Aug. 17, 2000

Samford football will hold its first live scrimmage of the preseason Saturday morning at 9 a.m., an open practice scheduled as part of Samford's annual "Meet the Bulldogs Day."

Other events of the day include a barbecue luncheon at 1 p.m. in the Samford cafeteria, a time which offers fans and family members the opportunity to hear head coach Pete Hurt's remarks about the 2000 season. Tickets for the luncheon will be available at the scrimmage and at the cafeteria for $5 per person.

The Bulldogs return an offense which is experienced and that has added new packages to its arsenal. Defensively Samford is young, and Hurt says he has told his defensive unit that positions are wide open to whoever will take them. He is anxious to see how his team will execute and perform in a game situation.

"Our players have done a good job in learning, especially the young guys, and we have had some good practices in pads. Obviously the younger guys are not where they need to be in terms of understanding and techniques, but many of them have shown in practice that they want to play and I'm excited about that.

"I told those guys that no one has secured a spot, and I've said several times since we started last week that we have some very good athletic talent out here. Offensively we have handled all of the new packages well, but that doesn't mean that they'll execute well in a game. And defensively we're basically starting from scratch this year. Now we'll get to see how all of that plays out in a game-type situations."