Sept. 25, 2011
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -
The Samford football team practiced for about an hour in shorts and helmets Sunday evening at Seibert Stadium. The Bulldogs began their preparations for Saturday's home game against Gardner-Webb.
Samford enters the non-conference game with a record of 1-2 overall and 0-2 in Southern Conference play after falling at eighth-ranked Wofford, 38-23, Saturday evening.
Gardner-Webb is also 1-2 on the season. The Runnin' Bulldogs took last week off from competition. They are coming off a 48-5 loss at Wake Forest on Sept. 17.
"It's the next game and we have to get ready," Samford head coach Pat Sullivan said. "They have good athletes, and they had an off-week this week. From looking at them against Wake Forest, you can see the quality of their athletes from that game."
Sullivan added that his team needs to concentrate on improving this week, especially on the fundamentals.
"Just like every week, we have to go back and worry about us and try to improve on our fundamentals and get some of our guys back healthy," Sullivan said.
Sullivan said, despite the outcome, he saw some positive things from Saturday evening's game at Wofford.
"There were a lot of positives things from the game," Sullivan said. "I think our kicking game is getting better each week. It's never as good as you think or as bad as you think. I thought Kelsey Pope, obviously had a big game, and Fabian Truss was outstanding returning kicks."
In the Wofford game, Pope caught career-high eight passes for a career-high 96 yards. Truss returned five kickoffs for a career-high 161 yards. Place-kicker Cameron Yaw made 3-of-4 field goal attempts. He made kicks from 29, 30 and 46 yards out.
The Bulldogs will take Monday off from practice. The team will practice again Tuesday at 4:40 p.m. at Seibert Stadium.
Saturday's game against Gardner-Webb is scheduled for a 2 p.m. kickoff from Seibert Stadium. 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.
Fans can also watch the game online via live streaming on the Bulldog Big Screen at www.samfordsports.com. GameTracker will also be available at www.samfordsports.com.
