On Sept. 16, the Samford football team made the short journey to Auburn to put their skills to the test against one of the top football programs in the country. Samford put up a strong fight at the Plains but ultimately fell to the Tigers with a final score of 45-13. Although the game is considered a blowout, there were many positives to take away from Samford’s performance.
Physicality, which Samford struggled with against Western Carolina, was a strength for the Bulldogs as they stopped Auburn twice in the red zone and shut out the Tigers in the first quarter.
SoCon defensive player of the week Kourtlan Marsh recorded ten tackles, a fumble recovery, and an interception in a breakout performance against Auburn. Marsh was happy with the progress that the team made since their game against Western Carolina.
“The biggest improvement from last week was our physicality on defense,” said Marsh.
In the first drive for Samford, there was a controversial incompletion call on a pass from quarterback Michael Hiers to wide receiver D.J. Rias. The play was reviewed, but there was not enough video evidence to overturn the call on the field. This stopped Samford’s drive and altered the direction of the game. Chandler Smith, another standout receiver, disagrees.
“I thought the pass was complete, and it was a tough way to end the first drive, but you can’t really point to one play and say that changed the outcome,” commented Smith.
Smith scored the only receiving touchdown for the Bulldogs, leading the team in receiving yards with 80. The only other touchdown for the Bulldogs was a rushing touchdown from Hiers in the third quarter.
“We moved the ball pretty much the whole game, but we had a hard time getting it in the endzone, so it was nice to score a couple times and get some momentum going,” said Hiers.
Samford will next host Chattanooga this Saturday, Sept. 23, hoping to return to the win column for Family Weekend.
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