Oct. 15, 2009

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford football team practiced for a little over an hour in shorts and helmets Thursday afternoon at Seibert Stadium. The workout was the final full practice in preparation for Saturday's Southern Conference road game at Furman.

Samford head coach Pat Sullivan said the team worked well during Thursday's practice. He said the Bulldogs, though still a little banged up, have had a good week of practice preparing for its first road trip in three weeks.

"I thought today was good," Sullivan said. "We were in shorts for an hour. We are still a little beat up, but the thing we have to do is try to get them back as fresh as we can for Saturday."

Sullivan said the team's kicking game has seen a lot of improvement this season. The Bulldogs rank fourth in the Southern Conference in punting and in field goals. Furman leads the league in punting and ranks second in field goals.

"Our kicking game has done well," Sullivan said. "Both of our kickers (punter Bob Hooper and place-kicker Cameron Yaw) have kicked the ball well. We've had good coverage, and that is what we have to do not only this week, but for the rest of the year."

Bob Hooper, Samford's junior punter was named the league's Special Teams Player of the Week this week after averaging a Samford-record 54.2 yards on five punts in last week's game against Chattanooga.

Samford will leave campus Friday morning for Greenville, S.C., and the Bulldogs will have a short walk-through at Furman's Paladin Stadium Friday afternoon.

Saturday's game is scheduled for a 1 p.m. (CT) kickoff from Paladin Stadium. The game can be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.samford.edu/wvsu.