2023 Samford Bulldogs football team

2023 Samford Bulldogs football
2023 Samford Bulldogs football
Conference	Southern Conference
Record	6–5 (4–4 SoCon)
Head coach	Chris Hatcher (9th season);
Offensive coordinator	Ricky Turner (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Chris Boone (2nd season)
Home stadium	Seibert/Pete Hanna Stadium
	Seasons ← 2022 2024 →

The 2023 Samford Bulldogs football team represented Samford University as a member of the Southern Conference (SoCon) during the 2023 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Bulldogs were led by ninth-year head coach Chris Hatcher and played home games at Seibert Stadium in Homewood, Alabama.

2023 Southern Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 7 Furman $^	7	–	1	10	–	3
No. 14 Chattanooga ^	6	–	2	8	–	5
No. 17 Mercer ^	6	–	2	9	–	4
No. 23 Western Carolina	5	–	3	7	–	4
Samford	4	–	4	6	–	5
VMI	4	–	4	5	–	6
East Tennessee State	2	–	6	3	–	8
Wofford	2	–	6	2	–	9
The Citadel	0	–	8	0	–	11

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

On October 14, 2023, Samford University announced that the stadium would be renamed to Pete Hanna Stadium.^[1]^[2]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 31	7:00 p.m.	Shorter*	No. 9	Seibert Stadium Homewood, AL	ESPN+	W 69–14	5,931
September 9	1:30 p.m.	at Western Carolina	No. 8	Bob Waters Field at E. J. Whitmire Stadium Cullowhee, NC	ESPN+	L 7–30	12,410
September 16	6:30 p.m.	at Auburn*	No. 18	Jordan–Hare Stadium Auburn, AL	SECN+/ESPN+	L 13–45	88,043
September 23	2:00 p.m.	Chattanooga	No. 20	Seibert Stadium Homewood, AL	ESPN+	L 24–47	10,870
September 30	12:00 p.m.	East Tennessee State		Seibert Stadium Homewood, AL	ESPN+	W 42–28	2,931
October 7	12:30 p.m.	at Wofford		Gibbs Stadium Spartanburg, SC	ESPN+	W 31–10	4,514
October 14	12:00 p.m.	No. 5 Furman		Pete Hanna Stadium Homewood, AL	ESPN+	L 21–27	5,908
October 21	12:30 p.m.	at VMI		Alumni Memorial Field Lexington, VA	ESPN+	W 27–14	4,245
October 28	2:00 p.m.	The Citadel		Pete Hanna Stadium Homewood, AL	ESPN+	W 37–7	5,023
November 11	2:00 p.m.	at No. 23 Mercer		Five Star Stadium Macon, GA	ESPN+	L 21–28	9,772
November 18	12:00 p.m.	No. 19 UT Martin*		Pete Hanna Stadium Homewood, AL	ESPN+	W 27–17	3,043
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

^[3]

Game summaries

Shorter

at Western Carolina

Pregame line	Over/under
SAM –6.0	64.5

Game Two – Western Carolina Catamounts (0–1) vs No. 8 Samford Bulldogs (1–0)

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Samford	7	0	0	0	7
Western Carolina	7	13	3	7	30

at E.J. Whitmire Stadium • Cullowhee, North Carolina

Date: Saturday, September 9, 2023
Game time: 12:30 p.m. CST
Game weather: Sunny • Temperature: 76 °F (24 °C) • Wind: SE 5 MPH
Game attendance: 12,410
Referee: Michael Farmer
TV: ESPN+
[1] • [2] • [3]

Game information

First quarter

(7:03) SAM – Michael Vice 8-yard pass from Michael Hiers, Wilson Beaverstock kick (Drive: 7 plays, 97 yards, 2:00; Samford 7–0)
(3:21) WCU – AJ Colombo 21-yard pass from Cole Gonzales, Richard McCollum kick (Drive: 10 plays, 76 yards, 3:32; Tied 7–7)

Second quarter

(13:42) WCU – Censere Lee 6-yard pass from Cole Gonzales, Richard McCollum kick (Drive: 10 plays, 59 yards, 3:58; Western Carolina 14–7)
(1:38) WCU – Richard McCollum 23-yard field goal (Drive: 15 plays, 69 yards, 6:43; Western Carolina 17–7)
(0:00) WCU – Richard McCollum 41-yard field goal (Drive: 2 plays, 20 yards, 0:11; Western Carolina 20–7)

Third quarter

(4:29) WCU – Richard McCollum 18-yard field goal (Drive: 13 plays, 84 yards, 5:50; Western Carolina 23–7)

Fourth quarter

(8:02) WCU – Desmond Reid 2-yard run, Richard McCollum kick (Drive: 10 plays, 71 yards, 6:14; Western Carolina 30–7)

Statistics	SAM	WCU
First downs	15	34
Plays–yards	57–361	84–546
Rushes–yards	23–46	49–284
Passing yards	315	262
Passing: comp–att–int	21–34–0	29–35–0
Time of possession	18:51	41:09

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
No. 8 Samford	Passing	Michael Hiers	21/34, 315 yards, TD
	Rushing	Jay Stanton	7 carries, 26 yards
	Receiving	Ty King	3 receptions, 96 yards
Western Carolina	Passing	Cole Gonzales	29/35, 262 yards, 2 TD
	Rushing	Desmond Reid	27 carries, 170 yards, TD
	Receiving	AJ Colombo	5 receptions, 79 yards, TD

at Auburn (FBS)

Game Three – No. 18 Samford Bulldogs (1–1) at (FBS) Auburn Tigers (2–0)

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 18 Bulldogs	0	0	13	0	13
(FBS) Tigers	0	17	14	14	45

at Jordan–Hare Stadium • Auburn, Alabama

Date: Saturday, September 16, 2023
Game time: 6:02 p.m. CDT
Game weather: Cloudy • Temperature: 76 °F (24 °C)
Game attendance: 88,043
Referee: David Smith
TV announcers (ESPN+/SEC Network+): Clay Matvick (play-by-play), Aaron Murray (analyst)

Statistics	SAM	AUB
First downs	12	26
Plays–yards	61–218	79–562
Rushes–yards	28–74	43–222
Passing yards	144	340
Passing: comp–att–int	19–33–2	27–36–2
Time of possession	26:32	33:28

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Samford	Passing	Michael Hiers	18/31, 141 yds, TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	Damonta Witherspoon	5 carries, 30 yds
	Receiving	Ty King	5 receptions, 24 yds
Auburn	Passing	Payton Thorne	24/32, 282 yds, TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	Payton Thorne	11 carries, 123 yds, 2 TD
	Receiving	Jay Fair	7 receptions, 93 yds

Chattanooga

East Tennessee State

at Wofford

No. 5 Furman

at VMI

The Citadel

at No. 23 Mercer

No. 19 UT Martin

References

[1]

[2]

[3]

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