CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. –The Samford football team used big plays in all three phases to earn an impressive 36-13 win at No. 19 Chattanooga Saturday afternoon at Finley Stadium.
"First of all, congratulations to our team and our coaches," Samford head coach
Chris Hatcher said. "I told them earlier in the week, when you come and win a game like this, it shows the amount of character your players have, and your coaches have. You've had bad weeks leading up to this and you go on the road versus a top-20 team that you haven't had much success against, I thought that showed tremendous character."
With the win, Samford improved its record to 4-6 overall and 3-3 in Southern Conference play. Chattanooga fell to 6-5 overall and 5-3 in SoCon action.
For Samford in the win,
Quincy Crittendon completed 34-of-50 passes for 340 yards and a touchdown. Crittendon also rushed 18 times for 59 yards and a touchdown.
Brendan Jenkins caught eight passes for 93 yards and a touchdown.
D.J. Rias had seven catches for 87 yards, and he returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown.
Noah Martin, a Chattanooga native, led the defense with nine tackles and one interception.
Jaden Mosley finished with seven tackles and one sack.
"We started fast offensively," Hatcher said. "And then defensively, we continue to play well. Special teams, we made some big plays, but we gave some up. I was really proud because our offensive line had been kind of bullied around the last couple of weeks and we get the ball and go 16 plays and 98 yards late in the fourth quarter. It was really good to see us come together today. I'm really proud of our team, this is a difficult place to play against a great football team. It just showed the character of the Samford Bulldogs."
Chattanooga was led by Luke Schomburg, completing 18-of-35 passes for 148 yards and an interception. Javin Whatley had a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.
On the opening drive of the game, Samford drove to the Chattanooga five-yard line and
Wilson Beaverstock made a 23-yard field goal, giving the Bulldogs a 3-0 lead with 10:52 to go in the first quarter.
Samford quarterback Crittendon hit Jenkins for a 38-yard touchdown with 12:48 left in the second period. Beaverstock's extra point hit the right upright, keeping the Samford lead at 9-0. Chattanooga's Whatley returned the ensuing kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown and Jude Kelley's PAT cut the Samford lead to 9-7 with 12:35 left in the second quarter.
After Chattanooga's Alex Mitchell intercepted a Samford pass at the Bulldogs' 39-yard line, the Samford defense held the Mocs to a 49-yard field goal attempt, which was made by Kelley to give Chattanooga a 10-9 lead at the 8:41 mark in the second period.
With 5:58 to go in the second quarter, Samford lined up for a field goal attempt, but the holder
Will Thorley carried for an 18-yard touchdown on the fake and Beaverstock's PAT put Samford back on top, 16-10.
Kelley kicked a 27-yard field goal to cut the lead to 16-13 with 43 seconds left before halftime. Samford's Rias returned the ensuing kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown and the PAT was no good, giving Samford a 22-13 lead heading into the locker room at halftime.
The score remained the same through most of the third quarter. Crittendon scored on a 12-yard run and
Forrest Taylor added the PAT to push Samford's lead to 29-13 with 2:03 left in the period. The lone fourth-quarter score came when
Damonta Witherspoon scored on a five-yard run with 6:04 left in the game and Taylor added the PAT to make the final score 36-13. The final touchdown capped a 16-play, 98-yard drive that took 6:56 off the fourth quarter clock.
Samford will wrap up its season by playing host to Western Carolina on Saturday, Nov. 23. The game is set for a 2 p.m. start from Pete Hanna Stadium.
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