Football 10.25.23

Samford Football Slated To Host The Citadel For Homecoming 2023

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – After a week away from Pete Hanna Stadium, the Samford football returns home as the Bulldogs welcome The Citadel Bulldogs for Samford University's annual Homecoming game.

The all-Bulldog affair is set to get underway at 2 p.m., on Saturday, October 28. Blake Gardner, Damian Mitchell and Lyden Blake will have the call on ESPN+.

For this week's complete game notes, click here. Tickets can be purchased here.

Last time out, The Bulldogs sprinted past the VMI Keydets for a 27-14 road victory. Samford feature back Jay Stanton found the end zone twice. All three phases excelled at different portions of the game including a scoreless second half for the defense and a wildly successful fake punt that set up a touchdown for the special teams unit.

Samford and The Citadel are meeting for the 17th in program history. The Bulldogs of Birmingham hold a 9-7 edge in the series and have won the last four meetings dating back to 2019. Samford is 2-0 against The Citadel on Homecoming with a 28-10 win in 2008 and a 35-14 victory in 2021.

Home Sweet Home
Samford is 56-24-6 all-time on Homecoming including 11-3 since joining the SoCon before the 2008 season. For more Homecoming fun facts, see page 11 in this week's game notes.

Stanton's Best Week
Senior running back Jay Stanton was named SoCon Offensive Player of the Week after rushing for 146 yards and two scores against VMI. The honor was the first of Stanton's illustrious Bulldog career.

Stanton Leaving His Mark
Despite the #HatchAttack offense being synonymous with throwing the ball all over the field, senior running back Jay Stanton has shot to leave Samford as the second-best rusher in program history. After rushing for 690 yards and seven touchdowns in 2022 and 584 yards over the first eight games of the season, Stanton needs 23 yards on the ground to surpass Jerome Russell's 3,122 yards for the second-most career rushing yards. Chris Evans holds the Bulldog record with 4,575.

A Hiers Ran Nation-State
Graduate Student quarterback Michael Hiers has been stacking the yards over the first half of the season. Entering the Furman games, Hiers has thrown for 2,288 yards which is good enough to rank second in all the FCS and is the most yards by a Division I quarterback in the football-crazed state of Alabama.

Behind Enemy Lines
Entering the contest with The Citadel, Bulldog linebacker Noah Martin sits second in the SoCon with 11 tackles for loss. Entering the season, Martin only had 16 TFLs throughout his three-year career as a Bulldog. Martin also ranks sixth in the country with 48 solo tackles.

Slippery Smith
Graduate student Chandler Smith has proven to be one of the more elusive offensive weapons in the country as Smith ranks 12th nationally averaging 12.3 yards per punt return. Smith's average is only bested by Mercer's Devron Harper, who has an average of 16.3.

On This Date
Samford has an all-time record of 7-8 in games played on Oct. 28 with the first game being played in 1907 against LSU. The last time that the Bulldogs won on Oct. 28 was a 20-9 win over Alcorn State in 1995.

Hatcher's Offenses Produce
Through his first eight seasons, Samford head coach Chris Hatcher's offenses have averaged more points than under any other head coach in program history. Entering the season, Hatcher's teams have averaged 34.53 points per game, ahead of Bobby Bowden's 28.57 average. Terry Bowden (1987-1992) averaged 27.92 points per game during his tenure while Bill Gray (2001-06 / 25.68) and Pat Sullivan (2007-14 / 25.50) round out the top five.

Putting Up Points
Over the last eight seasons under head coach Chris Hatcher, the Samford offense has scored at least 30 points 49 times. The unit has put up at least 40 points 28 times, and at least 50 points a total of 14 times.

Quick Strikes
In eight seasons under head coach Chris Hatcher, Samford has made a habit of quick scoring drives. In Hatcher's time at Samford, Samford has had 188 scoring drives of two minutes or less and 86 that have lasted one minute or less.

Samford Against South Carolina Teams
Samford has an all-time record of 44-30-1 against teams from the state of South Carolina, including a mark of 9-7 against Saturday's opponent, The Citadel.

Samford Against Southern Carolina
Since joining the Southern Conference in 2008, Samford has posted a record of 70-53 in conference games. All-time against each current members of the SoCon, Samford has a mark of 96-83-4, including a 14-13-1 record against Mercer. Samford's all-time record against each current SoCon team is: Chattanooga (11-34-3), The Citadel (9-7), ETSU (8-3), Furman (12-14), Mercer (15-13-1), VMI (8-3), Western Carolina (17-4) and Wofford (16-5).

FOLLOW THE BULLDOGS:
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).

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

#32 Noah Martin: LB; 6' 1"; Junior

#0 Chandler Smith: WR; 5' 10"; Senior

#20 Jay Stanton: RB; 6' 0"; Senior

#10 Michael Hiers: QB; 6' 1"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#32 Noah Martin
: 6' 1"; Junior
: LB

#0 Chandler Smith
: 5' 10"; Senior
: WR

#20 Jay Stanton
: 6' 0"; Senior
: RB

#10 Michael Hiers
: 6' 1"; Junior
: QB

Samford University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Players Mentioned