Oct. 17, 2005

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford football team worked out for about 45 minutes in shells Monday afternoon at Seibert Stadium. The Bulldogs were working to correct mistakes from last Saturday's 27-23 win over Murray State.

"It feels good to come out and work on corrections after a win," Samford head coach Bill Gray said. "The positive part is that our corrections are getting fewer and fewer. It was just a good total team effort on Saturday. We got points from our defense and from our special teams, and I thought we took some steps forward in both of those areas. There is a reason for everyone to be excited coming out for practice today."

This week, Samford will take on a much-improved Tennessee-Martin team. The Skyhawks are currently 4-2 overall and 2-1 in the OVC after having won just two games overall in each of the last two seasons. Samford enters the game with a record of 3-4 overall and 2-2 in conference play.

"Coach (Matt) Griffin has done a good job up there, and they have gotten better every year," Gray said. "They are playing with a lot of confidence. They have won three of their last four games. The have a senior quarterback (Brady Wahlberg) and a sophomore tailback (Donald Chapman) who are good players. They have an experienced receiver (Taurean Stephens) who is a junior. They play hard on defense, and it will be a big challenge for us."

Samford will practice again on Tuesday at 3:45 p.m. at Seibert Stadium. Saturday's game is scheduled for a 12:00 p.m. kickoff from Hardy Graham Stadium in Martin, Tenn. The game can be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.samfordsports.com or www.al.com/wvsu.