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
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
Seasons ← 2016 2018 →

2017 Southern Conference football standings
v t e
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 Poll

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.

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 (NCAA Division I First Round)	ESPN3	L 17–28	5,566
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

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
	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

v t e Samford Bulldogs football
Venues	West End Park (1902–1903, 1905–1910) Alabama State Fairgrounds (1902, 1906, 1910–1912) Howard Athletic Field (1912–1917) Eagles/Berry Field (1919–1927) Rickwood Field (1917–1927) Legion Field (1927–1944, 1950, 1955, 1990) Pete Hanna Stadium (1958–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Jacksonville State
Culture & lore	Marching band Porter Cup
People	Head coaches NFL draftees
Seasons	1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946–1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974–1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

v t e 2017 NCAA Division I FCS playoff participants
Central Arkansas Central Connecticut Elon Furman Jacksonville State James Madison Kennesaw State Lehigh Monmouth New Hampshire Nicholls State North Dakota State Northern Arizona Northern Iowa Sam Houston State Samford San Diego South Dakota South Dakota State Southern Utah Stony Brook Weber State Western Illinois Wofford
Champion – North Dakota State