Ramon Nelson threw for 213 yards and 3 touchdowns in his first career start and Aryvia Holmes caught 7 passes for 136 yards and scored twice as Samford defeated Charleston Southern 45-24 in NCAA Division I-AA football action at CSU Stadium.

Along with Nelson and Holmes, tailbacks Jason Ogletree and John Williams also enjoyed career bests on the day. Nelson finished the game 15-of-25 for 213 yards and 3 touchdowns. Holmes' 136 receiving yards broke his previous mark of 130, and he finished the game with 182 yards of total offense. Ogletree rushed 13 times for 90 yards and scored twice, while Williams had 12 carries for 94 yards. The Bulldogs tallied 418 yards of total offense to CSU's 370.

"I wasn't surprised that we played with a lot of emotion," said Samford Interim Head Coach Bill Gray. "We needed something positive to come out of this week, and I am tickled to death for our players. We were fortunate to complete some things early, but we've been trying all year to put the ball in our playmakers' hands. Today we did that."

Samford (2-4) dominated the first half of play, leading Charleston Southern (4-3) 42-14 at halftime. It was the first time the Bulldogs have scored 42 points in a half since leading Steve McNair's Alcorn State Braves 42-13 in 1994 in Birmingham.

Nelson, who got his first career start in place of the injured Josh Kellett, threw three touchdown strikes in the first half, a 3-yarder to tight end Daniel McClurkin and a pair of 32-yarders to Holmes. Nelson and Holmes set their career marks in the first half, Nelson tossing three scoring strikes and accumulating 213 yards while Holmes snagged seven passes for 136 yards in two quarters. Ogletree also scored twice on runs of five and eight yards in the first half onslaught.

"Today we kept the playbook simple and had fun," said Nelson. "I didn't think I would play as well as I did. We saw some curls, and they tried to jam us man-to-man so we hit some big plays over the top."

Samford led 7-0 on Ogletree's first score, but CSU answered with a 60-yard pass from Jake Sills to Travis Cunningham to tie the game 7-7. Samford special teams also got in on the act in the first period, as Donta Garrett blocked a Buccaneer punt and Tony Tucker returned it 16 yards for a 14-7 Bulldog lead with 4:23 remaining in the first quarter. From there it was all Samford, as Nelson found McClurkin for a 21-7 lead and the Bulldogs led by 21 after Ogeltree's second score. CSU cut the Bulldog lead to 14 with a 4-yard scoring pass from Sills to Tim Coleman, but Nelson found Holmes on two 32-yard scoring strikes and Samford led 42-14 at the half.

Samford added a Chip Walters a 39-yard field goal while CSU got a Josh Waters 47-yard field goal and a 1-yard run from John Muller to account for all of the second half scoring.

Complete Box Score in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader

Play-by-Play in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader