State of the Bulldogs Game Predictions: The Citadel

The State of The Bulldogs Podcast crew will provide predictions for the game each Friday. Read a breakdown of The Citadel here from Know Your Foe on who to watch out for. Here’s Michael, Sam, and Grant on what they expect to see Saturday.

Game 9: Samford (4-4, 3-3) vs The Citadel (0-7, 0-4)

When: 2:00 Saturday

TV: ESPN+

Michael Wilson

Coming off a bizarre 2nd half against VMI where both teams went scoreless, Samford looks to rebound against a struggling (to put it lightly) Citadel team. Head coach Maurice Drayton’s pre-season quote calling his team poor quality is the most memorable moment of the season after 7 games, and we hope it stays that way after game 8. Maybe to Drayton this was a motivation tactic, maybe it was an expectation setter like Hatcher’s “our goal for the season is to be the best version of ourselves that we can be”. Either way, the state of this Citadel team doesn’t look to have changed much since this preseason quote. Through Citadel’s 4 SoCon games this year, their offense is scoring 11 points per game (8.7 including non-conference games) while their defense is giving up 35.5 point per game. Both good enough for last place in the SoCon. This is a team that struggles to move the ball on offense while allowing, on average, over 200 rushing and over 200 passing yards per game. 

While this game *shouldn’t* be a real test for Samford, there are plenty of things to look for during this year’s homecoming game. First, let’s limit the costly penalties. Specifically pre-snap penalties and red zone penalties. Second, I want to see how our secondary holds up. While Citadel doesn’t have a potent offense, they’ve shown they are capable of producing big yardage plays through the air. Multiple Citadel receivers have produced plays for 15+ yards in each of their SoCon games this year. Lastly, I’m hoping we get to see what our back-ups are capable of. If things go according to plan early on, it would be fun to see Quincy and others get some playing time so we can get a glimpse for what the future might hold.

Samford 45, The Citadel 10

Grant Gardner

Well Samford did get off the mat last week beating VMI on the road in Lexington. This team could have definitely folded it in and gone through the motions last week. It was definitely odd to see either team held scoreless but Samford started out hot and coasted from there. As mentioned in Know Your Foe, The Citadel is a bad football team. These Bulldogs are the only team in the FCS to average single digit points a contest.

In Samford’s three SoCon wins, RB Jay Stanton has rushed for 177, 104, and 146 yards respectively with 6 TDs. The Citadel ranks last in the SoCon giving up 213 yards per game on the ground so expect Stanton to have a big day. Ideally this is a game where you start out hot and sit the starters in the second half. Let those young guys, who probably circled this game on the calendar, get those opportunities and see who shines. Homecoming games are always fun and you want to cherish these final home games especially for the seniors. Samford rolls.

Samford 49, The Citadel 3

Samford RB #20 Jay Stanton, Courtesy of Samford Athletics

Sam Devaney

It’s Homecoming week and what better opponent than an 0-7 Citadel team who has been outscored 263-61 on the season so far.

A bad defense means our running game will be on point as Jay Stanton looks to make a statement in his second to last home game. I think he will at least replicate his incredible performance last week with close to 150 yards on the ground. Hiers will spread it out as usual but I have a feeling the seniors will want to show out for their last homecoming so Brendan Jenkins might have another week below 50 yards.

I would say the defense will make a stand but they allowed VMI to score 14 points… so Citadel might eclipse their season high of 14 points against us. But if we lock them down early and score quickly it might give the defense enough energy to hold them under 10. We shall see.

Samford 51, The Citadel 10

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