Samford wins 28-23 after long weather delay

Sep 1, 2017, 06:15 am

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Devlin Hodges threw four touchdown passes and Samford rallied in the second half after a long delay for a 28-23 victory over Kennesaw State on Thursday night.

The game was delayed nearly three hours when the stadium was cleared at halftime because of severe weather.

Hodges finished 16-of-24 passing for 241 yards, throwing for three scores in the second half, two to Kelvin McKnight, to rally the Bulldogs.

Samford scored on its first drive of the second half on Hodges' 28-yard pass to Andrew Harris, to take a 14-10 lead. Following a blocked punt, Hodges made it 21-10 with an 18-yard TD pass to McKnight.

Jake McKenzie's 1-yard run cut Samford's lead to 21-17 in the fourth quarter. Hodges responded with a 58-yard scoring pass to McKnight before the Owls cut it to 28-23 on a 27-yard pass by running back McKenzie to TJ Reed with 4:48 remaining, though a conversion pass failed. The Owls got the ball back with 2:11 remaining but stalled at the Samford 43.

Kennesaw State outgained Samford 330-95 in the first half, including 205-28 on the ground, but led only 10-7. The Owls were halted at the Bulldogs 4-yard line on their first drive, lost a fumble, had a pass intercepted and missed a 50-yard field goal.

McKenzie ran in from 2 yards out for the game's first score before Samford tied it on the ensuing possession, scoring on a 3-yard pass from Hodges to Chris Shelling. Justin Thompson gave Kennesaw a 10-7 halftime lead with an 18-yard field goal after the Owls failed to get into the end zone with a first-and-goal.

Kennesaw State outgained Samford 545-311.