2017 Samford Bulldogs football team

The 2017 Samford Bulldogs football team represented Samford University in the 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by third-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 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.

2017 Samford Bulldogs football
FCS Playoffs First Round, L 17–28 vs. Kennesaw State
Conference	Southern Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 18
FCS Coaches	No. 17
2017 record	8–4 (6–2 SoCon)
Head coach	Chris Hatcher (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Russ Callaway (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Bill D'Ottavio (11th season)
Home stadium	Seibert Stadium (Capacity: 6,700)

2017 Southern Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 6 Wofford $^		7	–	1					10	–	3
No. 18 Samford ^		6	–	2					8	–	4
No. 19 Furman ^		6	–	2					8	–	5
Western Carolina		5	–	3					7	–	5
Mercer		4	–	4					5	–	6
The Citadel		3	–	5					5	–	6
Chattanooga		3	–	5					3	–	8
East Tennessee State		2	–	6					4	–	7
VMI		0	–	8					0	–	11
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS FCS Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 31	6:00 p.m.	Kennesaw State*	No. 19	Seibert Stadium Homewood, AL	ESPN3	W 28–23	4,908
September 7	6:00 p.m.	West Alabama*	No. 17	Seibert Stadium Homewood, AL	ESPN3	W 49–41	4,509
September 16	6:30 p.m.	at No. 13 (FBS) Georgia*	No. 17	Sanford Stadium Athens, GA	SECN	L 14–42	92,746
September 23	2:30 p.m.	at Western Carolina	No. 18	E. J. Whitmire Stadium Cullowhee, NC	ESPN3	L 34–38	12,018
September 30	2:00 p.m.	No. 8 The Citadel	No. 25	Seibert Stadium Homewood, AL	ESPN3	W 35–14	9,233
October 7	12:30 p.m.	at VMI	No. 20	Alumni Memorial Field Lexington, VA	ESPN3	W 26–7	3,310
October 21	12:30 p.m.	at No. 5 Wofford	No. 16	Gibbs Stadium Spartanburg, SC	ESPN3	W 24–21	7,236
October 28	2:00 p.m.	Chattanooga	No. 9	Seibert Stadium Homewood, AL	ESPN3	L 21–23	3,523
November 4	2:00 p.m.	at Mercer	No. 16	Moye Complex Macon, GA	ESPN3	W 20–3	10,200
November 11	2:00 p.m.	East Tennessee State	No. 16	Seibert Stadium Homewood, AL	ESPN3	W 42–7	5,178
November 18	2:30 p.m.	No. 20 Furman	No. 17	Seibert Stadium Homewood, AL	STADIUM	W 26–20	4,673
November 25	1:00 p.m.	at No. 18 Kennesaw State*	No. 14	Fifth Third Bank Stadium Kennesaw, GA (FCS Playoffs First Round)	ESPN3	L 17–28	5,566
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS FCS Poll released prior to game Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

• Source: Schedule

Game summaries

Kennesaw State

Kennesaw State @ Samford

1 2 3 4 Total Owls 0 10 0 13 23 • No. 19 Bulldogs 0 7 14 7 28 Date: August 31 Location: Seibert Stadium Homewood, AL Game start: 6:00 p.m. CDT Game attendance: 4,908 Television network: ESPN3

West Alabama

West Alabama @ Samford

1 2 3 4 Total Tigers 0 7 14 20 41 • No. 17 Bulldogs 14 21 7 7 49 Date: September 7 Location: Seibert Stadium Homewood, AL Game start: 6:00 p.m. CDT Game attendance: 4,509 Television network: ESPN3

@ Georgia

Samford @ Georgia

1 2 3 4 Total No. 17 Bulldogs (SAM) 0 7 0 7 14 • No. 13 (FBS) Bulldogs (UGA) 14 7 21 0 42 Date: September 16 Location: Sanford Stadium Athens, GA Game start: 6:30 p.m. CDT Game attendance: 92,746 Television network: SECN

@ Western Carolina

Samford @ Western Carolina

1 2 3 4 Total No. 18 Bulldogs 7 7 13 7 34 • Catamounts 10 7 7 14 38 Date: September 23 Location: Bob Waters Field at E. J. Whitmire Stadium Cullowhee, NC Game start: 2:30 p.m. CDT Game attendance: 12,018 Television network: ESPN3

The Citadel

The Citadel @ Samford

1 2 3 4 Total No. 8 Bulldogs (CIT) 0 7 7 0 14 • No. 25 Bulldogs (SAM) 28 7 0 0 35 Date: September 30 Location: Seibert Stadium Homewood, AL Game start: 2:00 p.m. CDT Game attendance: 9,233 Television network: ESPN3

@ VMI

Samford @ VMI

1 2 3 4 Total • No. 20 Bulldogs 10 10 3 3 26 Keydets 7 0 0 0 7 Date: October 7 Location: Alumni Memorial Field Lexington, VA Game start: 12:30 p.m. CDT Game attendance: 3,310 Television network: ESPN3

@ Wofford

Samford @ Wofford

1 2 3 4 Total • No. 16 Bulldogs 0 7 7 10 24 No. 5 Terriers 7 0 0 14 21 Date: October 21 Location: Gibbs Stadium Spartanburg, SC Game start: 12:30 p.m. CDT Game attendance: 7,236 Television network: ESPN3

Chattanooga

Chattanooga @ Samford

1 2 3 4 Total • Mocs 0 14 6 3 23 No. 8 Bulldogs 7 0 0 14 21 Date: October 28 Location: Seibert Stadium Homewood, AL Game start: 2:00 p.m. CDT Game attendance: 3,523 Television network: ESPN3

@ Mercer

Samford @ Mercer

1 2 3 4 Total • No. 16 Bulldogs 0 10 8 2 20 Bears 0 3 0 0 3 Date: November 4 Location: Moye Complex Macon, GA Game start: 2:00 p.m. CDT Game attendance: 10,200 Television network: ESPN3

East Tennessee State

East Tennessee State @ Samford

1 2 3 4 Total Buccaneers 0 7 0 0 7 • No. 16 Bulldogs 14 21 0 7 42 Date: November 11 Location: Seibert Stadium Homewood, AL Game start: 2:00 p.m. CST Game attendance: 5,178 Television network: ESPN3

Furman

Furman @ Samford

1 2 3 4 Total No. 20 Paladins 7 10 0 3 20 • No. 17 Bulldogs 7 10 6 3 26 Date: November 18 Location: Seibert Stadium Homewood, AL Game start: 2:30 p.m. CST Game attendance: 4,673 Television network: ESPN3

FCS Playoffs

@ Kennesaw State–First Round

Samford @ Kennesaw State

1 2 3 4 Total No. 14 Bulldogs 3 7 0 7 17 • No. 18 Owls 0 21 7 0 28 Date: November 25 Location: Fifth Third Bank Stadium Kennesaw, GA Game start: 12:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 5,566 Television network: ESPN3

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	19	17	17	18	25	20	19	16	9	16	16	17	14	18
Coaches	19	17	17	17	23	20	18	18	8	15	14	13	14	17

References