Oct. 22, 2001

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Samford returns home for its third home game of the season Saturday, hosting the 1-6 Skyhawks of Tennessee-Martin.

* Freshman quarterback Ramon Nelson made the most of his first career start on Oct. 20 against Charleston Southern, earning honorable mention I-AA Independent Player of the Week honors. Nelson completed 15 of 25 passes for 213 yards and three touchdowns in the 45-24 win. Nelson's completions, yardage and touchdowns were all career highs for him as he led the Bulldogs to their second-highest offensive output of the season. The 'Dogs racked up 418 yards of total offense, passing for 215 yards and rushing for 203.

* Four Bulldogs including Nelson had career games for Samford, the other trio led by junior receiver Aryvia Holmes. Holmes snagged seven passes for a career-best 136 yards and a pair of 32-yard touchdowns. It was his third 100-yard game of the season and his first with multiple scores.

* A pair of running backs also enjoyed their best days, as sophomore Jason Ogletree rushed for 90 yards and two touchdowns and freshman John Williams scampered for 94 yards on 12 carries.

Defensively, seniors Jonathan Clark and Clay Romano each posted eight stops to lead the team against CSU. Clark also intercepted his first pass of the season, and fellow DB Tony Tucker returned a punt blocked by Donta Garrett for the Bulldogs' first special teams score of the season.

* Sophomore Derrick Wheeler continues to lead the Bulldog stop unit, posting 64 tackles for an average of 10.4 per game. He and junior Robert Evans, who is second on the team with 59 stops, should both be ranked again when the NCAA I-AA defensive rankings are released next Tuesday. In the previous ranking released in early October, Wheeler ranked No. 8 and Evans No. 10 nationally.

* Series History Saturday's game is the 13th meeting between Samford and Tennessee-Martin. Samford owns a 5-1 record against Martin in Birmingham, and has won the last nine meetings in the series that began in 1958. The Bulldogs own a 10-1-1 advantage over the Skyhawks overall, the only blemish a 45-13 Martin victory in 1988 in Birmingham.

* Samford's Homecoming History

Samford is 41-18-6 (.672) overall in its 65 Homecoming games, which have been played at Rickwood Field, Legion Field, Berry Field, Shades Valley High School and Seibert Stadium.

The Bulldogs have won their last five Homecoming games and 13 of their last 15. Last year Samford knocked off Charleston Southern 21-14 in only the second Homecoming game to go into overtime in school history.

The Skyhawks have been the Bulldogs' Homecoming opponent three times, and Samford is 2-0-1 in those games. The first game in the series was a Bulldog Homecoming in 1958, which ended in a 14-14 tie. Samford defeated the Skyhawks 10-0 in 1993 and 24-13 in 1998.

* Samford in National Rankings

28) Kickoff Returns (21.74)

16) Punt Returns (14.45)

* Along with team rankings, junior receiver Aryvia Holmes is also ranked along the nation's best in several categories. Holmes' seven catches against CSU helped him set a new career high of catches in a season, his 35 current receptions surpassing his old mark of 28 set in 2000.

He is ranked nationally in the following categories: 19) Receptions Per Game (5.83), 29) Receiving Yards Per Game (85.00), 31) Punt Returns (11.00 yds. per return), 16) All-Purpose Yards, and 34) Total Receiving Yards (510)