2019 Samford Bulldogs football team

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

2019 Samford Bulldogs football
Conference	Southern Conference
2019 record	5–7 (4–4 SoCon)
Head coach	Chris Hatcher (5th season)
Offensive coordinator	Russ Callaway (4th season)
Defensive coordinator	Bill D'Ottavio (13th season)
Home stadium	Seibert Stadium (Capacity: 6,700)

2019 Southern Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
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
Samford		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

Previous season

Main article: 2018 Samford Bulldogs football team

The Bulldogs finished the 2018 season 6–5, 5–3 in SoCon play to finish in fourth place.

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

See also: 2019 Youngstown State Penguins football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
0–4	2016 FCS Playoffs	L, 24–38

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP 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

See also: 2019 Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
12–10	2007	W, 59–52

at Wofford

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

See also: 2019 Wofford Terriers football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
11–5	2018	W, 35–20

Alabama A&M

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

See also: 2019 Alabama A&M Bulldogs football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

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

See also: 2019 The Citadel Bulldogs football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
5–7	2018	L, 27–42

Furman

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

See also: 2019 Furman Paladins football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
11–10	2018	W, 38–25

at VMI

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

See also: 2019 VMI Keydets football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
5–0	2018	W, 73–22

East Tennessee State

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

See also: 2019 East Tennessee State Buccaneers football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
5–1	2018	W, 38–27

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

See also: 2019 Mercer Bears football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
13–11–1	2018	L, 24–30

Chattanooga

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

See also: 2019 Chattanooga Mocs football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
10–31–3	2018	L, 20–27

at Western Carolina

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

See also: 2019 Western Carolina Catamounts football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
13–3	2018	W, 66–28

at Auburn

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

See also: 2019 Auburn Tigers football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
0–27–1	2014	L, 7–31

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	RV
Coaches	NR

References

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