Samford is set to take on the Alabama A&M Bulldogs Saturday, Sept. 21 in the first home contest of the season.
Alabama A&M is a historically black institution that participates athletically in the SWAC. Last year, the Bulldogs finished with an overall record of 6-5 (5-2 SWAC).
Located in Huntsville, Alabama, A&M will travel just under two hours to face off against Samford on Saturday night.
This year, Alabama A&M is 2-1, squeaking out victories against Division II Morehouse College and North Alabama, with a lone defeat coming against Arkansas Pine-Bluff.
Alabama A&M is led offensively by junior quarterback Aqeel Glass. Through three games, the Saint Louis, Missouri, native has accumulated a number of impressive statistics. Glass has thrown for 935 yards and eight touchdowns, with three interceptions.
In all three contests, Glass has had passer ratings over 100, with the latest being 118.3 against North Alabama.
Glass performed well in 2018, passing for 20 TDs and nine INTs, making massive strides from his freshman campaign in which he tossed just five TDs and 10 INTs.
At 6 feet 5 inches tall, Glass is a pro-style QB who rarely rushes the ball. During his time at Alabama A&M, he has never finished a season with positive rushing yardage.
In addition to his ability to pass, be on the lookout for Glass to pooch punt on fourth down if need be, as he did so four times last year for a long of 45 yards.
The other offensive weapon for Alabama A&M is senior running back Jordan Bentley, who has carried the ball for over 100 yards in the previous two contests. Bentley has five rushing touchdowns on the season.
On the defensive side of the ball, Alabama A&M has struggled this season, giving up an average of just over 35 points per game. In their only loss of the year, they allowed Arkansas Pine-Bluff to score 52 points.
A key for Samford on Saturday will be to continue their defensive effort from the Wofford game. This season, the Bulldogs have been able to prove themselves offensively through the stellar QB play of Chris Oladokun but the defense has been shaky at several important moments in games.
The defense allowed only 14 points last week, a season best, in order to capture an away victory in Spartanburg. Considering the Bulldog defense gave up 45 and 59 points to Youngstown State and Tennessee Tech respectively in the first two contests of the season, the improvement was clearly evident.
On the offensive side of the ball, Oladokun has tossed for a total of 777 yards in three contests, with only one start. He has eight passing touchdowns on the year and will aim to continue his excellent form.
In his first collegiate game played, freshman running back Jay Stanton carried the ball nine times for 45 yards and a touchdown. Look for him and junior DeMarcus Ware to split carries against Alabama A&M.
Ware, on the other hand, only carried the ball three times against Wofford but did so for 31 yards, 20 of which came on a single carry.
If Samford comes out on top in Saturday night’s contest, they will return to .500 on the year. The game has a start time set for 6 p.m. and can be streamed live on ESPN+.
