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JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Samford senior quarterback Devlin Hodges became the all-time leading passer in FCS football history in a 38-27 win at 17^th-ranked ETSU Saturday afternoon.
 
Hodges finishes his career with 14,584 passing yards, breaking the old record of 14,496, set by Steve McNair at Alcorn State from 1991-94. The record was broken on a seven-yard pass to DeMarcus Ware on the final play of the third quarter.


 
For the game, Hodges completed 40-of-53 passes for 404 yards. He also rushed for 16 yards and three touchdowns on 12 carries. Kelvin McKnight caught 12 passes for 151 yards. Ware rushed for 42 yards and one touchdown on eight carries.
 
The Samford defense was led by Aaron Harris with nine tackles, including five solo stops, and one interception. All-American defensive end Ahmad Gooden, playing in his final game, tallied three tackles and two quarterback hurries for the Bulldogs.
 
For ETSU, Austin Herink completed 18-of-34 passes for 186 yards. Herink also rushed for two touchdowns. Quay Holmes had a rushing touchdown as well for the Bucs.


 
ETSU jumped on top first when J.J. Jerman kicked a 47-yard field goal to cap the game's opening drive and give the Bucs a 3-0 lead with 11:37 left in the first quarter. Following a Samford turnover, ETSU's Holmes scored on a six-yard run to make the score 10-0 with 9:24 left in the first quarter. Samford put its first points on the scoreboard when Andrew Harris scored on a three-yard reverse to cut the ETSU lead to 10-7 with 5:56 remaining in the opening period.
 
Samford took its first lead when Hodges scored on a nine-yard run with 13:43 to go in the second quarter to give the Bulldogs a 14-10 lead. ETSU answered when Herink scored on an 11-yard run to give the Bucs a 17-14 lead with 6:22 left in the second quarter. Herink added a one-yard touchdown run to make the score 24-14 with 1:48 to go before halftime. Samford's Mitchell Fineran kicked a 28-yard field goal on the final play of the second quarter to cut the ETSU lead to 24-17 heading into the locker room at halftime.
 
On Samford's second drive of the third quarter, Hodges scored on a two-yard run to tie the score at 24-24 with 4:59 to go in the quarter. ETSU's Jerman then kicked a 39-yard field goal to give the Bucs a 27-24 lead with 1:48 to go in the third quarter.
 
Hodges scored his third rushing touchdown of the game on a two-yard run with 11:15 to go in the game to give the Bulldogs a 31-27 lead. Ware scored on a three-yard run to put the game away for Samford, giving the Bulldogs a 38-27 lead with 1:31 to go in the game.
 
Samford ends its season with a record of 6-5 overall and 5-3 in SoCon play. The record marks Samford's eighth-straight winning season, the longest current streak in the SoCon. ETSU wins a share of the SoCon title with Wofford, and ends its regular season with a record of 8-3 overall and 6-2 in league play.
 
POST-GAME NOTES

• Samford quarterback Devlin Hodges finishes his career with 14,584 passing yards, breaking the old FCS national record of 14,496, set by Steve McNair at Alcorn State from 1991-94.
• Hodges also set the school single-season record for passing yards, ending the season with 4,283 passing yards. The performance breaks Hodges' previous record of 4,088, set as a sophomore in 2016.
• In addition to the passing numbers, Hodges ends his career as the SoCon's all-time leader in total offense with 15,601 total yards in his career.
• Hodges extended his SoCon record for career 300-yard passing games with the 30^th of his career.
• He also extended his SoCon record for career 400-yard passing games with the 12^th of his career.
• Kelvin McKnight tallied his 10^th 100-yard receiving game of the season and 24^th of his career.
• McKnight ends his career as Samford's all-time leader in career receiving yards (4,144), receptions (313) and touchdown receptions (32).