College Football around Alabama: Samford Puts a Scare into Florida State

While the top ranked Alabama Crimson Tide easily took care of Arkansas State in their 2018 home opener, another Yellowhammer State based team nearly pulled off one of their biggest wins in school history.

Samford's Near Miss at Florida State

Following their 66-9 smashing of Shorter University to open the season, the Samford Bulldogs traveled to Tallahassee on the hunt for a major upset.

After a 90 minute weather delay, senior quarterback Devlin Hodges hooked up with senior Kelvin McKnight for a 54-yard scoring strike on their first play from scrimmage to give Samford a 6-0 lead.

The Bulldogs stopped the Seminoles on their next possession, then drove 75 yards with senior running back capping off the drive with a two-yard touchdown run to increase the lead to 13-0.

Samford and Florida State went back and forth through the rest of the first half as the Bulldogs took a 23-21 advantage to the halftime locker room.

Both defenses stepped up in the 2nd half as neither team scored in the third quarter. Samford punched through a 36-yard field goal to build their lead to 26-21.

The Seminoles took their first lead on a 5-yard touchdown toss from Deondre Francois to tight end Tre' McKitty. Francois also threw the two-point converstion pass to McKitty to give Florida State a 29-26 lead.

With Samford driving into FSU territory, Hodges hurled an interception to Levonta Taylor who returned it 63-yards for a 36-26 Seminoles win.

Hodges threw for 475 yards and two scores but threw four interceptions. McKnight led all receivers with 14 catches for 275 yards and two touchdowns.

Auburn Takes Care of Alabama State 

The Auburn Tigers opened the home schedule in style by blowing out Alabama State 63-9.

The Tigers put the game out of reach thanks to 21 points in the first and second quarters to take a 42-0 lead. The Hornets got on the board with a safety shortly before halftime.

Auburn rushed for 429 yards with JaTarvious Whitlow and Shaun Shivers each going north of 100 yards with Shivers adding a touchdown. Including Shivers, six different rushers scored a rushing touchdown.

Coastal Carolina Trounces UAB

The UAB Blazers dropped their first road game of the season 47-24 this past Saturday at Coastal Carolina.

The Chanticleers won with big plays and a dominant fourth quarter as they scored four touchdowns from 26 yards or longer and outscored the Blazers 20-0 in the final stanza.

UAB rushed for 286 yards led by Spencer Brown's 94 yards on 20 carries. Coastal Carolina topped that mark rushing for 296 yards with Marcus Outlow gaining a game-high 140 yards and two scores.

Week 2 Scores