Football's Late Comeback Falls Just Short At Chattanooga, 27-20

Saturday, September 22

Chattanooga, Tenn.

6:00 PM (CT)

Samford University

1-3 , 0-2

Chattanooga

4-0 , 2-0

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Samford	0	10	3	7	20
Chattanooga	10	7	7	3	27

Photo Gallery Box Score (PDF)

Football's Late Comeback Falls Just Short At Chattanooga, 27-20

9.22.18 | Football

Box Score

BOX SCORE (PDF)

PHOTO GALLERY

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The Samford football team fell behind early, but nearly staged a huge comeback, eventually falling at Chattanooga, 27-20, Saturday night at Finley Stadium.

With the loss, Samford falls to 1-3 overall and 0-2 in Southern Conference play. Chattanooga improves to 4-0 overall and 2-0 in league play.

For Samford in the loss, quarterback Devlin Hodges completed 44-of-62 passes for 366 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions. The game marked Hodges' 24^th career 300-yard passing game, setting a new Southern Conference record. His 44 completions ties a Samford single-game record.

Kelvin McKnight caught 12 passes for 128 yards. This marked McKnight's 17^th career 100-yard receiving game. Chris Shelling had three catches for 41 yards and a touchdown. DeMarcus Ware rushed 15 times for 48 yards and a touchdown.

The Samford defense was led by Aaron Harris with six tackles. Darius Harvey had a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

For Chattanooga, Nick Tiano completed 16-of-35 passes for 278 yards and two touchdowns. Bryce Nunnelly caught five passes for 108 yards and a touchdown. Kareem Orr had nine tackles and an interception. Marshall Cooper and D.J. Jackson also had an interception each in the game.

Chattanooga grabbed the lead on the first drive of the game when Tiano hit Nunnelly for a 55-yard touchdown to give the Mocs a 7-0 lead with 12:17 left in the first quarter. UTC's Victor Ulmo kicked a 23-yard field goal to make the score 10-0 with 8:49 left in the opening period.

Tiano connected with Tyrell Price for an 18-yard touchdown to push Chattanooga's lead to 17-0 with 14:50 to go in the second quarter. Samford got on the scoreboard when Ware scored on a one-yard run to cut the lead to 17-7 with 7:51 left in the second quarter. Samford's Mitchell Fineran kicked a 22-yard field goal to make the score 17-10 with 55 seconds to go before halftime.

Fineran kicked a 36-yard field goal to cut the Chattanooga lead to 17-13 with 8:42 to go in the third quarter. Tiano scored on a five-yard run for Chattanooga to push the Mocs' lead to 24-13 with 5:42 remaining in the third quarter.

Chattanooga's Ulmo kicked a 30-yard field goal to make the score 27-13 with 14:41 to go in the fourth quarter. Hodges hit Shelling for a 17-yard touchdown with 6:43 to play to cut the lead to 27-20.

On the last drive of the game, Samford drove to the Chattanooga 15-yard line. With three seconds left, Hodges' pass to McKnight was too high and the game ended in a 27-20 Chattanooga victory.

Samford will step out of Southern Conference play when the Bulldogs play at fifth-ranked Kennesaw State next Saturday, Sept. 29. The game is scheduled for a 5 p.m. (CT) start from Kennesaw, Georgia.