Aug. 18, 2001

BIRMINGHAM - Junior quarterback Josh Kellett solidified his claim to return as Samford's starter on Saturday, passing for more than 160 yards on 16 completions and leading the No. 1 offense to three touchdowns.

Kellett worked with the No. 1 squad all morning, completing 16 of 23 passes. He tossed touchdown strikes of 30 and 5 yards to Aryvia Holmes and a 10-yard strike to Gary Reed. Kellett has been the Bulldogs' starter the past two seasons, but off-season surgery on his throwing arm caused his conditioning to slip and he fell to second team as preseason practice began.

What also worked against Kellett was a change in offensive philosophy. During Kellett's tenure the Bulldogs have utilized a grind-it-out, multiple-option style attack. Now Kellett is being asked to pass the ball as much or more than running it in the one-back style modeled after Clemson's wide-open attack.

"I thought Josh moved the offense well today,' said Samford Head Coach Pete Hurt. "He is throwing the ball better than I thought he would be at this point, particularly after his surgery in the off-season. He has responded well to the new things that we are doing, and today he looked like he was in command of what we are trying to accomplish.

"Even though we are asking him to different things, I think you can't take away the 20 plus games of experience that he has in leading our team. We told all of our team at the beginning of preseason that every position was up for grabs, and I think he took that as a personal challenge. He has worked very hard in preseason and has shown us some things we weren't sure we would see from him."

Kellett's favorite target in the scrimmage was Aryvia Holmes, who caught eight passes for 85 yards and two scores. Holmes is expected to be one of the Bulldogs' playmakers this season, along with senior Gary Reed, who caught four passes for 38 yards and also scored.

Hurt said the Bulldog defense began the scrimmage impressively, stifling the first and second team offensive units. But after the halftime break, the Bulldog offense took advantage of what Hurt considered a tiring defense, and finished the day with nearly double the amount of passing yardage than rushing.

"I thought the defense as a whole lost its intensity and the offense began to pitch and catch the ball better. What troubled me were a couple of red-zone breakdowns and a few times when the offense still was caught in negative yardage."

Hurt again singled out the performance of junior kicker Chip Walters, who converted on all of his extra point attempts and booted a 35-yard field goal, his only attempt of the day.

Samford will take Sunday off and return to practice on Monday morning.