BIRMINGHAM, Ala. –The Samford football team dropped a 49-13 decision to Chattanooga Saturday afternoon at Pete Hanna Stadium.
With the loss, Samford fell to 1-7 overall and 1-5 in Southern Conference play. Chattanooga improved to 4-4 overall and 3-1 in league play.
"t's the same song and dance," Samford head coach Chris Hatcher said. "We tried to change the way we practice a little bit, work a little more fundamentals. For one half tonight, we played pretty good football, complimentary football. We gave up an explosive play on special teams, again turnovers continue to plague us, inefficiency in running the football, which makes us one dimensional. Defensively, for three quarters, we played extremely well."
For Samford in the loss, quarterback
Brady Stober was 12-of-28 for 86 yards, while
Charlie Gilliam was 9-of-15 for 138 yards. Stober scored one rushing touchdown as did
Ken Cherry.
Jaden Gibson led all Samford receivers with seven catches for 77 yards.
For the Samford defense,
Donovan Grayson had six tackles, including 2.0 tackles for loss.
Jaden Mosley,
Malik Thornton and Conroy Cunningham had five tackles each.
For Chattanooga, Camden Orth completed 11-of-20 passes for 172 yards and three touchdowns. Solomon Locke rushed five times for 115 yards and two touchdowns. Zion Rutledge led the Chattanooga defense with 10 tackles, including seven solo stops.
Samford struck first on its second drive of the game. Stober scored on a one-yard run to give the Bulldogs a 7-0 lead with 8:20 to go in the first quarter. Chattanooga answered late in the quarter when Orth scored on a six-yard run to knot the score at 7-7 with 2:22 to go in the opening period.
Chattanooga's A.J. Little returned a Samford punt 47 yards for a touchdown to give the Mocs a 14-7 lead with 10:58 left in the second quarter. The teams went to the locker room at halftime with Chattanooga holding a 14-7 advantage.
Orth hit John McIntyre for a four-yard touchdown pass to push the Chattanooga lead to 21-7 with 7:17 left in the third quarter. Orth connected with Little for a 15-yard touchdown to make the score 28-7 with 1:15 to go in the third period.
Orth hit Jamarri Robinson for a 42-yard touchdown with 14:47 to go to make the score 35-7. Samford's Cherry scored on a two-yard run with 7:18 left, but the extra point was blocked, making the score 35-13. Chattanooga's Locke scored on a pair of long runs late, one from 35 yards out and one from 31 yards away to make the final score 49-13.
Next week, Samford will play at Wofford on Saturday, Nov. 1. The game is set for a 12:30 p.m. (CT) start from Spartanburg, S.C.
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