CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Chattanooga leaned on its running game and its defense in a steady rain Saturday at Finley Stadium, beating Samford 19-3 in a Southern Conference game between the Mocs and the Bulldogs.
The Mocs ran the ball 58 times for 200 yards and finished with 255 yards of total offense. They set the tone right away with a 16-play, 85-yard opening touchdown drive that featured just a single pass attempt and ate 8:41 of clock. Journey Wyche finished it with a one-yard run for a 7-0 lead.
Kicker Jude Kelley did the rest of the scoring. He made field goals from 46 and 39 yards in the second quarter, another from 39 yards to open the second half and a 45-yarder with just under six minutes left. Samford got its only points on a 46-yard field goal by Ty Ippolito before halftime.
Running back Kevin Lalin carried 28 times for 156 yards. Chattanooga held the ball for 38:16 and went 3-for-3 in the red zone.
The defense held Samford, a far more pass-heavy team, to 137 yards of total offense and just 20 rushing yards on 21 attempts, with four sacks. The Mocs have allowed only 32 points over their last four games, the fewest in a four-game stretch since 1981.
The game plan surprised no one. Chattanooga came in known for lots of running and very little passing, and with a wet football and slick conditions there was no reason to change. Samford answered only once, putting together a 12-play, 44-yard drive before the halftime buzzer.
The win also kept a strong series trend going. Chattanooga is 36-12-3 all-time against Samford, a .735 winning percentage that is the best in program history against any opponent the Mocs have played at least 15 times.
Kelley scored 13 points on the day and moved into fourth place on the program career scoring list, passing running back Ailym Ford.
Chattanooga heads into its bye week at 4-3 overall and 3-1 in the SoCon.
