Bulldogs Sink ETSU in SoCon Shootout

Saturday, October 22

Johnson City, Tenn.

2:30 PM

Samford University

6-1 , 4-0

ETSU

3-5 , 1-5

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Samford	10	24	14	7	55
ETSU	10	14	7	14	45

Photo by: Chase Cochran|Samford Athletics

10.22.22 | Football

Box Score

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – On a day where offense was king, the No. 15 Samford football team needed an interception by Brayden Devault-Smith in the final minutes to seal a hard-fought 55-45 Southern Conference road win at East Tennessee State on Saturday.

With the victory, the Bulldogs matched the best start in the Chris Hatcher era with a 6-1 record while moving to 4-0 in SoCon play for the first time since 2013. The defeat drops ETSU to 3-5 and 3-5 in the 2022 season.

"I'm really excited for our guys, in a back-and-forth game, to find a way to win," Hatcher said. "We made some big stops defensively in the second half. Offensively, the first half we played about as good as we played in quite some time. We made some really good plays in the special teams when we needed to. All in all, a great victory especially when you go on the road in this league."

Saturday's victory gives Hatcher 46 wins in his Samford tenure which ranks second in program history and only one behind Pat Sullivan for the most by any head Bulldog.

The Bulldog offense showed out on Saturday afternoon by racking up a season-best 55 points and 609 yards of total offense. The 609 yards is the most for Samford since totaling 728 against ETSU in 2021, while the 55 points are the most scored in a game since Samford dropped 55 on Western Carolina during the 2021 spring season.

Junior quarterback Michael Hiers had his best day in the Red, White and Blue by completing 45-of-51 passes to 11 different Samford receivers for 442 yards and four touchdowns. Hiers also added 50 yards and a score on the ground to put his name in contention for SoCon Offensive Player of the Week.

Jay Stanton paced the Samford attack on the ground with 87 yards on 17 carries with a touchdown. Jaylan Thomas had 10 rushes for 46 yards while also finding the end zone for the Bulldogs.

The dynamic duo of Kendall Watson and Chandler Smith led the deep Samford receiving corps with 11 catches and a touchdown each. Watson's 11 snags totaled 146 yards and Smith finished with 97 in the air.

D.J. Rias added 83 yards on five catches and a score while Judd Cockett returned to action with six reception day for 52 yards and a touchdown.

Isaiah Richardson led the way defensively for Samford with six total tackles, 1.5 TFLs, a pass break up and a forced fumble. Samford's defensive line got to ETSU's quarterback five times as five different Bulldogs recorded a sack on Saturday.

Zach Williams connected on a pair of field goals in the first half that included a season-best 42-yarder.

After playing to a 10-10 tie after the opening quarter, the Samford offense went supernova and scored 24 points in the second highlighted by three touchdown passes from Hiers of 51 yards, 39 yards and five yards. Williams added a 32-yard field goal as time expired to push the Bulldog lead to 34-24 at the break.

The offensive onslaught continued after ETSU botched a surprise onside attempt to open the second half. Stanton found paydirt eight plays later to make it 41-24 Samford as the Bulldogs scored 17 unanswered points in the second and third quarters.

After an ETSU touchdown, freshman Michael Mitchler scored his first touchdown as a Bulldog when Hiers found the lanky receiver in the back of the end zone on a third down play that put Samford up 48-31.

ETSU scored on back-to-back drives cutting the deficit to 48-45 Samford before Thomas found paydirt on a one-yard touchdown plunge for the final score of the evening with 5:24 left in regulation.

The Samford defense stood tall over ETSU's final two possessions before Devault-Smith's interception with 2:37 left preserved the 55-45 bulldog victory.

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