Football 9.27.23

Samford Football Welcomes ETSU To Seibert Stadium On Saturday

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – For the second time in as many weeks, the Samford football team will take the field at Seibert Stadium as the Bulldogs welcome the ETSU Buccaneers to Birmingham for a Southern Conference contest.

The SoCon showdown is set for a noon kickoff on Saturday, September 30. Blake Gardner, Damian Mitchell and Christina Chambers will be on the call.

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

In front of the second-largest crowd in the history of Seibert Stadium, the Bulldogs fell 47-24 to the Mocs of Chattanooga. Graduate student Chandler Smith led the Samford offense with 87 receiving yards on eight catches and a 21-yard rushing touchdown. Defensively, Garrett Morris had a game-high nine tackles.

Samford and ETSU are meeting for the 11th time in program history. The Bulldogs lead the all-time series with a record of 7-3. In the last two meetings between the SoCon foes, over 200 points have been scored and over 2,000 yards of total offense have been gained.

Keeping It In The Family
Samford University's annual Family Weekend brought 10,870 people to Seibert Stadium. The 10,870 is the second largest crowd to watch a game at historic Seibert Stadium, only behind the crowd of 11,189 that saw the Bulldogs play to a 45-45 tie against a Steve McNair Alcorn State team for Homecoming in 1994.

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 142 yards over the opening month, Stanton needs 465 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.

On This Date
Samford has an all-time record of 7-6 in games played on Sept. 16 with the first game being played in 1911. The last time that the Bulldogs played on Sept. 30 was a 35-14 win against No. 11 The Citadel in 2017. The Sept. 30 game against Morehead State in 1989 was a 35-28 loss but was later forfeited by MSU.

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 27 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 185 scoring drives of two minutes or less and 83 that have lasted one minute or less.

Samford against Tennessee Teams
Samford has an all-time record of 88-88-9 against teams from the state of Tennessee, including a mark of 7-3 against Saturday's opponent, ETSU.

Samford against Southern Conference Teams
Since joining the Southern Conference in 2008, Samford has posted a record of 67-52 in conference games. All-time against each current members of the SoCon, Samford has a mark of 93-82-4, 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 (7-3), Furman (12-13), Mercer (15-13-1), VMI (7-3), Western Carolina (17-4) and Wofford (15-5).

Birmingham Vice
When graduate student Michael Vice found the end zone with 7:03 remaining in the first quarter against Western Carolina, it was Vice's first touchdown in a Bulldog uniform since his 58-yard sprint to the end zone at Florida on Nov. 13, 2021, a span of 665 days. Vice was a freshman All-American and All-SoCon player for the Bulldogs from 2019-21 before transferring to Troy for the 2022 season.

Hier Power
After a breakout campaign in 2022, Samford signal-caller spent the summer collecting almost every possible honor that an FCS quarterback could have gotten. In total, the Birmingham native was named to seven different watch lists and All-American teams including the Senior Bowl Watch List, the Walter Payton Award Watch List and the Manning Award Watch List while being named an All-American by Athlon Sports, Hero Sports, Phil Steele and Stats Perform.

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

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

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

#17 Garrett Morris: S; 6' 0"; Graduate Student

#86 Michael Vice: TE; 6' 4"; Graduate Student

Players Mentioned

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

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

#17 Garrett Morris
: 6' 0"; Graduate Student
: S

#86 Michael Vice
: 6' 4"; Graduate Student
: TE

Samford University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Players Mentioned