2010-11 Moment #4: Football’s Trick Play Stuns Samford in Birmingham

With the 2011-12 season right around the corner, we wanted to take a look back at the past year. We will countdown our Top 10 moments from 2010-11 in the world of Bulldog Athletics. Follow along with us over the next two weeks through Friday, Aug. 26 on CitadelSports.com!

The Citadel Rallies Past Samford in Season Finale, 13-12

November 21, 2010 

Birmingham, Ala. - A late fourth quarter rally powered the Bulldogs to their first Southern Conference victory of the season and road conference win in three years in a 13-12 win over Samford before a season finale crowd of 6,945 at Seibert Stadium on Saturday.

Down 12-7, a double-reverse play that included a 55-yard pass from junior wide receiver Luke Caldwell to redshirt junior running back Rickey Anderson, set up a Ben Dupree 8-yard touchdown run to give The Citadel their first lead since the first quarter, 13-12. The Bulldogs' two-point conversion attempt failed, and with three minutes on the clock they were forced to stop a Samford offense that raked in a total of 446 yards on the day.

Samford started their final drive of the game on their own 22-yard line and advanced to The Citadel 38 before a quarterback hurry by linebacker Tolu Akindele forced a fourth-and-two at The Citadel 30-yard line. Senior safety Demetrius Jackson then came in with a huge play, breaking up a Dustin Taliaferro pass to Chris Cephus and forcing a turnover on downs, sealing The Citadel victory with 31 seconds left on the clock. The Citadel took over and let the clock run out to end the 2010 season 3-8 overall and 1-7 in the SoCon.

Samford opened the game aggressively attacking the Citadel defense. Starting on The Citadel 20-yard line, the Bulldogs' first play was a 57-yard pass from Taliaferro to Cephus to put Samford in scoring territory less than 30 seconds into the game. However, the defense made a major stop on fourth-and-one on The Citadel 4-yard line, causing a turnover on downs and taking over on their own 6-yard line.

Wide receiver Travis Ruff earned his first career touchdown in the last game of his career after fellow senior Milford Scott blocked a Bob Hooper punt deep in Samford territory, allowing Ruff to recover it in the end zone for the score late in the first quarter. The Citadel took a 7-0 lead with 1:06 left in the quarter.

On the next three Samford possessions, they advanced the ball within The Citadel 10-yard line, the first after Hooper faked a punt and ran it 24 yards for the first down. However, the Bulldog defense kept Samford out of the end zone on all three occasions, forcing 19, 21 and 27-yard field goals. Samford went into halftime with a 9-7 lead, totaling 293 yards of offense to The Citadel's 59 yards.

Both teams remained scoreless until halfway through the fourth quarter when Cameron Yaw connected on his fourth field goal of the game from 42 yards out to extend the Samford lead, 12-7. Neither team could score on their next two drives. The final scoring drive for The Citadel was three plays for 63 yards and 1:26, capped off by the Dupree touchdown.

The Bulldogs finished the game with 50 plays for 203 yards, 84 in the air and 119 rushing. Samford completed 77 plays for 446 yards, 286 passing and 160 on the ground. Dupree ended the game 3-5 for 29 yards with no interceptions, while rushing for 22 yards and one touchdown. Anderson totaled 55 yards receiving and 37 on the ground. Akindele led the defense with nine total tackles, followed by Jackson with eight. Taliaferro finished 28-36 for 286 passing yards, while running back Chris Evans totaled 91 yards on the ground for Samford.

Top 10 Moments from 2010-11 in Citadel Sports
#10. Cortez Allen selected by Pittsburgh Steelers in 4^th Round of NFL Draft — April 30, 2011
# 9. Basketball's Rally Stuns Cats in Cullowhee – February 24, 2011
# 8. Soccer Surprises with Record-Breaking Season – November 3, 2010
# 7. Rifle Brings Back First SEARC Championship Since 2001 - February 21, 2011
# 6. Brunson Miller Dominates SoCon Indoor and Outdoor Track Awards – February 27 and April 23, 2011
# 5. Turtogtokh Luvsandorj's Season to Remember – March 1, 2011
# 4. Football's Trick Play Stuns Samford in Birmingham – November 21, 2010
# 3. Coming Wednesday, August 24, 2011
# 2. Coming Thursday, August 25, 2011
# 1. Coming Friday, August 26, 2011