Today’s Game

Kendall Watson The Samford football team will return home to play host to the VMI Keydets Saturday at 2 p .m . at Bobby Bowden Field at Seibert Stadium . The game is Samford’s homecoming contest .

Samford enters the game with a record of 7-1 overall and 5-0 in Southern Conference play . The Bulldogs are coming off an impressive 38-3 win at The Citadel last Saturday . The 7-1 start is the best start to a season for Samford since 1992 .

VMI currently has a record of 1-7 overall and 0-5 in SoCon play . The Keydets hosted Mercer last Saturday, falling to the Bears by a score of 55-14 .

Samford and VMI are meeting for the 10th time, with Samford owning a 6-3 series lead . VMI has won the last three meetings, all one possession games . Last season, the Keydets earned a 46-45 win in Lexington, Virginia . In the spring 2021 season, VMI won, 38-37 in overtime at Seibert Stadium . In 2019, VMI took a 48-41 win in overtime at home .

Since VMI returned to the SoCon in 2014, Samford is 5-3 against the Keydets .

Samford took a dominating, 38-3 win at The Citadel last Saturday at Johnson Hagood Stadium .

Quarterback Michael Hiers had another huge game in the win . He completed 30-of-35 passes for 260 yards and three touchdowns . Kendall Watson caught 10 passes for 113 yards and a touchdown . D .J . Rias had eight catches for 66 yards and a touchdown, while Chandler Smith hauled in six passes for 40 yards and a touchdown . Jay Stanton led the running attack with 15 rushes for 78 yards .

The Samford defense was led by Noah Martin with 12 tackles, including six solo stops .

Samford head coach Chris Hatcher, now in his eighth season in charge of the program, enters this week with 47 wins during his time at Samford . The 47 wins tie him with former head coach Pat Sullivan as Samford’s all-time winningest coach . For his career, including stints at Valdosta State, Georgia Southern and Murray State, he has an overall record of 168-94 .

Since joining the Southern Conference in 2008, Samford has posted a record of 64-50 in conference games . All-time against the current members of the SoCon, Samford has a mark of 90-80-4, including a 6-3 record against VMI . Samford’s all-time record against each current SoCon team is: Chattanooga (10-33-3), The Citadel (9-7), ETSU (7-3), Furman (12-13), Mercer (14-13-1), VMI (6-3), Western Carolina (17-3) and Wofford (15-5) .

Samford has an all-time record of 178-84-4 in games played at Seibert Stadium . This season, Samford has five home games on its schedule, and the Bulldogs are currently 3-0 in those contests .

Last season, Samford posted a record of 2-3 in home games . In the last nine-plus years, Samford has a combined record of 45-15 when playing in the friendly confines of Seibert Stadium .

In seven-plus seasons under head coach Chris Hatcher, Samford has a record of 28-11 when playing at home .