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Bulldogs will prove tough for UTM


UTM head football coach Sam McCorkle knows that Samford has a good football team, but its 1-2 won-loss record is deceiving.

McCorkle and the Skyhawks will get a chance to see just how good the Bulldogs are Saturday at 6 p.m. when the two teams meet at Seibert Stadium in Birmingham, Ala.

Samford enters the game with a double overtime win over North Alabama and losses to Baylor and Nichols State.

UTM makes its first road trip of the year for its first Saturday contest of the season with a 2-1 record, its best start since 1995.

Both teams are hungry for a victory. Samford’s Bulldogs want to put a muzzle on their current two-game slide and knock off the Skyhawks so they can boast of an Ohio Valley Conference win a year before they officially join the league.

The Skyhawks want to silence nay sayers with a win over a quality Division I-AA program and gain momentum for road trips to Arkansas State and OVC power Eastern Kentucky in the next two weeks.

McCorkle says the Skyhawks will have to play their game against Samford and not let the host Bulldogs run their spread offense all over the place.

“We need to stay on our schedule and avoid long-yardage situations on offense,” McCorkle said. “We must continue to have good ball security, and we must play four quarters of football and avoid some of these costly penalties.”

The Skyhawks have been flagged 33 times for 279 yards in three games. “The penalties have been erratic and frustrating,” McCorkle said.

Offsetting the miscues, is the Skyhawk defense which has held three foes to 241 yards of rushing. The Skyhawks are tops in the OVC because they only give up an average of 80.33 yards per game on the ground. The Skyhawk defense is also at the top of the OVC in total defense, allowing an average of 302.3 yards per contest.

If Samford tries to establish the ground game with its passing attack, it should be aware of Perez Boyd. The senior free safety from Starkville, Miss., has picked off a pass in each of his last two games, and he ranks among the conference leaders with 8.3 tackles per game.

If Samford relies on its passing attack, Josh Kellett will call the signals, and he will look for Aryvia Holmes who caught eight passes in last week’s game for 81 yards. Kellett earned the start against Nichols State because of his effort in the Bulldogs’ loss to Baylor two weeks ago.

“They will try to mix things up offensively,” McCorkle said. “They are well-coached and they have a tough, hard-nose runner in Jason Ogletree.”

Ogletree has 37 carries for 145 yards and a touchdown in three games.

Defensively Samford will try to stop the Skyhawks offense with its 4-4 defense. “Defensively they are aggressive and run to the ball hard,” McCorkle said.

“It’s going to be a challenge on both sides of the ball,” McCorkle said.