BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Wofford College football team was defeated 35-20 at Seibert Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The Bulldogs scored the first two touchdowns in the game. The Terriers cut the lead to 21-20 on the first drive of the second half, but the Bulldogs scored twice in the fourth quarter to secure the victory.
 
Wofford is 6-3 overall and 5-2 in the Southern Conference, while Samford is 5-4 overall and 4-2 in league play. The Terriers were led by Andre Stoddard 15 carries for 69 yards. The Bulldogs were led by Devlin Hodges with 29-of-41 passing for 399 yards, throwing for four touchdowns and rushing for one. Kelvin McKnight had 171 receiving yards and a touchdown.
 
"It is disappointing to say the least," said Wofford head coach Josh Conklin. "We had our chances for sure. When you face a team like this you have to score points on offense and we didn't do a good enough job on that. We didn't play well enough on special teams and on defense we knew we were going to give up some explosive plays, but you can't let those explosive plays be for touchdowns. It wasn't a good enough effort all the way around in terms of the execution."
 
The Bulldogs had the ball first and on third down Devlin Hodges found a wide-open Kelvin McKnight for a 73-yard touchdown reception. Wofford went three-and-out and punted on their first drive of the game. A sack by DT Wilson and Miles Brown forced the Bulldogs three-and-out. Wofford went three-and-out. The Bulldogs had two big pass plays to set-up a 12-yard touchdown pass to Clarke Miller for a 14-0 lead at 7:18 in the first quarter. Wofford had four first downs and then Jason Hill completed a pass to Lennox McAfee for a 25-yard touchdown. The Terriers trailed 14-7 with 3:39 on the clock in the first quarter.
 
Samford had two first downs and then converted a fourth-and-four. A pass by Devlin Hodges was intercepted in the end zone by JoJo Tillery. Wofford went three-and-out and punted. The Bulldogs had a first down on a pass interference call and added three more first downs to move inside the 10-yard line. A five-yard pass to Chris Shelling gave the Bulldogs a 21-7 lead at 12:23 in the second quarter.
 
The Terriers went three-and-out with Miller Mosley at quarterback. The Bulldogs then had two first downs before punting and Wofford took over at the 8-yard line. After two first downs, Miller Mosley found D'mauriae VanClave for a 35-yard reception. VanCleave then capped the drive with a 19-yard touchdown run to cut the lead to 21-14 with 2:59 left in the first half. The Terriers forced a three-and-out and after the punt had the ball at the 43-yard line. A pass to Jason Hill gained 31 yards and a run by Miller Mosley moved inside the 20-yard line. Luke Carter hit a 34-yard field goal and the Samford lead was 21-17 with 43 seconds remaining in the half. The Bulldogs took a knee to send the game to halftime.
 
Wofford had the ball to open the second half and had a first down on a pass interference call. Two rushing first downs were followed by a first down after a holding penalty and Wofford had the ball at the 20-yard line. After another first down, Luke Carter hit a 27-yard field goal to cut the lead to 21-20 at the 8:48 mark of the third quarter. The Bulldogs had a first down on pass interference and a passing first down before punting. The Terriers had two first downs and were forced to punt. The snap was fumbled and the Bulldogs took over at the 23-yard line. On fourth-and-inches, a run by Devlin Hodges was short and Wofford took over on downs. The Terriers had one first down before having to punt. The Bulldogs drove the field and scored on an eight-yard reception by DeMarcus Ware for a 28-20 lead with 11:25 left in the fourth quarter.
 
With the ball back, the Terriers went three-and-out and punted. Samford had two big pass plays to move the ball to the one-yard line. Devlin Hodges capped the drive with a one-yard run as the Bulldogs took a 35-20 lead with 8:07 remaining in the game. Wofford had two first downs, but a pass on fourth-and-fourteen was incomplete and Samford took over with 5:25 left. They gained one first down before punting and Wofford had the ball at the six-yard line with 1:34 on the clock. The Terriers gained two first downs before time ran out.
 
Wofford had 378 total yards, with 207 rushing yards. Samford had 454 total yards, 399 of which were passing. Both teams had 21 first downs. Wofford was 7-of-17 on third downs and 0-of-2 on fourth down. Samford was 2-of-9 on third down and 1-of-2 on fourth down. Samford was called for five penalties, while Wofford was flagged seven times. Wofford had a 36:19 to 23:41 time of possession advantage.
 
Wofford vs. Samford Post-Game Notes
Samford improves to 11-5 all-time against Wofford and have won four straight in the series.
 
In the conference standings, Wofford (5-2) is in second place with one game remaining. ETSU is now at 6-1 after a win over Mercer and after a bye week will play Samford. Samford and Furman are one game back of the Terriers at 4-2. Samford plays The Citadel and ETSU, while Furman has VMI and Mercer remaining on the schedule.
 
JoJo Tillery had his second interception of the season, giving him three in his career.
 
Wofford allowed a 100-yard receiver for the first time this season as Kelvin McKnight had 171 yards.
 
Game captains were Joe Newman, Ross Hammond and Miles Brown.
 
Attendance was 5,821 at Seibert Stadium.
 
The Terriers remain on the road next Saturday with a visit to Western Carolina on November 10. Wofford will complete the regular season on November 17 against Presbyterian College at Gibbs Stadium.