PHOTO GALLERY

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—The Samford football team dropped a 31-21 decision to 10^th-ranked Chattanooga in the Southern Conference opener for both teams Saturday afternoon at Seibert Stadium.
 
"We played with great effort, but our execution wasn't there today," Samford head coach Chris Hatcher said. "When you play a team of Chattanooga's caliber, you have to get the momentum on your side, and in the second half, we never could seem to get the one play that would get the big mo on our side,"
 
With the loss, Samford falls to 2-1 overall and 0-1 in Southern Conference play. Chattanooga improves to 2-1 overall and 1-0 in league games.
 
"They're a good team," Hatcher said of Chattanooga. "They're the 10^th-ranked team in the country, they're the defending champs. We're not too far behind them, but we still have a little ways to go to catch up to them."
 
For Samford individually, Michael Eubank completed 27-of-36 passes for 255 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Emmanuel Obajimi caught 11 passes for 137 yards and a score. Karel Hamilton caught five passes for 42 yards, but his biggest play came when he returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown late in the first quarter.
 
Defensively for the Bulldogs, Jamerson Blount had 13 tackles, including one tackle for loss. Justin Cooper had 12 tackles, and Omari Williams came up with an interception.
 
Chattanooga was led by quarterback Jacob Huesman, who rushed 23 times for 150 yards and a touchdown, and he completed 14-of-23 passes for 181 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. C.J. Board caught six passes for 92 yards and a touchdown.
 
The Mocs' defense was led by Nakevion Leslie with 11 tackles, while A.J. Hampton added 10 tackles. Vantrel McMillan had an interception for Chattanooga. The Mocs' defense sacked Eubank six times in the game.
 
Samford struck first on its opening offensive drive of the game. Eubank connected with Obajimi for a 63-yard pass for the game's opening score. The play gave the Bulldogs an early 7-0 lead with 8:29 to go in the first quarter.
 
Chattanooga came back to tie the game late in the first quarter. Huesman hit Xavier Borishade for a 28-yard touchdown to knot the score at 7-7 with 42 seconds left in the opening quarter.
 
On the ensuing kickoff, Hamilton returned the kick 100 yards for the touchdown to give Samford the 14-7 lead. The play marked the first time a Samford player returned a kickoff for a touchdown since Fabian Truss returned a kick for 100 yards against Western Carolina in 2013.
 
The Mocs came back to tie the score when Huesman scored an 11-yard run. The play made the score 14-14 with 8:42 left in the second quarter. Huesman then hit Board for a 43-yard touchdown with 6:06 left in the second quarter to give the Mocs a 21-14 lead.
 
UTC added one more score before halftime. The Mocs' Henrique Ribiero kicked a 45-yard field goal as time expired in the second quarter to give Chattanooga a 24-14 lead heading into halftime.
 
After a scoreless third quarter, Chattanooga's Alejandro Bennifield scored on an 18-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter. The play gave the Mocs a 31-14 lead with 14:54 left in the game.
 
On Samford's next drive Kelvin McKnight scored on a 37-yard run to cut the Chattanooga lead to 31-21 with 12:40 to go in the fourth quarter. The teams went scoreless the rest of the way as the Mocs came away with the 31-21 win.
 
Samford will return to action on Saturday, Sept. 26, when the Bulldogs play at Louisville. The game is scheduled for a 5 p.m. (CDT) kickoff.