CARROLLTON, Ga. – In the opening game of the 2024 campaign, the Samford football team dropped a 38-29 decision to the West Georgia Wolves on Saturday evening at University Stadium.
 
With the defeat, Samford falls to 0-1 after the opening week while West Georgia moves to 0-1 on the year. Saturday night's stumble was the first loss for the Bulldogs in a season opener since falling to ESTU to begin the 2021 Spring season.
 
In his first start since the 2022 NCAA Division I-FCS Quarterfinals against North Dakota State, junior quarterback Quincy Crittendon went 24-for-41 passing on Saturday with two touchdowns through the air and an interception.
 
 Crittendon also paced the Bulldogs on the ground with a game-high 95 rushing yards and two scores on 19 carries. In his Samford debut, Micah Kelly added 40 more yards on 10 rush attempts.
 
Reigning Southern Conference Freshman of the Year, Brendan Jenkins led the Samford receiving corps with 81 yards on four catches. Iaan Cousin hauled in a team-high five passes for 77 yards. E. Jai Mason also caught a trio of passes for 43 yards. In total, 11 different Bulldogs had receptions on Saturday night.
 
On the defensive side of the ball, preseason All-American Noah Martin had a game-best 11 tackles. Dating back to the final two games of the 2023 season, Martin has now recorded 41 total tackles in his last three games played.
 
Junior linebacker Jaden Mosley joined Martin in the double-digit tackle category with 10 of his own. Mosley recorded one of the two Samford sacks in the contest and had a team-high 1.5 tackles for loss.
 
In the defensive backfield, C.J. Douglas tallied eight tackles with one going for a loss. Edwin Dearman added six more stops of his own in his Bulldog debut.
 
On the opening play from scrimmage, West Georgia connected on a 71-yard flea flicker play that took the Wolves to the Bullog four-yard line. The Wolves scored a touchdown two plays later to take a 7-0 lead only 71 seconds into the contest.
 
Samford answered with an eight-play, 70-yard scoring drive to tie the game at 7-7. Crittendon punched the ball in from a yard out for the first of his four scores on Saturday.
West Georgia ended the opening 15 minutes of play with a 13-play, 75-yard scoring drive to grab a 14-7 advantage after the opening stanza.
 
To open the second quarter, the Wolves tacked on a field goal to make it a 17-7 game before Damonta Witherspoon found the end zone on a pass out of the backfield to bring Samford to within three. The receiving score capped off a 10-play 70-yard scoring march for Samford.
 
With 2:18 left in the first half, West Georgia added on another field goal to take a 20-14 lead. On the ensuing drive, the Bulldogs marched back down the field and were knocking on the door of another touchdown before Crittendon was intercepted in the end zone. Five plays later, West Georgia scored a touchdown on a 44-yard Hail Mary to make it a 26-14 game at halftime.
 
Coming out of the break, Crittendon led a methodical 19-play 71-yard drive that ended with the junior calling his own number on a three-yard plunge that cut the Wolf advantage to 26-21.
 
Following a defensive stop, the Bulldogs took their first lead of the night at 29-26, when Crittendon connected with Jenkins on a 68-yard touchdown strike with just under six minutes left in the third quarter.
 
In the fourth quarter, West Georgia found the end zone twice to regain the lead for good before blocking a Bulldog field goal attempt to seal a 38-29 final score.
 
The opening road swing of the season continues for the Bulldogs as Samford will head to Florida on Saturday, Sept. 7 for a contest with the Florida Gators. Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m. CT and can be viewed on ESPN+ and SEC Network+.
 
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