2022 FCS Season Preview: Samford

Samford struggled through a 4-7 season last year the same way they seem to go through every year: playing a bunch of shootouts hoping to just outscore the opponent. While the Bulldogs scored almost 38 points per game, they allowed 39.5 a game. That style of play made for a fun watch in a game against Florida where Montrell Washington (now in the NFL) helped lead the Bulldogs to 52 points. Unfortunately, they allowed 70. But that has been Samford football for the past half decade.

This year will be tougher. Not only does Samford have to break in a new quarterback, but they also must replace their top three receivers from last year. Without a huge improvement on defense, which I don’t see, it looks to be a really long season for the Bulldogs.

(For a link to CSJ’s full 2022 SoCon preview, click here.)

Impact Players

RB Jay Stanton is a good feature back in the Samford offense. With the top three receivers from 2021 moving on and breaking in a new quarterback, the Bulldogs would be smart to run more of their offense through Stanton in 2022.

WR Ty King had a down year in 2021. He will need to step up and be the number one receiver this year and return to the Spring form that saw him name first team all conference. King is also the main kick returner and will look to flip field position.

Quarterback is a big question for Samford this year. After the past few year with Devlin Hodges, Chris Oladokun and Liam Welch, the Bulldogs figure to have a quarterback competition between Ty Hatcher and Kentucky transfer Nik Scalzo.

Key Game: September 24 vs. Western Carolina

Worst Case: The defense is as bad as usual and the offense never clicks working in new weapons leading to a last place SoCon finish.

Best Case: The offense clicks with Scalzo, and outscores the opponents a couple extra times and they finish around .500.  

Samford 2022 Season

September 1, 2022 17 - 27 Seibert Stadium N/A Samford 27, Kennesaw State 17 Highlights: Available
September 10, 2022 0 - 33 Sanford Stadium N/A Georgia 33, Samford 0 TV/Streaming: SEC Network
September 17, 2022 33 - 28 Tucker Stadium N/A Samford 33,Tennessee Tech 28 Highlights: Available
September 24, 2022 3:00 pm Seibert Stadium N/A Western Carolina at Samford TV/Streaming: ESPN3
October 1, 2022 2:00 pm Paladin Stadium N/A Samford at Furman TV/Streaming: ESPN+
October 8, 2022 1:00 pm Seibert Stadium N/A Wofford at Samford
October 22, 2022 3:30 pm William B. Greene Stadium N/A Samford at East Tennessee State
October 29, 2022 2:00 pm Johnson Hagood Stadium N/A Samford at The Citadel
November 5, 2022 3:00 pm Seibert Stadium N/A VMI at Samford
November 12, 2022 1:30 pm Finley Stadium N/A Samford at Chattanooga TV/Streaming: ESPN+
November 19, 2022 1:00 pm Seibert Stadium N/A Mercer at Samford

Jamie Williams

Jamie is a proud 2002 graduate of James Madison University. He’s witnessed the growth of the program from no one in the stands in 1998, to the hiring of Mickey Matthews, to the 2004 National Championship, to the 2008 team, to the struggles in the early 2010s, and finally the rebuild under Mike Houston. He also allegedly really enjoys Washington, DC-based Stanley Cup winners.

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