Football 11.8.23

Bulldog Football Returns To Action On Saturday At Mercer

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Looking to finish the season strong following a late bye week, the Samford football hits the road to close out the 2023 Southern Conference schedule for a contest with the No. 23 Mercer Bears.

Samford's final road game of the year is slated for a 2 p.m. CT kickoff on Saturday, November 11. Frank Malloy and Jason Patterson will have the call on ESPN+.

For this week's complete game notes, click here.

Before the bye week, Jay Stanton's historic day catapulted the Bulldogs to a 37-7 win over The Citadel. Michael Hiers threw for a trio of touchdowns and 353 yards on the day while the defense only allowed a season-low seven points in the whomping.

Samford and Mercer are meeting for the 30th in program history and for the 10th straight year. The Bulldogs hold a 15-13-1 advantage in the series that dates back to 1907. Since Mercer joined the Southern Conference in 2014, Samford has prevailed in six of the nine meetings.

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 680 yards over the first nine games of the season, Stanton has surpassed Jerome Russell's 3,122 yards for the second-most career rushing yards. Chris Evans holds the Bulldog record with 4,575.

Stanton has also found the end zone 10 times this season on the ground which ranks him tied for second in the SoCon. The Senior's 34 career rushing touchdowns are tied with the most in a Bulldog career with Brady Jones.

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 2,641 yards which is good enough to rank third 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 12 tackles for loss. Entering the season, Martin only had 16 TFLs throughout his three-year career as a Bulldog. Martin also ranks 14th 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 13th nationally averaging 12.2 yards per punt return. Smith's average is only bested by Mercer's Devron Harper, who has an average of 15.2. To go along with his expertise in the return game, Smith leads the Bulldogs and ranks 13th in the country with 739 receiving yards.

Shock and Awe
The month of October was very good for the Bulldogs as Samford went 3-1 during the 10th month on the calendar. In the four games that Samford played in during October, they outscored their opponents by a score of 38-0 in the first quarter.

Home Sweet Home
Samford is 57-24-6 all-time on Homecoming including 12-3 since joining the SoCon before the 2008 season.

Putting Up Points
Over the last eight seasons under head coach Chris Hatcher, the Samford offense has scored at least 30 points 50 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 191 scoring drives of two minutes or less and 87 that have lasted one minute or less.

On This Date
Samford has a record of 9-8-1 in games played on Nov. 11 with the first game being played in 1905 against Mississippi State. The last time that the Bulldogs won on Nov. 11 was a 42-7 win over ETSU in 2017.

Samford Against Georgia Teams
Samford has a record of 34-38-2 against teams from the state of Georgia, including a mark of 15-13-1 against Saturday's opponent, Mercer.

Samford Against Southern Conference Teams
Since joining the Southern Conference in 2008, Samford has posted a record of 71-53 in conference games. All-time against each current members of the SoCon, Samford has a mark of 97-83-4, including a 14-13-1 record against Mercer. Samford's record against each current SoCon team is: Chattanooga (11-34-3), The Citadel (10-7), 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).

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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