BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Powered by a five-turnover defensive showcase -- including a pair touchdowns off fumble recoveries -- along with a career day for Alabama native
Javonte Graves-Billips, The Citadel (1-1, 1-0 SoCon) overwhelmed league adversary Samford (0-2, 0-1 SoCon) in both programs' conference opener, ousting the host Bulldogs behind a decisive 40-13 mark Saturday afternoon at Pete Hanna Stadium.
"We are a blue collar team, we take pride in that and thrive on having that blue collar mentality and we showed that today," head coach
Maurice Drayton. "We practice creating turnovers every day in practice and it was great to see the defense capitalize and put points on the board."
KEY NOTES
-- Offensively,
Cobey Thompkins led the way with 76 rush yards on 13 carries, notably breaking off a career-long 25-yarder on a key Bulldogs scoring drive to end the first half, while also racking up 155 yards through the air on 9-of-11 passing with one score
-- Additionally,
Quentin Hayes contributed a solid 59 yards on the ground as well with one touchdown -- an 18-yard scamper to cap The Citadel scoring -- while finishing 1-of-2 in the passing game for 13 yards and another touchdown
-- For the receiving corps, Graves-Billips dominated the Samford secondary with a six-catch, 139-yard performance for a pair of touchdowns, setting a new single-game career best for total yards while matching his top outing in scoring receptions
-- Defensively,
Tyrik McDaniel and
Darryle Ware paced the squad with 11 tackles apiece, with the former swiping an interception deep in Samford territory and former registering one tackle-for-loss on the day; additionally,
Bradlee Jones recorded a banner day across multiple facets of the game, logging seven tackles, one pass breakup and a 59-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown on a botched Samford fake field goal
-- On the turnover front,
Camden Gray picked off the host Bulldogs late in the first half at The Citadel five-yard line,
Lee Alexander Jr. grabbed another interception to open the third quarter and true freshman
Sayre Smothers notched a textbook 31-yard scoop and score following a
Nolan Jones strip late in the same period
-- On the defensive front,
Chris Benton chalked up 1.5 sacks while
Chris Iverson and
Kellen George each collected one sack apiece
-- Of particular note, The Citadel secured the program's first road victory over Samford since 2015
-- Additionally, the Bulldogs registered the team's first fumble recovery return for a touchdown -- two, in fact -- for the first time since the 2016 campaign
-- Two true freshmen -- J'Hari Mosley & George -- plus
Reese Patterson all made their collegiate debuts while Thompkins and Smothers posted their first career starts
LIVE TWEETS
-- #FireThoseCannons --
