Aug. 30, 2011

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford football team practiced for about two hours in shells Tuesday afternoon at Seibert Stadium. The Bulldogs are continuing to prepare for Saturday's season-opening game against No. 3 Georgia Southern.

Samford head coach Pat Sullivan said he likes the preparation his team has put in so far this week.

"I thought mentally they were really into it today," Sullivan said. "They did a good job. We're not there yet, but we have a couple more days to make sure we get all of our assignments down. Overall, I thought today was a good practice."

Georgia Southern enters the season ranked third in the preseason Division I-FCS Coaches Poll and fourth in the Sports Network poll. The Eagles return 20 of their 22 starters from last year's team that reached the semifinals of the NCAA playoffs.

Sullivan said he has been very impressed with what he has seen from Georgia Southern on film.

"They're deserving of being the number three team in the country," Sullivan said. "They have 20 starters back. After our game last year, they won six in a row. You could see each week, leading up to our game a year ago they were getting better and better and buying into the plan of Coach (Jeff) Monken. They are a great football team."

Samford will practice again Wednesday afternoon. Wednesday's practice is scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m. at Seibert Stadium.

The team's season-opener against Georgia Southern is scheduled for a 6 p.m. kickoff from Seibert Stadium on Sept. 3. The game can be heard live on the Samford Sports Network, including Samford's on-campus station, WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.samford.edu/wvsu.