BIRMINGHAM, Ala. –The Samford University football team opened Southern Conference play with a 27-3 win over the VMI Keydets Saturday afternoon at Pete Hanna Stadium.
With the win, Samford improved to 2-2 overall and 1-0 in SoCon play. VMI fell to 0-5 overall and 0-1 in league action.
"VMI is very difficult to prepare for because of the schemes that they employ," Samford head coach
Chris Hatcher said. "I thought our guys handled them well defensively, of course that's back-to-back phenomenal jobs by our defense. Offensively, we came out of the gates fast for the first time in a while. We stuttered a little bit here and there and then it just kind of became a conservative game plan a little bit, just because of how well our defense was playing."
In the win for Samford, quarterback
Quincy Crittendon completed 26-of-30 passes for 196 yards and three touchdowns. Wide receiver
E. Jai Mason hauled in seven passes for 76 yards and two touchdowns, while
D.J. Rias caught nine passes for 56 yards.
Brendan Jenkins had two catches for 23 yards and a touchdown, while
Iaan Cousin caught two passes for 24 yards.
Micah Kelly led the Samford rushing attack with nine rushes for 57 yards.
Damonta Witherspoon carried the ball seven times for 28 yards on the day.
Noah Martin led Samford in tackles with seven on the day.
Midnight Steward had an interception he returned 45 yards to go along with his one tackle.
For VMI, Brady Hammonds completed 14-of-28 passes for 87 yards and an interception. Hunter Rice led the Keydets on the ground with 23 carries for 58 yards. Kouri Crump led the VMI defense with 12 tackles on the day.
On the opening drive of the game, VMI's Caden Beck kicked a 33-yard field goal to give the Keydets a 3-0 lead. The kick capped a 16-play, 60-yard drive that took 8:23 off of the first-quarter clock. Samford answered with a scoring drive of its own. Crittendon hit Mason for a five-yard touchdown, and
Forrest Taylor added the extra point as Samford took a 7-3 lead with 3:28 left in the first quarter.
On the first play of the second quarter Crittendon hit Jenkins for an 18-yard score and Taylor added the PAT for a 14-3 Samford advantage with 14:54 left in the period. Taylor booted a 31-yard field goal to push the Samford lead to 17-3 with 6:40 left in the second quarter.
Late in the third quarter, Samford's Steward picked off a VMI pass at the Samford 49-yard line and returned it to the VMI six-yard line. Two plays later, Crittendon hit Mason for an eight-yard touchdown and Taylor added the PAT to make the score 24-3 with 4:36 left in the third period. Taylor added a 29-yard field goal with 5:16 left in the game to make the final score 27-3.
Samford will next play at ETSU on Saturday, Oct. 12. The game is set for a 2:30 p.m. (CT) start from Johnson City, Tenn.
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