Sept. 6, 2008

Faulkner Game Photo Gallery
Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford football team jumped out to a 41-point halftime lead and cruised to a 62-0 win over the Faulkner University Eagles Saturday evening at Seibert Stadium.

The win marked the first shutout posted by the Samford defense since Sept. 11, 1999, when the Bulldogs defeated Austin Peay, 51-0. The win was the biggest for Samford since Nov. 14, 1987, when Samford claimed a 62-0 win over Millsaps.

"We challenged our team to get better this week, and I thought we did," Samford head coach Pat Sullivan said. "I thought we came out with intensity and we played hard. The mistakes were down and whole group played well."

The Samford running game tallied 374 yards on the night. Marcus Rice led the group with 10 rushes for 81 yards and a touchdown. Chris Evans rushed eight times for 66 yards and two touchdowns, all in the first half.

Samford played three quarterbacks on the night. Richie Fordham completed all six of his passes for 47 yards. Starter Dustin Taliaferro completed 5-of-7 passes for 95 yards and a touchdown. Matt Malouf completed 1-of-2 passes for six yards on the night.

Fordham also returned three punts for 30 yards and rushed for 51 yards and a touchdown on six carries. Ryan Fordham caught two passes for 14 yards in the game.

Defensively for Samford, Rumiko Forrester and Ty Levie each had an interception. Freshman Alex Davis had two and a half sacks for 13 yards. Jeremy Richardson had a blocked punt on special teams.

Samford rolled up 510 yards of total offense to Faulkner's 37. The Bulldogs had 24 first downs, while holding the Eagles to just three.

After the teams exchanged turnovers on the first two drives, Samford got on the board first when Brock Johnson scored on a 52-yard run with 11:53 to go in the first quarter. John Paul Fraites added the extra point to give Samford an early 7-0 lead.

The Bulldogs pushed their lead to 14-0 when Evans scored on a six-yard run with 4:29 to go in the first quarter and Fraites added the PAT. Taliaferro later hit Alex Barnett on a 64-yard touchdown pass with 35 seconds remaining in the first quarter, and Fraites' PAT made the score 21-0.

Samford scored on its first possession of the second quarter when Evans scored on a one-yard run with 12:48 to go in the half. Fraites' PAT gave Samford a 28-0 lead. On the next possession, Samford's Richardson blocked a Faulkner punt and Omar Johnson picked up the ball and carried it in for the touchdown with 11:30 to go in the second quarter. The PAT by Fraites gave Samford a 35-0 lead.

Samford's Rice scored on a five-yard run with 6:40 to go in the second quarter. Fraites' extra point was no good and Samford held a 41-0 lead. Samford took its 41-0 lead into halftime.

Samford got on the board in the third quarter when Barnett scored on a five-yard run with 9:29 to go in the third quarter. Matthew Jordan kicked the PAT to make the score 48-0.

Fordham scored on an 18-yard run with 13:00 to go in the fourth quarter, and Jordan's PAT pushed Samford's lead to 55-0. The final points were scored when Harris Johnson scored on a seven-yard run with 4:45 to go in the game, and Jordan added the PAT to make the final score 62-0.

Samford improves to 2-0 with the win, while Faulkner drops to 0-1. Samford is off to a 2-0 start for the first time since 2003 and just the second time since 1996.

Samford will return to action on Saturday, Sept. 13, when the Bulldogs play at Ole Miss. The game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. kickoff from Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.