BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford football team will play host to the seventh-ranked Mercer Bears in a key Southern Conference game Saturday at 2 p.m. at Pete Hanna Stadium.
 
The game can be seen live on ESPN+ with Blake Gardner, Damian Mitchell and Justin Stuckey calling the action. For links to follow all of Samford's games this season, click here: 2024 SCHEDULE.
 
For a full set of this week's game notes click here: GAME NOTES.
 
Samford enters the game with a record of 2-3 overall and 1-1 in Southern Conference play. The Bulldogs fell at ETSU last week, 31-28. Mercer is currently 6-0 overall and 3-0 in SoCon action. The Bears earned a 34-7 non-conference win over Princeton last week.

Samford and Mercer will be meeting for the 31st time, with Samford owning a 15-14-1 series lead. Last season, Mercer defeated Samford, 28-21 in Macon, Georgia. The last time the teams met at Samford, the Bulldogs picked up a dramatic, 50-44, double overtime win over the Bears. Quincy Crittendon scored the game-winning touchdown in the second overtime to lift Samford to the win. The Samford win gave the Bulldogs their first outright Southern Conference title since joining the league in 2008.
 
HATCHER'S OFFENSES PRODUCE
Through the last nine-plus seasons, Samford head coach Chris Hatcher's offenses have averaged more points than under any other head coach in program history. Entering the week, Hatcher's teams have averaged 33.28 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 nine-plus 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 the nine-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 197 scoring drives of two minutes or less and 93 that have lasted one minute or less.
 
SAMFORD AT PETE HANNA STADIUM
Samford has an all-time record of 187-85-4 in games played at Pete Hanna Stadium. This season, Samford has six home games on its schedule and the Bulldogs are currently 2-0 in those contests. Last season, Samford posted a record of 4-2 in home games. In nine-plus seasons under head coach Chris Hatcher, the Bulldogs are 37-13 when playing at home.
 
SAMFORD AGAINST GEORGIA TEAMS
Samford has an all-time record of 35-40-2 against teams from the state of Georgia, including a 15-14-1 record against Mercer. Samford has played the following Georgia teams: Abraham Baldwin (1-0), Bowdon College (1-0), Clark-Atlanta (1-0), Georgia (0-3), Georgia Southern (4-5), Georgia State (1-0), Georgia Southwestern (1-2), Georgia Tech (0-8), Gordon College (1-1), Kennesaw State (2-2), Mercer (15-14-1), Morris Brown (1-0), Oglethorpe (2-2-1), Shorter (2-0) and West Georgia (3-3).
 
AGAINST SOUTHERN CONFERENCE TEAMS
Since joining the Southern Conference in 2008, Samford has posted a record of 72-57 in conference games. All-time against each current members of the SoCon, Samford has a mark of 98-85-4, including a 15-14-1 record against Mercer. Samford's all-time record against each current SoCon team is Chattanooga (11-34-3), The Citadel (10-7), ETSU (8-4), Furman (12-14), Mercer (15-14-1), VMI (9-3), Western Carolina (17-4) and Wofford (16-5).
 
ON THIS DATE
Samford has an all-time record of 4-6 in games played on Oct. 19. The last time the Bulldogs played on Oct. 19 was in 2002, in a 34-25 win over Alcorn State. Samford and Mercer have met just once on the date, in 1929, with Mercer coming away with a 7-2 win.
 
MISTER MARTIN
Noah Martin, a consensus first team All-SoCon defender in 2023, led the SoCon with 109 and became the first Bulldog defender to eclipse 100 tackles since John Staton had 115 in 2019. Martin's 109 tackles were good enough to rank him 13th nationally.
 
Heading into the 2024 season, Martin was named a preseason All-American by FCS Football Central, Stats Perform and Phil Steele while landing on the Buck Buchanan Award Watch List.
 
Martin picked up right where he left off in 2023 with a game-high 11 tackles in each of the first three games against West Georgia, Florida and Alabama State. He then led the squad with seven tackles against VMI, and he tallied eight tackles at ETSU. With these performances, Martin became the first Bulldog defender in the Hatcher era to open the season with three-straight double-digit tackle games. Dating back to last season, the Chattanooga native has 78 total tackles in his last four games played.
 
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).