2018 Samford Bulldogs football team

2018 Samford Bulldogs football
Conference	Southern Conference
2018 record	6–5 (5–3 SoCon)
Head coach	Chris Hatcher (4th season)
Offensive coordinator	Russ Callaway (3rd season)
Defensive coordinator	Bill D'Ottavio (12th season)
Home stadium	Seibert Stadium (Capacity: 6,700)
Seasons ← 2017 2019 →

2018 Southern Conference football standings
v t	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 13 Wofford +^		6	–	2					9	–	4
No. 22 East Tennessee State +^		6	–	2					8	–	4
Furman +		6	–	2					6	–	4
Samford		5	–	3					6	–	5
Chattanooga		4	–	4					6	–	5
The Citadel		4	–	4					5	–	6
Mercer		4	–	4					5	–	6
Western Carolina		1	–	7					3	–	8
VMI		0	–	8					1	–	10
+ – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS FCS Poll

The 2018 Samford Bulldogs football team represented Samford University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by fourth-year head coach Chris Hatcher and played their home games at Seibert Stadium. They were a member of the Southern Conference (SoCon). They finished the season 6–5, 5–3 in SoCon play to finish in fourth place.

Previous season[]

The Bulldogs finished the 2017 season 8–4, 6–2 in SoCon play to finish in a tie for second place. They received an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs, where they lost to Kennesaw State in the first round..

Preseason[]

Award watch lists[]

Award	Player	Position	Year
Walter Payton Award[1]	Devlin Hodges	QB	SR
Buck Buchanan Award[2]	Ahmad Gooden	DE	SR

Preseason media poll[]

The SoCon released their preseason media poll on July 25, 2018, with the Bulldogs predicted to finish as SoCon champions.^[3] The same day the coaches released their preseason poll with the Bulldogs also predicted to finish as SoCon champions.^[4]

Media poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Samford	204 (20)
2	Furman	174 (2)
3	Wofford	163 (1)
4	Mercer	133
5	Western Carolina	114
6	Chattanooga	88
7	The Citadel	83
8	East Tennessee State	53
9	VMI	23

Coaches poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Samford	63 (7)
2	Wofford	53 (1)
3	Furman	52 (1)
4	Western Carolina	39
5	Chattanooga	34
6	Mercer	32
7	The Citadel	28
8	East Tennessee State	15
9	VMI	8

Preseason All-SoCon Teams[]

The Bulldogs placed seven players on the all-SoCon teams.^[5] Quarterback Devlin Hodges was selected as preseason offensive player of the year and Defensive lineman Ahmad Gooden was selected as preseason defensive player of the year.

Schedule[]

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 30	6:30 p.m.	Shorter*	No. 11	Seibert Stadium Homewood, AL	ESPN+	W 66–9	5,252
September 8	6:20 p.m.	at Florida State*	No. 9	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL	ACCN	L 26–36	72,239
September 15	2:00 p.m.	Mercer	No. 9	Seibert Stadium Homewood, AL	ESPN+	L 24–30	8,717
September 22	6:00 p.m.	at Chattanooga	No. 17	Finley Stadium Chattanooga, TN	ESPN+	L 20–27	10,469
September 29	5:00 p.m.	at No. 4 Kennesaw State*		Fifth Third Bank Stadium Kennesaw, GA	ESPN3	L 10–24	4,396
October 6	12:30 p.m.	Western Carolina		Seibert Stadium Homewood, AL	ESPN3	W 66–28	3,178
October 13	2:00 p.m.	VMI		Seibert Stadium Homewood, AL	ESPN+	W 73–22	4,163
October 20	1:00 p.m.	at Furman		Paladin Stadium Greenville, SC	ESPN+	W 38–25	6,016
November 3	2:00 p.m.	No. 9 Wofford		Seibert Stadium Homewood, AL	ESPN+	W 35–20	5,821
November 10	1:00 p.m.	at The Citadel		Johnson Hagood Stadium Charleston, SC	ESPN+	L 27–42	11,145
November 17	12:00 p.m.	at No. 19 East Tennessee State		William B. Greene Jr. Stadium Johnson City, TN	ESPN3	W 38–27	8,749
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

^[6]

Game summaries[]

Shorter[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hawks	0	0	2	7	9
No. 11 Bulldogs	17	28	7	14	66

at Florida State[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 9 Bulldogs	16	7	0	3	26
Seminoles	7	14	0	15	36

Mercer[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	7	10	0	13	30
No. 9 Bulldogs	7	0	7	10	24

at Chattanooga[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 17 Bulldogs	0	10	3	7	20
Mocs	10	7	7	3	27

at Kennesaw State[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	3	0	0	7	10
No. 4 Owls	7	7	7	3	24

Western Carolina[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Catamounts	0	21	0	7	28
Bulldogs	35	7	14	10	66

VMI[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Keydets	9	13	0	0	22
Bulldogs	14	28	24	7	73

at Furman[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	10	0	21	7	38
Paladins	3	9	7	6	25

Wofford[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 9 Terriers	7	10	3	0	20
Bulldogs	14	7	0	14	35

at The Citadel[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
SAM Bulldogs	14	10	3	0	27
CIT Bulldogs	0	7	14	21	42

at East Tennessee State[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	7	10	7	14	38
No. 19 Buccaneers	10	14	3	0	27

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	11	9	9	17	RV	NR	NR	NR	RV	RV	RV	NR	RV
Coaches	10	9	9	17	RV	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	RV	NR	NR

References[]