2019 Samford Bulldogs football team

2019 Samford Bulldogs football
2019 Samford Bulldogs football
Conference	Southern Conference
Record	5–7 (4–4 SoCon)
Head coach	Chris Hatcher (5th season);
Offensive coordinator	Russ Callaway (4th season)
Offensive scheme	Air raid
Defensive coordinator	Bill D'Ottavio (13th season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Seibert Stadium

2019 Southern Conference football standings

Team	W		L	W		L
No. 16 Wofford $^	7	–	1	8	–	3
No. 21 Furman ^	6	–	2	8	–	4
Chattanooga	5	–	3	6	–	6
The Citadel	4	–	4	6	–	6
	4	–	4	5	–	7
VMI	4	–	4	5	–	7
Mercer	3	–	5	4	–	8
Western Carolina	2	–	6	3	–	9
East Tennessee State	1	–	7	3	–	9

$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2019 Samford Bulldogs football team represented Samford University in the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by fifth-year head coach Chris Hatcher and played their home games at Seibert Stadium. They were a member of the Southern Conference (SoCon).

Preseason

Preseason media poll

The SoCon released their preseason media poll and coaches poll on July 22, 2019. The Bulldogs were picked to finish in sixth place in both polls.^[1]^[2]

Media poll
Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Wofford	253 (21)
2	Furman	229 (6)
3	East Tennessee State	187 (2)
4	Mercer	146
5	Chattanooga	134
6	Samford	125
7	The Citadel	111
8	Western Carolina	88
9	VMI	32

Coaches poll
Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Wofford	63 (7)
2	Furman	55 (1)
3	East Tennessee State	44 (1)
4	Chattanooga	40
5	Mercer	34
6	Samford	33
7	The Citadel	22
8	Western Carolina	21
9	VMI	12

Preseason All-SoCon Teams

The Bulldogs placed four players on the preseason all-SoCon teams.^[2]

Offense

1st team

Nick Nixon – OL

Defense

2nd team

Justin Foster – DL

Nelson Jordan – DL

Specialists

1st team

Mitchell Fineran – K

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 24	2:00 p.m.	vs. Youngstown State*	Crampton Bowl Montgomery, AL (FCS Kickoff)	ESPN	L 22–45	12,560
August 31	6:00 p.m.	at Tennessee Tech*	Tucker Stadium Cookeville, TN	ESPN+	L 58–59 ^2OT	7,806
September 14	5:00 p.m.	at No. 21 Wofford	Gibbs Stadium Spartanburg, SC	Nexstar/ESPN3	W 21–14	3,463
September 21	6:00 p.m.	Alabama A&M*	Seibert Stadium Homewood, AL	ESPN3	W 55–21	5,934
September 28	2:00 p.m.	No. 25 The Citadel	Seibert Stadium Homewood, AL	ESPN+	W 61–55 ^4OT	3,524
October 5	2:00 p.m.	No. 14 Furman	Seibert Stadium Homewood, AL	ESPN+	L 14–58	6,169
October 12	12:30 p.m.	at VMI	Alumni Memorial Field Lexington, VA	Nexstar/ESPN+	L 41–48 ^OT	5,300
October 26	12:00 p.m.	East Tennessee State	Seibert Stadium Homewood, AL	ESPN+	W 24–17	1,521
November 2	6:00 p.m.	at Mercer	Five Star Stadium Macon, GA	ESPN+	L 33–36 ^3OT
November 9	2:00 p.m.	Chattanooga	Seibert Stadium Homewood, AL	ESPN3	L 27–35	4,835
November 16	1:00 p.m.	at Western Carolina	E. J. Whitmire Stadium Cullowhee, NC	ESPN+	W 31–13
November 23	11:00 a.m.	at No. 15 (FBS) Auburn*	Jordan–Hare Stadium Auburn, AL	SECN	L 0–52	80,692
*Non-conference game Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

^[3]^[4]

Game summaries

Vs. Youngstown State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Penguins	14	10	0	21	45
Bulldogs	7	0	0	15	22

Scoring summary

Quarter	Time	Drive			Team	Scoring information	Score
Quarter	Time	Plays	Yards	TOP	Team	Scoring information	YSU	SAM
1	9:09	5	85	1:22	SAM	Robert Adams 55-yard touchdown reception from Liam Welch, Mitchell Fineran kick good	0	7
1	2:12	13	83	6:57	YSU	Samuel St. Surin 16-yard touchdown reception from Nathan Mays, Colton McFadden kick good	7	7
1	1:29				YSU	Fumble recovery returned 25 yards for touchdown by Cash Mitchell, Colton McFadden kick good	14	7
2	10:57	8	41	3:55	YSU	43-yard field goal by Colton McFadden	17	7
2	0:36	12	90	2:46	YSU	Josh Burgett 4-yard touchdown reception from Nathan Mays, Colton McFadden kick good	24	7
4	14:29	8	63	3:45	YSU	Braxton Chapman 1-yard touchdown run, Colton McFadden kick good	31	7
4	13:37	3	70	0:52	SAM	Montrell Washington 64-yard touchdown reception from Chris Oladokun, 2-point run good	31	15
4	5:16	13	75	8:21	YSU	Braxton Champan 1-yard touchdown run, Colton McFadden kick good	38	15
4	3:17	6	36	1:59	SAM	Chris Oladokun 10-yard touchdown run, Mitchell Finehan kick good	38	22
4	2:16	3	44	1:01	YSU	Christian Turner 3-yard touchdown run, Colton McFadden kick good	45	22
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.							45	22

At Tennessee Tech

	1	2	3	4	OT	2OT	Total
Bulldogs	7	17	14	6	7	7	58
Golden Eagles	12	0	10	22	7	8	59

At Wofford

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	14	0	7	0	21
No. 21 Terriers	14	0	0	0	14

Alabama A&M

	1	2	3	4	Total
AAMU Bulldogs	7	7	0	7	21
SAM Bulldogs	10	21	10	14	55

The Citadel

	1	2	3	4	OT	2OT	3OT	4OT	Total
No. 25 CIT Bulldogs	7	7	7	17	7	7	3	0	55
SAM Bulldogs	7	3	14	14	7	7	3	6	61

Furman

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 14 Paladins	28	14	10	6	58
Bulldogs	7	7	0	0	14

At VMI

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Bulldogs	14	10	14	3	0	41
Keydets	14	14	0	13	7	48

East Tennessee State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Buccaneers	0	14	0	3	17
Bulldogs	7	0	10	7	24

At Mercer

	1	2	3	4	OT	2OT	3OT	Total
Bulldogs	7	3	7	6	7	3	0	33
Bears	3	7	6	7	7	3	3	36

Chattanooga

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mocs	7	21	7	0	35
Bulldogs	7	0	13	7	27

At Western Carolina

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	7	10	7	7	31
Catamounts	10	3	0	0	13

At Auburn

Samford Bulldogs at No. 15 (FBS) Auburn Tigers – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	0	0	0	0	0
No. 15 (FBS) Tigers	7	24	7	14	52

at Jordan–Hare Stadium • Auburn, Alabama

Date: November 23, 2019
Game time: 11:06 a.m.
Game weather: Temperature: 65° • Wind: S 11 mph • Weather: Rain
Game attendance: 80,692
Referee: Marc Curles
TV announcers (SEC Network): Taylor Zarzour (play-by-play), Matt Stinchcomb (analyst), Alyssa Lang (sideline reporter)

Game information

First Quarter

AUB – JaTarvious Whitlow 1 yd run (Anders Carlson kick), 8:13 (AUB 7–0)

Second Quarter

AUB – JaTarvious Whitlow 3 yd run (Anders Carlson kick), 14:08 (AUB 14–0)
AUB – Harold Joiner 10 yd pass from Bo Nix (Anders Carlson kick), 9:37 (AUB 21–0)
AUB – Shaun Shivers 4 yd run (Anders Carlson kick), 7:14 (AUB 28–0)
AUB – Anders Carlson 29 yd field goal, 1:16 (AUB 31–0)

Third Quarter

AUB – D.J. Williams 2 yd run (Anders Carlson kick), 12:35 (AUB 38–0)

Fourth Quarter

AUB – Zach Farrar 27 yd pass from Cord Sandberg (Josh Marsh kick), 13:32 (AUB 45–0)
AUB – Zach Farrar 4 yd pass from Cord Sandberg (Josh Marsh kick), 9:23 (AUB 52–0)

Top Passers

SAM – Liam Welch – 12–23, 66 yds, 2 INT
AUB – Bo Nix – 15–23, 150 yds, 1 TD

Top Rushers

SAM – Jay Stanton – 10 rushes, 19 yds
AUB – Shaun Shivers – 9 rushes, 55 yds, 1 TD

Top Receivers

SAM – Kendall Watson – 3 receptions, 17 yds
AUB – Seth Williams – 4 receptions, 45 yds

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
**Legend:** — = Not ranked RV = Received votes
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	RV
Coaches	—

References

^ "SoCon Media Tab Wofford Preseason Favorite". July 22, 2019. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
^ ^a ^b "Football Coaches Select Preseason Teams, Poll". July 22, 2019. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
^ "2019 Football Schedule". Samford University Athletics. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
^ "2019 Samford Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved August 19, 2019.

[1] "SoCon Media Tab Wofford Preseason Favorite". July 22, 2019. Retrieved July 24, 2019.

[2019_SoCon_Coaches_Poll_and_Teams-2] "Football Coaches Select Preseason Teams, Poll". July 22, 2019. Retrieved July 24, 2019.

[3] "2019 Football Schedule". Samford University Athletics. Retrieved August 19, 2019.

[4] "2019 Samford Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved August 19, 2019.

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Samford Bulldogs football
Venues	West End Park (1902–1903, 1905–1910) Alabama State Fairgrounds (1902, 1906, 1910–1912) Howard Athletic Field (1912–1917) Eagles/Berry Field (1919–1927) Rickwood Field (1917–1927) Legion Field (1927–1944, 1950, 1955, 1990) Pete Hanna Stadium (1958–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Jacksonville State
Culture & lore	Marching band Porter Cup
People	Head coaches NFL draftees
Seasons	1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946–1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974–1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024