March 12, 2002

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Samford's first-ever meeting with a Big 12 opponent and five future Ohio Valley Conference opponents highlight the Bulldogs' 2002 football schedule, Samford Director of Athletics Bob Roller announced Tuesday.

First-year head coach Bill Gray begins with a slate of games that includes road games at Baylor of the Big 12 and at perennial I-AA power Youngstown State, who finished 15th in the 2001 NCAA Division I-AA Top 25. Additionally, Samford meets five future OVC opponents in home games with UT-Martin and Tennessee Tech and in road games at Jacksonville State, Murray State and Southeast Missouri State.

"This schedule is a good one for our kids, because it gives us good opportunities to grow our program," says Gray. "We open with three of our first four games at home, but it is a killer at the end with four of five on the road. UNA is a good opener for us because they have a good tradition and they're not far away, so we anticipate having a good crowd at our place for the season opener. Then we get a different taste and some good experience with I-A Baylor on the road.

"The week off before Jacksonville State will certainly help us prepare for that in-state rivalry, and then we have the game at Morris Brown that will give us good exposure in the Atlanta area. The road games at Murray State and SEMO are tremendous opportunities for our team to get exposure to what they'll be facing once we move into the OVC next season. Then you always like to face a traditionally ranked team like Youngstown in order to gauge where you are."

The Bulldogs' complete schedule is as follows: (Aug. 29) Home vs. North Alabama, (Sept. 7) at Baylor, (Sept. 14) Home vs. Nicholls State, (Sept. 21) Home vs. UT-Martin, (Sept. 28) Open, (Oct. 5) at Jacksonville State, (Oct. 12) Open, (Oct. 19) Home vs. Alcorn State, (Oct. 26) at Morris Brown, (Nov. 2) at Murray State, (Nov. 9) Home vs. Tennessee Tech, (Nov. 16) at Southeast Missouri State, and (Nov. 23) at Youngstown State.

Samford's 2002 schedule is its final as a NCAA Division I-AA independent, as the Bulldogs move into the Ohio Valley Conference in 2003.