GAME NOTES: SAMFORD AT FLORIDA
 
GAME DAY CENTRAL

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford football team will step out of conference play to play at the Florida Gators Saturday at 11 a.m. (CT) at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.  
 
The game can be seen live on SECN+ or ESPN+ at the following links: ESPN+ SECN+. Live stats are also available at the following link: LIVE STATS.
 
Samford enters the game with a record of 4-5 overall and 3-4 in Southern Conference play. The Bulldogs are coming off a 35-14 homecoming win over The Citadel last week. Florida is currently 4-5 overall and 2-5 in the Southeastern Conference. The Gators are coming off a 40-17 loss at South Carolina last week.
 
Samford and Florida are meeting for just the third time ever, with Florida owning a 2-0 series lead. The teams first played in 1921 in Montgomery, with Florida winning, 34-0. The teams met again in 1922 in Gainesville, with the Gators coming away with a 57-0 victory. Samford has faced Florida head coach Dan Mullen once previously, when he was the head coach at Mississippi State in 2016. Samford put up 627 yards of offense that day, but fell, 56-41 in Starkville, Miss.
 
This marks the eighth time in the last 10 years Samford has played an SEC team. Samford head coach Chris Hatcher said he knows his team faces a stiff challenge in playing the Gators Saturday.
 
"We have to go down there, we have to play well early," Hatcher said. "We have to be in attack mode at the beginning of the game and hope we're very efficient in all of our calls. We're going to go down there, play hard, keep the game plan simple and let our guys go out there and play and see what happens."
 
PUTTING UP POINTS
Over the last six-plus seasons under head coach Chris Hatcher, the Samford offense has scored at least 30 points 40 times. The unit has put up at least 40 points 24 times, and at least 50 points a total of 10 times.
 
QUICK STRIKES
In six-plus seasons under head coach Chris Hatcher, Samford has made a habit of quick scoring drives. In Hatcher's time at Samford, the Bulldogs have had 158 scoring drives of two minutes or less and 70 that have lasted one minute or less.
 
BULLDOGS IN THE RED ZONE
Samford's offense leads the Southern Conference and is tied for 12th nationally in red zone offense, scoring on 88.9 percent of the team's trips inside the red zone.
 
WELCH A RECORD BREAKER
During Samford's 55-48 overtime loss to 15th-ranked ETSU on Sept. 25, Samford quarterback Liam Welch set Samford and Southern Conference records for passing yards (582), total offense (655), completions (56) and attempts (73). The 582 passing yards broke the old record of 570 set by Welch last season against VMI.
 
WASHINGTON AMONG THE BEST
Entering Saturday's game senior wide receiver Montrell Washington leads the nation in all-purpose yards per game (169.1 ypg.). He also leads the Southern Conference in scoring (9.3 ppg.), scoring by touchdown (9.3 ppg.) and all-purpose yards per game (169.1 ypg.).
 
SAMFORD IN THE SOCON STATISTICS
In addition to the impressive Red Zone numbers, Samford leads the Southern Conference in scoring offense (36.8 ppg.), total offense (450.7 ypg.) and punt return average (15.9 ypr.). Individually, Liam Welch leads the league in passing (299.7 ypg.) and total offense (343.1 ypg.).
 
GRADUATE STUDENTS MAKING AN IMPACT
Samford has eight graduate students on its 2021 roster. Dakota Chapman (RB), Nathan East (LB), Armond Lloyd (DL), Coutrell Plair (CB), Tyler Russell (LS), Seth Simmer (DL), Liam Welch (QB) and Deandre Williams (RB) are all earning graduate degrees at Samford.
 
SAMFORD AGAINST FLORIDA TEAMS
Samford has an all-time record of 18-16-2 against teams from the state of Florida, including a mark of 0-2 against Saturday's opponent, Florida
 
CLOSE GAMES THE NORM
Samford has made a habit of playing one possession games this season. Six of the team's nine games so far this season have been decided by seven points or less. The only games that were not close were the wins over Tennessee Tech (52-14) and The Citadel (35-14) and the loss to Chattanooga (55-13).
 
AGAINST SEC TEAMS
Samford has an all-time record of 2-78-3 against the current members of the Southeastern Conference. Samford has played an SEC team in eight of the last 10 fall seasons. Samford defeated Mississippi State, 6-0 in 1909 and Ole Miss by a score of 7-6 in 1934.
 
SPREADING THE BALL AROUND
Samford graduate quarterback Liam Welch has done a good job of spreading the ball around so far this season. Welch has completed passes to 17 different receivers, throwing touchdown passes to seven different receivers. Montrell Washington leads the group with 44 catches for 646 yards and seven touchdowns. 
 
THE LAST TIME AGAINST FLORIDA
Samford and Florida last met on Oct. 28, 1922, in Gainesville. In that game the Gators walked away with a 57-0 victory over the Bulldogs. 
 
IMPROVED RUNNING GAME
A Samford player has rushed for at least 100 yards in four of the team's last six yards. Jay Stanton rushed for 134 yards against The Citadel, 130 against Wofford and 101 against Mercer. DeMarcus Ware ran for 118 yards against Western Carolina.
 
ON THIS DATE
Samford has an all-time record of 2-6-1 in games played on Nov. 13. The last time the Bulldogs played a game on the date was in 2010, a 48-14 loss at Chattanooga. The first time Samford played on the date came in 1914 in a 6-6 tie with Birmingham-Southern. 
 
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For the latest news and information on Samford football, visit the official website for Samford Athletics at SamfordSports.com. Fans can also follow the Bulldogs on social media at /SamfordFootball (Facebook), @SamfordFootball (Instagram) and @SamfordFootball (Twitter).