Samford ready to face Central Florida

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—The Samford football team practiced for about an hour and a half in shorts and helmets Thursday afternoon at Seibert Stadium. The workout was the final full practice in preparation for Saturday’s season-opener at UCF.

Samford head coach Pat Sullivan said he is excited about the start of another season.

“It’s time to play, all the work is basically done,” Sullivan said. “We’ll fly down Saturday morning, play the game and come back. We are not as healthy as I’d like for us to be, but so be it. We’ll take our healthy guys down there and go. Central Florida, from what we hear from them, has had a good camp, and we are looking forward to going down.”

Sullivan said there are a lot of players on the team who have had strong showings throughout preseason practice.

“Our quarterbacks, Dustin (Taliaferro) and Connor (Lowery) both have had good camps,” Sullivan said. “Our running backs, Chris Evans and Alex Barnett have both done well. Our wide receivers, with us getting Riley Hawkins back about 10 days ago, have done a good job.

“Defensively, up front, our front four have all stayed healthy and gone through camp,” Sullivan said. “Jason Gaines, Patrick Hatcher, Rumiko Forrester and John Michael Clay, all of those guys have done well. Linebacker Bryce Smith is solid in the middle. C.J. Brown and Ryan Anderson on the outside have basically stayed healthy as well.

“I am anxious to see how our kicker will do,” Sullivan said. “We signed a kid last year, Cameron Yaw out of Hewitt-Trussville. He has had an outstanding camp for us. This time last year, he was kicking in high school, so it will be interesting to see how he does, but I think he will do well.”

Sullivan said the decision on whether some of the injured players will be back for Saturday’s game may be a game-time decision.

“We’ve had some guys who have been nicked up, it has been one of those falls,” Sullivan said. “I’m not sure exactly who we will have back by Saturday night, there will be a lot of game-time decisions. So, we’ve missed some continuity and polish that you usually get this time of year.”

Samford will have one final walk-through Friday afternoon at Seibert Stadium. The Bulldogs will leave campus Saturday morning at 7:30.

Saturday’s season-opening game at UCF is scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. (CT) start from Bright House Networks Stadium.
(courtesy: Samford Sports Information)