Our side
MoneylineWCU to win
ours 22%
Projected score
36–23
WCU – SAM
2026-11-14 · 3:30 PM
Seibert Stadium · Birmingham, AL
Conference game
Early season
The books
No book has priced this game. Nothing to compare, and no ticket to build.
Series
Samford lead
13–5
· 18 meetings since 2008
2025 unit ranks —
last completed season, from games actually played
Run game
edge Western Carolina Catamounts
56 ranks
Western Carolina Catamounts #162 rush offense
Samford Bulldogs #218 run defense
Pass game
edge Western Carolina Catamounts
168 ranks
Western Carolina Catamounts #24 pass offense
Samford Bulldogs #192 pass defense
Run game
even
44 ranks apart
Samford Bulldogs #263 rush offense
Western Carolina Catamounts #219 run defense
Pass game
even
37 ranks apart
Samford Bulldogs #242 pass offense
Western Carolina Catamounts #205 pass defense
Western Carolina Catamounts
Balanced · 46% run
Avg pace
Dual-threat QB · 36 rush ypg
Samford Bulldogs
Pass-heavy · 39% run
Ball-control
Ranked by team-unit strength
(rush & pass offense vs. run & pass defense) across all 265
D1 teams, not by individual players. Identity, tempo and unit strength are measured from the
2025 season.
The evidence 2025 production and power ratings · supporting the number above
Who carried each team in 2025
Western Carolina Catamounts
DB
Andre Jackson Jr.
18 tkl · 4 PD
#80 DB
DL
Caleb Turner-Allen
8 tkl · 2.0 sacks · 2.0 TFL
#144 DL
TE
Bode Burns
10 rec · 99 yds · 1 TD
#40 TE
LB
Joshua Collins
19 tkl · 2.0 sacks · 3.0 TFL
#121 LB
Samford Bulldogs
DB
LaShon Young
21 tkl · 1 PD
#53 DB
DB
Jalen Nelson
25 tkl
#101 DB
WR
Marquise Henderson
9 rec · 218 yds · 1 TD
#92 WR
LB
Spencer Conn
23 tkl · 2.5 TFL
#90 LB
Top-rated players from last season, ranked within their
position across D1. A grade measures what a player produced, and no
2026 game has been played yet — so this is who produced for
these programs in 2025, not a claim about who is on the field this year.
Power breakdown
Def is higher = better. The projection assumes a 2.4-pt home edge (0 at neutral sites).
Where the number comes from
Western Carolina offense vs Samford defense+9.9 pts
Samford offense vs Western Carolina defense-3.3 pts
Efficiency adjustment · EPA, success rate, explosiveness-1.9 pts
Power projection before adjustment-10.8
Altitude · context only447 m lower than the visitor's home elevation
The projection carries an efficiency adjustment —
a residual from season-to-date EPA, success rate and explosiveness, which earned its place by
walk-forward test (margin error 12.90 → 12.72 across seven held-out seasons).
Situational spots are shown for context, not baked in: travel, altitude and rest
were tested against 6,000+ games and the power and efficiency ratings already account for them.
Adding them again would double-count.