GAME STATS

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.—The Samford football team suffered its first loss of the 2016 season in the team's Southern Conference opener, falling at third-ranked Chattanooga, 41-21 Saturday afternoon at Finley Stadium.
 
"We made a lot of mistakes, and you have to put that on the coaches," Samford head coach Chris Hatcher said. "We didn't do a good job of getting our guys ready to play. We gave up some big plays in the kicking game, we turned the ball over three times on the offensive side of the ball. And defensively, we just gave up big plays, and when you play a team of Chattanooga's caliber, you just can't do that and expect to win."
 
For Samford in the loss, quarterback Devlin Hodges completed 28-of-45 passes for 314 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Kelvin McKnight caught nine passes for 143 yards and two touchdowns. Karel Hamilton had eight catches for 74 yards in the contest.
 
Defensively for Samford, Shaheed Salmon had 10 tackles, including eight solo stops and 2.0 tackles for loss. Aaron Harris had eight tackles, while Omari Williams had seven stops. Jared Holloway had a fumble recovery, while Jamerson Blount had an interception.
 
"We have a lot of work to do," Hatcher said. "Our boys didn't quit. I thought we played hard the entire game, but we have a lot to work on if we want to be in the upper echelon of the conference."
 
For Chattanooga, Derrick Craine rushed 23 times for 222 yards and two touchdowns. Alejandro Bennifield completed 19-of-34 passes for 236 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
 
Defensively, Chattanooga was led by Dale Warren with 10 tackles, including 2.0 sacks. Trevor Wright had an interception for the Mocs.
 
Chattanooga struck first, late in the first quarter. Bennifield hit Richarde Bagley for a 70-yard completion, then Bagley fumbled at the five-yard line and recovered the ball in the end zone to give the Mocs a 7-0 lead with 5:52 left in the first quarter.
 
The Mocs added to their lead when Bennifield scored on a 16-yard run to make the score 14-0 with 11:16 to go in the second quarter. UTC scored again when Xavier Borishade ran for a 31-yard touchdown to push the lead to 21-0 with 3:33 left in the second quarter.
 
Samford put its first points on the scoreboard late in the second quarter. Hodges hit McKnight for a 17-yard touchdown pass to cut the UTC lead to 21-7 with 1:33 left before halftime.
 
UTC got the scoring started in the second half when Henrique Ribeiro kicked a 46-yard field goal to make the score 24-7 with 8:00 to go in the third quarter. Samford's Roland Adams scored on a five-yard run with 6:02 left in the quarter to make the score 24-14. Craine then scored on a 35-yard run with 3:56 left in the third quarter to push the Mocs' lead to 31-14.
 
Ribeiro nailed a 48-yard field goal to make the score 34-14 with 14:15 left in the fourth quarter. Hodges then connected with McKnight for a 35-yard touchdown with 6:53 left in the game to cut the lead to 34-21. UTC added one final score when Craine scored on a one-yard run with 1:36 left to make the final score 41-21.
 
As a team, Chattanooga tallied 521 yards of offense, to Samford's 389 yards. UTC won the time of possession battle, 39:18 to 20:42.
 
With the loss, Samford falls to 2-1 overall and 0-1 in Southern Conference play. Chattanooga improves to 4-0 overall and 2-0 in league games.
 
Samford will return to action on Saturday, Oct. 1, when the Bulldogs host the Wofford Terriers. The game is scheduled for a 2 p.m. start from Seibert Stadium.