2019 Football Preseason Preview: Samford Bulldogs

Throughout this preseason, Purple & Gold will preview all of Western's 2019 football opponents.

For the eleventh game of the season, the Cats wrap up conference play with back-to-back home games, as the Bulldogs travel up the mountain to Cullowhee for the Cats final conference game of the season.

Since Samford joined the Southern Conference in 2008, Western is 3-13 against the Bulldogs after last season's beatdown of the Cats by the Dogs in Birmingham, 28-66. Revenge is in order.





Game #11 - Samford

When: Saturday, November 16 - Time  2:00 pm
Where: E.J. Whitmire Stadium / Bob Waters Field, Cullowhee, NC
Radio: Catamount Sports Network
TV/video: ESPN+

The Series: The Cats are 3-13 overall against the Bulldogs since winning the first outing back in 1969. Samford owned an eleven game winning streak against Western until 2015 when the Cats broke that streak in Cullowhee with a 56-36 win over the Dogs. The Cats are 2-5 against the Dogs in Cullowhee, and 1-8 in games played in Birmingham.

Games that will be played by the Bulldogs this season before the WCU contest:  The Bulldogs will have played 10 games before their visit to Cullowhee  The Bulldogs open against Youngtown State on Aug. 24 in Montgomery, AL. The dogs then travel to Tenn. Tech and remain on the road the following week at Wofford to open their conference schedule. Samford then returns home to face Alabama A&M for the first of three home games. The Citadel visits the dogs, before the arrival of Furman in the 6th game of the season. Samford then plays at VMI before returning home for one game, as ETSU visits Homewood, then the Dogs play at Mercer before returning home for a visit by the Mocs of Chattanooga.

Last game played vs. Samford: Oct. 6, 2018 - EARLY TURNOVERS PROVE COSTLY IN ROAD LOSS AT SAMFORD, 66-28  - Birmingham, Ala. – Three lost fumbles in the first quarter by Western Carolina aided a strong offensive output by Samford on Saturday afternoon as the Bulldogs claimed a 66-28 victory over the Catamounts at Seibert Stadium. Samford cashed in the early takeaways that came on three of WCU’s first four possessions for a decisive 35-0 first-quarter lead in halting a four-game slide with the victory. Samford’s Devlin Hodges – the SoCon preseason Offensive Player of the Year – set or tied six school records and a pair of SoCon benchmarks in the win. Hodges set or tied school records for passing yards (562), total yards (586), touchdown passes (6), touchdowns responsible for (7), completions (44) and consecutive games with a touchdown pass. He set SoCon records for passing yards (562) and total yards in a single-game (586).

Head Coach: Chris Hatcher.  Chris Hatcher was named Samford’s 36th head football coach on Dec. 11, 2014. Now entering his fourth season at Samford, Hatcher boasts a career record of 140-72 in 18 years as a college head coach, having previously coached at Murray State, Georgia Southern, and Valdosta State. Hatcher's 2018 team posted the program's eighth-straight winning season, the longest streak in program history. Also during the season, quarterback Devlin Hodges became the FCS' all-time leader in career passing yards. Hodges also earned the highest individual honor at the FCS level, winning the Walter Payton Award. In 2017, Hatcher led the team to a 7-5 record and a spot in the NCAA Division I-FCS Playoffs. The 7-5 record marked the program’s sixth-straight winning season, the longest streak in program history. Under Hatcher’s tutelage, Hodges set school records for single-season completions (375), attempts (530), passing yards (4,088) and touchdown passes (36). Hodges was named the SoCon’s Offensive Player of the Year and a third-team All-American after the season.

Last Season's Record - 2018 (Samford): 6-5 overall, 4-1 home, 2-4 away,  5-3 SoCon  -  In 2018, the Bulldogs had wins over,  Shorter, WCU, VMI, Furman, Wofford, & ETSU.  Samford beat all three teams that tied for first place.

Offensive Formation: Multiple
-2018 Offense: 38.5 ppg. (9th in FCS)
Defensive Formation: 4-3
-2018 Defense: 26.4 ppg. (48th in FCS)
Offensive starters - Returning/Lost:  7  /  4
Defensive starters - Returning/Lost:  6  /  5

Samford was picked to finish sixth in the league by both the coaches and media for the 2019 season and had four players named to the preseason All-SoCon teams. Offensive lineman Nick Nixon and place-kicker Mitchell Fineran were named to the first team, while defensive linemen Justin Foster and Nelson Jordan earned second-team honors.

Gone is Devlin Hodges, the 2018 Walter Payton Award winner, gone is his #1 pass target, Kelvin McKnight, and gone is last year's defensive All-American, Ahmad Gooden....... and that probably changes everything.

The Bulldogs play Youngstown State in the Guardian Credit Union FCS Kickoff game at Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Alabama on Aug. 24 and this game should tell us plenty about the 2019 Bulldogs, have they reloaded or are they seriously rebuilding?. While both teams are in what is normally considered a rebuilding cycle, the Penguins are a tough opponent for Samford to play kicking off the season.


2018 Samford Statistics
Rushing Offense: 1355 yards
Yards per game: 123.2
Yards per rush: 4.2 yards
Rushing 1st downs: 79
TDs rushing: 20
Passing Offense: 4320 yards or 392.7 yards per game
Passing 1st downs: 200
Passing Comp-Att-Int: 394-561-16
TDs Passing: 34
Total Offense: 5675 yards or 515.9 yards per game
Fumbles-Lost: 12 - 7
3d Down Conversions: 70 of 150
4th Down Conversions: 14 of 25
Field goal attempts:  13 - 17
PAT-Attempts:  54 of 54
Red Zone Scores: 52 of 58 - 90%
Red Zone Touchdowns: 42 of 58 - 72%
On-Side Kicks:  0 - 0
Penalties-Yards:  67 - 638 - Avg. per gm 56
Punts-Yards:35 - 1279 - Avg. punt: 36.5
Sacks:  18


Game prediction:  Per the Massey Ratings, the Cats have a 25% probability of winning (31-41) against the Bulldogs. According to Massey, the Cats should be 3-8 after this game.  I'm going to disagree, Western win this home game and finish game #11 with a 9-2 overall record.


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