Samford football fans will have to wait until the fall season arrives to find out who the Bulldogs’ new starting quarterback will be.

The team’s spring practice ended last Thursday with no decision made by head coach Pat Sullivan as to who will be calling signals this coming season.

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“All of our quarterbacks have done decent things,” Sullivan said. “We will wait to decide on a starter when we get back for fall practice.”

All three quarterbacks who competed this spring, Dante Williams, Richie Fordham and Seth Harkness, will be joined by incoming freshmen Dustin Taliaferro and Conner Lowery. Sullivan said all five quarterbacks will have a shot at the starting job.

Taliaferro, a 6 feet, 3 inches, 215 pound product of Roswell, Ga., led Roswell to a 33-6-1 record as a starter. Lowery, a dual-threat quarterback, threw for over 5,000 yards and rushed for more than 1,800 yards during his high school career.

Out of the three quarterbacks already on campus, Williams and Harkness stood out the most during the scrimmage.

Williams completed 8-of-13 passes for 63 yards and two touchdowns. His first score was a 20-yard strike over the top to Brock Johnson. His second came off a 6-yard fade pattern to Jonathon Lowery.

The offense ran the ball more with Harkness under center, but he still was able to complete 5-of-8 passes for 74 yards and a touchdown. He connected with DeMarcus Covington on an 11 yard pass play for the first score of the scrimmage.

Covington led all Bulldog receivers in the scrimmage with four receptions for 57 yards and a touchdown. Sullivan has repeatedly praised Covington throughout the spring.

Sullivan said that he was pleased to see the offense open up more in the team’s final spring scrimmage.

“Early on, the defense stopped the offense, but then the offense came up and made some plays,” Sullivan said. “For the most part, the defense has been ahead this spring, but it was good to see the offense finish up by making some plays.

Linebackers Rodney Shepherd and Jeremy Richardson had seven tackles; Shepherd had one for a loss. Safety Ty Levie added six tackles, and defensive lineman John Michael Clay had three tackles and a sack.

“I think our defensive line is getting better,” Sullivan said. “I thought our defense, overall, has really gotten better this spring. Getting the defense playing the way they are playing is big.”

Place kicker Mark Prevost, was 5-of-5 on extra points and 2-of-4 on field goals. Sullivan said he confronted Prevost after he missed his first two field goal attempts. Prevost then connected on his next two.

“We’re going to find a field goal kicker before the season starts. I hope it’s him,” Sullivan said.

Samford fans should be intrigued by the 2008 home schedule. The Bulldogs open the season at home against West Georgia on August 28. A long list of Southern Conference notables will also pay Seibert a visit. The notorious powerhouse Appalachian State will come to Samford on Oct. 11 for “Family Weekend.”

Football ends spring practice with quarterback race left unsettled
Ben Hankins, The Samford Crimson
http://media.www.samfordcrimson.com/media/storage/paper1166/news/2008/04/30/Sports/Football.Ends.Spring.Practice.With.Quarterback.Race.Left.Unsettled-3358678.shtml