuing drive. Mitchell hit Jordan Mathis for a nine-yard touchdown to push the Catamounts' lead to 28-16 with 10:26 remaining in the third quarter. WCU added one more third-quarter score when Mathis connected with Karnorris Benson for a 39-yard touchdown to make the score 35-16 with 8:12 left in the third quarter.
 
In the fourth quarter, WCU's Detrez Newsome scored on a two-yard run with 13:49 left in the game, pushing the Catamounts' lead to 42-16. Hodges scored on a three-yard run to cut the WCU lead to 42-23 with 10:35 left in the contest.
 
Hodges connected with Marion for an 11-yard touchdown with 4:12 left in the game, but the two-point conversion attempt was no good, leaving the score at 42-29. WCU's Mitchell then hit Benson for a 30-yard touchdown with 3:16 left to stretch the WCU lead to 49-29.
 
Hodges then hit Obajimi for a 28-yard touchdown with 54 seconds left to make the score 49-36. On the ensuing on-side kick, WCU's Spearman Robinson caught the ball and returned it 49 yards for a touchdown to make the final score 56-36.
 
With the loss, Samford falls to 3-4 overall and 1-3 in Southern Conference play. Western Carolina improves to 5-2 overall and 3-1 in league games.
 
Samford will return to action on Saturday, Oct. 31, when the Bulldogs host Furman. Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Seibert Stadium.