Football's Upset Bid Falls Just Short At Florida State, 36-26

Saturday, September 8

Tallahassee, Fla.

6:20 PM (CT)

Samford University

1-1

Florida State

1-1 , 0-1

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Samford	16	7	0	3	26
Florida State	7	14	0	15	36

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Kelvin McKnight hauls in a touchdown pass Saturday night at Florida State.

Football's Upset Bid Falls Just Short At Florida State, 36-26

9.9.18 | Football

Box Score

BOX SCORE (PDF)

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Florida State football team scored 15 points in the final 4:03 of the game to come from behind for a 36-26 win over Samford Saturday evening at Doak Campbell Stadium.

With Samford leading, 26-21, Deondre Francois hit Tre' McKitty for a five-yard touchdown pass with 4:03 to go in the game. Francois then hit Nyqwan Murray for the two-point conversion for a 29-26 lead. On Samford's ensuing possession, Levonta Taylor picked off a Samford pass and returned it 63 yards for a touchdown with 2:23 to go to push the lead to the final score of 36-26.

"I'm very proud of the effort that our guys gave," Samford head coach Chris Hatcher said. "We played extremely hard and if we'll continue to play hard each and every week we'll be a force to be reckoned with in our conference, I really believe that. We just fought all the way there until the end. We had a couple of bounces that didn't go our way; we had a couple of turnovers that really hurt us."

Samford quarterback Devlin Hodges completed 39-of-60 passes for 475 yards and two touchdowns in the loss. Kelvin McKnight caught 14 passes for 215 yards and two touchdowns. Andrew Harris added five catches for 122 yards. Roland Adams rushed for 34 yards and a score.

Aaron Harris led the Samford defense with 13 tackles, including nine solo stops. Christian Stark had a forced fumble, while Jordan Montgomery had a fumble recovery. On special teams, Mitchell Fineran was good on both of his field goal attempts, one from 30 yards and one from 36 yards out.

For Florida State, Francois completed 31-of-46 passes for 320 yards and three touchdowns. Tamorrion Terry caught two touchdown passes for the Seminoles.

Samford jumped on top first. On the Bulldogs' first offensive play from scrimmage, Hodges hit McKnight for a 54-yard touchdown pass. The snap on the extra-point attempt as dropped and the PAT was no good, giving Samford a 6-0 lead with 12:23 to go in the first quarter.

The Bulldogs added another touchdown on their second drive of the contest. Roland Adams scored on a two-yard run to make the score 13-0 with 7:49 left in the first quarter. The score capped a seven-play, 75-yard drive that took 2:56 off the clock.

Florida State put its first points on the scoreboard when Francois connected with Terry for a 27-yard touchdown with 4:03 left in the opening period. The score cut the Samford lead to 13-7. Samford's Fineran then booted a 30-yard field goal to push the Bulldogs' lead to 16-7 with 1:32 remaining in the first quarter.

FSU's Francois scored on an eight-yard run with 13:56 left in the second quarter to cut the Samford lead to 16-14. On Samford's next possession, the Bulldogs drove to the FSU 29-yard line, but FSU's A.J. Westbrook intercepted a Hodges pass, giving the Seminoles the ball at the Samford 48-yard line. FSU drove to the Samford 31, but an Ahmad Gooden sack on third down ended the threat.

On the ensuing drive, Hodges connected with McKnight for a 27-yard touchdown to make the score 23-14 with 8:37 left in the second quarter. Later in the quarter, FSU's Francois hit Terry for another score, this one from 17-yards out to cut the lead to 23-21 heading into the locker room at halftime.

The teams played through a scoreless third quarter. Florida State had a chance to take the lead with 9:59 left in the fourth quarter, but Ricky Aguayo's 42-yard field goal attempt hit the upright, ending the threat. Fineran kicked a 36-yard field goal with 7:58 to go to push Samford's lead to 26-21.

With the loss, Samford falls to 1-1. Florida State improves to 1-1 with the victory.

Samford will open Southern Conference play when the Bulldogs host Mercer Sept. 15. The game is scheduled for a 2 p.m. start from Seibert Stadium.