Oct. 3, 2009

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Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford defense held Western Carolina to just 48 yards rushing and 163 yards of total offense as the Bulldogs defeated the Catamounts, 16-3, in Samford's Southern Conference home opener Saturday afternoon at Seibert Stadium.

"We told the players this week if you play hard, create turnovers, don't turn the ball over and win the kicking game, nine times out of 10 you'll win the game, and we did all of those things today," Samford head coach Pat Sullivan said. "This was a good win for us."

Samford improves to 3-2 overall and 1-1 in SoCon play with the win. Western Carolina drops to 0-5 overall and 0-3 in league play.

Samford was led offensively by Chris Evans, rushing 26 times for 140 yards and a touchdown. Dustin Taliaferro completed 14-of-24 passes for 103 yards. DeMarcus Covington caught six passes for 45 yards in the win.

Bryce Smith led the Samford defense with nine tackles and an interception. Corey White also had an interception, and Ty Levie recovered a fumble.

Freshman place-kicker Cameron Yaw kicked three field goals, making kicks of 35, 27 and 47 yards. Yaw's 47-yard kick was a career-long. Bob Hooper punted four times for an average of 43.8 yards per punt. Hooper pinned WCU inside its own 10-yard line twice during the game.

WCU's Zack Jaynes completed 12-of-19 passes for 115 yards and two interceptions. Marquel Pittman caught five passes for 61 yards in the game. Chris Collins led WCU with 12 tackles, while Adrian McLeod added 10 tackles for the Catamounts.

Samford got on the scoreboard first when Evans scored on a two-yard run with 11:27 to go in the second quarter. Yaw added the extra point to give Samford a 7-0 lead. The drive was set up when Smith intercepted a Jaynes pass, giving Samford the ball at the WCU 25-yard line.

Western Carolina cut the Samford lead to 7-3 when Blake Bostic kicked a career-long 44-yard field goal with 5:00 to go in the second quarter. Samford answered with a 35-yard field goal by Yaw with 1:05 to go in the second quarter to push Samford's lead to 10-3.

Samford made the score 13-3 when Yaw booted a 27-yard field goal with 2:28 to go in the third quarter. Yaw added a career-long 46-yard field goal with 8:08 to go in the fourth quarter to make the final score 16-3.

Samford had 266 yards of total offense to WCU's 163. The Bulldogs held the ball for 30:14, while WCU had the ball for 29:46.

Samford will return to action on Saturday, Oct. 10, when the Bulldogs play host to the Chattanooga Mocs. The game, which will be televised live on SportSouth, is scheduled for a 3 p.m. kickoff from Seibert Stadium.