It did not take long for Florida State fans to realize this would be a long night.
On Samford’s first offensive play of the game, quarterback Devlin Hodges connected with star receiver Kelvin McKnight on a 54-yard touchdown pass over Stanford Samuels.
One play, eight seconds, 54-yards.
Samford’s coaching staff realized early on that the only way they could upset Florida State would be on the arm of Hodges. One of the top overall players in the FCS division, Hodges racked up 475 passing yards and two touchdowns through the air against FSU’s secondary. McKnight was a one-man wrecking crew at receiver, catching 14 passes for 215 yards and two scores.