Steve Irvine’s Five Storylines for Samford vs. ETSU
By Steve Irvine
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - October 11, 2024
SAMFORD VS. ETSU
Site, kickoff time: William B. Green Jr. Stadium, 2:30 p.m. CT
Record: Samford 2-2 overall, 1-0 SoCon; ETSU, 3-3 overall, 1-1 SoCon
Five storylines
1. How many quick-strike touchdowns will Samford have in the game? Scoring quickly has been a mark of Chris Hatcher’s time at Samford. This year, though, those quick strikes haven’t come often. In fact, the only scoring drive that lasted less than two minutes in the first three games came in the opener against West Georgia when a 68-yard touchdown pass from Quincy Crittendon to Brendan Jenkins was the lone play of the drive. This past week, in a 27-3 victory over VMI, the Bulldogs had scoring drives that lasted 1:26 and 48 seconds but the first ended with a field goal and the second one, which ended in a touchdown, covered just eight yards in two plays. Samford did have a seven-play, 70-yard touchdown drive that took 2:04 off the clock.
2. Will the game’s leading tackler be Samford linebacker Noah Martin or ETSU linebacker William McRainey? Martin has his five-game streak of double-digit tackles snapped last week in the win over VMI. The 6-foot-2, 232-pound graduate student still finished with a team-high seven tackles and is averaging 10 tackles per game, which is sixth best in FCS. McRainey, a 6-foot, 228-pound transfer from Gardner-Webb, has 376 career tackles, which is third most among active FCS players. He has 39 tackles in six games this season and is coming off a 12-tackle game. Martin has 348 career tackles, including 40 tackles in the four games this season.
3. Can the Samford defense continue their stingy ways? The Bulldogs allowed just 10 points in the past two games and allowed just one touchdown in the last eight quarters. The Bulldogs will be challenged by an ETSU offense that averages 412 yards per game with 231 of that coming on the ground. Running back Bryson Irby has 515 rushing yards and five touchdowns this season. Quarterback Jaylen King is also a threat, accounting for 1,113 yards and eight touchdowns in six games.
4. Is the 1-2 home record for ETSU a bit deceiving? In this case, it probably is a bit deceiving. One of the losses came to No. 2 ranked North Dakota State, which crawled out of a 12-point hole in the final two minutes to pull out a 38-35 victory. Last week, in Chattanooga’s 17-10 win over ETSU, the winning touchdown came with 43 seconds left in the game. ETSU is not far away from being unbeaten at home this season.
5. How fresh is this Samford team? Hatcher said he was worried about rust after a 21-day period between games heading into last week’s win over VMI. That rust never showed up in the dominating victory. In hindsight, the long layoff could be helpful to keep the Bulldogs fresh as they head into a pivotal stretch.