# 2018 Samford Bulldogs football team

The 2018 Samford Bulldogs football team represented Samford University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by fourth-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 6–5, 5–3 in SoCon play to finish in fourth place.

## Preseason
### Award watch lists

| Award | Player | Position | Year |
| Walter Payton Award | Devlin Hodges | QB | SR |
| Buck Buchanan Award | Ahmad Gooden | DE | SR |

### Preseason media poll

The SoCon released their preseason media poll on July 25, 2018, with the Bulldogs predicted to finish as SoCon champions. The same day the coaches released their preseason poll with the Bulldogs also predicted to finish as SoCon champions.
Media poll :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Samford | 204 (20) |
| 2 | Furman | 174 (2) |
| 3 | Wofford | 163 (1) |
| 4 | Mercer | 133 |
| 5 | Western Carolina | 114 |
| 6 | Chattanooga | 88 |
| 7 | The Citadel | 83 |
| 8 | East Tennessee State | 53 |
| 9 | VMI | 23 |
Coaches poll :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Samford | 63 (7) |
| 2 | Wofford | 53 (1) |
| 3 | Furman | 52 (1) |
| 4 | Western Carolina | 39 |
| 5 | Chattanooga | 34 |
| 6 | Mercer | 32 |
| 7 | The Citadel | 28 |
| 8 | East Tennessee State | 15 |
| 9 | VMI | 8 |

### Preseason All-SoCon Teams

The Bulldogs placed seven players on the all-SoCon teams. Quarterback Devlin Hodges was selected as preseason offensive player of the year and Defensive lineman Ahmad Gooden was selected as preseason defensive player of the year.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| August 30 | 6:30 p.m. | Shorter* | No. 11 | Seibert StadiumHomewood, AL | ESPN+ | W 66–9 | 5,252 |
| September 8 | 6:20 p.m. | at Florida State* | No. 9 | Doak Campbell StadiumTallahassee, FL | ACCN | L 26–36 | 72,239 |
| September 15 | 2:00 p.m. | Mercer | No. 9 | Seibert StadiumHomewood, AL | ESPN+ | L 24–30 | 8,717 |
| September 22 | 6:00 p.m. | at Chattanooga | No. 17 | Finley StadiumChattanooga, TN | ESPN+ | L 20–27 | 10,469 |
| September 29 | 5:00 p.m. | at No. 4 Kennesaw State* | | Fifth Third Bank StadiumKennesaw, GA | ESPN3 | L 10–24 | 4,396 |
| October 6 | 12:30 p.m. | Western Carolina | | Seibert StadiumHomewood, AL | ESPN3 | W 66–28 | 3,178 |
| October 13 | 2:00 p.m. | VMI | | Seibert StadiumHomewood, AL | ESPN+ | W 73–22 | 4,163 |
| October 20 | 1:00 p.m. | at Furman | | Paladin StadiumGreenville, SC | ESPN+ | W 38–25 | 6,016 |
| November 3 | 2:00 p.m. | No. 9 Wofford | | Seibert StadiumHomewood, AL | ESPN+ | W 35–20 | 5,821 |
| November 10 | 1:00 p.m. | at The Citadel | | Johnson Hagood StadiumCharleston, SC | ESPN+ | L 27–42 | 11,145 |
| November 17 | 12:00 p.m. | at No. 19 East Tennessee State | | William B. Greene Jr. StadiumJohnson City, TN | ESPN3 | W 38–27 | 8,749 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Central time ||||||||

## Game summaries
### Shorter

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Hawks | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 9 |
| No. 11 Bulldogs | 17 | 28 | 7 | 14 | 66 |

### At Florida State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 9 Bulldogs | 16 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 26 |
| Seminoles | 7 | 14 | 0 | 15 | 36 |

### Mercer

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bears | 7 | 10 | 0 | 13 | 30 |
| No. 9 Bulldogs | 7 | 0 | 7 | 10 | 24 |

### At Chattanooga

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 17 Bulldogs | 0 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 20 |
| Mocs | 10 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 27 |

### At Kennesaw State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bulldogs | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
| No. 4 Owls | 7 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 24 |

### Western Carolina

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Catamounts | 0 | 21 | 0 | 7 | 28 |
| Bulldogs | 35 | 7 | 14 | 10 | 66 |

### VMI

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Keydets | 9 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 22 |
| Bulldogs | 14 | 28 | 24 | 7 | 73 |

### At Furman

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bulldogs | 10 | 0 | 21 | 7 | 38 |
| Paladins | 3 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 25 |

### Wofford

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 9 Terriers | 7 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 20 |
| Bulldogs | 14 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 35 |

### At The Citadel

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| SAM Bulldogs | 14 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 27 |
| CIT Bulldogs | 0 | 7 | 14 | 21 | 42 |

### At East Tennessee State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bulldogs | 7 | 10 | 7 | 14 | 38 |
| No. 19 Buccaneers | 10 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 27 |

## Ranking movements

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Final |
| STATS FCS | 11 | 9 | 9 | 17 | RV | — | — | — | RV | RV | RV | — | RV | |
| Coaches | 10 | 9 | 9 | 17 | RV | — | — | — | — | — | RV | — | — | |