History has a way of repeating itself, and for Samford football, it is an unwelcome echo. The Bulldogs have opened their 2025 season at 0-5, their roughest start since 1985. The team’s loss to Western Carolina only made a season defined by growing pains, and mounting frustrations sting a little worse.
In his postgame remarks, Head Coach Chris Hatcher acknowledged the shortcomings against the Catamounts, saying that “defensively we had a hard time getting off the field.” He stressed that the struggle is largely, but not entirely, from a defensive standpoint.
A closer look at the numbers highlights part of the problem for the Bulldogs this season. Through four games, Samford gave up 34, 40, 43, 50 and 31 points, leaving the team in a position that is difficult to come back from. The departure of three of last year’s top five tacklers — Noah Martin (NFL Draft), CJ Douglas (Houston) and Dontae Pollard (Temple) — have the defense searching for replacements while fighting for consistency
Making this issue worse is the frequent changeover of players in the offseason. With so many entering and leaving through the transfer portal the Bulldogs rarely return the same core players from one season to the next. That turnover can make it harder to build trust on and off the field and carry momentum from one year into the next. The effects have been visible in breakdowns on both sides of the ball.
For fans, the frustration is mounting.
“It’s just disappointing, honestly,” said Samford senior Charlie McKinney. “It’s hard to stay excited when we haven’t won yet.”
A losing streak of this magnitude hasn’t been seen in four decades and it leaves many questioning whether the Bulldogs will find footing before the season slips away.
Still, there were moments of promise during the game against Western Carolina. The offense demonstrated improved rhythm in the first half, moving the ball more effectively than in prior weeks. If the Bulldogs continue to play this way it could lay a solid foundation to build the remainder of the season on but for now it is only a glimpse of what could be.
With eight games still ahead, Samford’s path forward relies heavily on turning those flashes of successful gameplay into consistent, full-game performances, while settling into this year’s roster, and preparing for the possibility of more change in the seasons to come.
Samford football will be looking for their first win against Mercer on Oct 4.
Staff Reporter
