'No-name' quarterback Edwards lifts Bulldogs

There is no name on his jersey, no hair on his head, and no entry for him in The Citadel's media guide.

But there will be at least a small piece of Citadel football lore for a freshman walk-on quarterback named Tommy Edwards.

Edwards came in for injured starter Miguel Starks with his team trailing by 10 points, and threw two touchdown passes to rally The Citadel to a 28-16 victory over Samford before 8,317 fans at Johnson Hagood Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

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Citadel Vs Samford Football

Citadel takes on Samford at Johnson Hagood Stadium

"I told our equipment manager," said coach Kevin Higgins, "let's get a name ordered for his jersey so at least people will know who this kid is."

Edwards, 5-11 and 185 pounds, was mobbed by his fellow freshmen following the final play, many of them rubbing his shiny pate. Most of those knobs are redshirting this season, and Edwards admitted his ambitions weren't much higher than that when he traveled cross-country from Los Angeles to walk-on at a military school.

"I just wanted to make the travel team," he said with a smile. "I don't mind being the no-name guy."

It was the second week in a row a backup QB played the role of hero for The Citadel (4-4), which won back-to-back Southern Conference games for the first time since 2007 to improve to 2-3 in the league.

Last week, it was Starks who filled in for injured starter Bart Blanchard (sprained toe) and accounted for five TDs in a 38-28 win over Furman. With Blanchard dressed but available only for emergencies against Samford (3-5, 1-4), Edwards got the call when Starks injured his left ankle late in the first half.

"I felt like I was ready," said Edwards, who hit 10 of 20 passes for 141 yards and two second-half TDs -- 55 yards to Van Dyke Jones and 11 yards to Alex Sellars. "It was a lot of stuff to put in, since I didn't get here to August, but the coaches broke it down for me. Every week, they've been working with me and I've been getting a decent amount of reps, so I felt I was as ready as I could be."

With Wofford (2-6, 1-4) coming to town next week, Higgins has two gimpy QBs in Blanchard and Starks and a freshman walk-on in Edwards.

"We'll have to wait and see on Miguel's ankle," Higgins said. "Hopefully, Bart will be better and Miguel gets healthy and we have some decisions to make with the three of those guys."

After Samford scored 10 points in the first quarter, cashing in a 1-yard Chris Evans TD and a 24-yard field goal on drives totaling just 33 yards, The Citadel's defense stonewalled the visitors from Birmingham, Ala.

Evans, who ran for 174 yards and two TDs in a 28-10 beatdown of The Citadel last season, was held to 52 yards on 17 tries, and Samford netted just 35 rushing yards on 27 attempts.

With the running game stalled, The Citadel unleashed its pass rush and sacked QB Dustin Taliaferro four times. Cornerback Cortez Allen picked off two passes late in the game, setting up a 5-yard Terrell Dallas TD and a 21-10 lead with the first, and sprinting 82 yards for another TD and a 28-10 margin with the second.

Defensive tackle Kyle Anderson had two sacks, and tackle Terrence Reese and end Chris Billingslea each got one. Reese and Anderson each had three tackles for loss as the front four played its best game of the season.

"Our defense played as well as I've seen them play," Higgins said. "They just had a feel about them that they were not going to let the other team score."

Samford coach Pat Sullivan called it "a frustrating day."

"We didn't get to do some of the things we wanted to with the running game," he said.

Special teams added to Samford's frustration. Citadel defensive end Milford Scott, a 6-5 redshirt sophomore from West Ashley High School, blocked one punt and forced a 19-yarder to set up the first TD. From his 45, Edwards rolled right and threw back left for Jones, who weaved his way for a 55-yard TD to make it 10-7 at 7:29 of the third quarter.

A 41-yard punt return by Andre Roberts led to the go-ahead TD. On third-and-8, Roberts hauled in an Edwards pass that was meant for Kevin Hardy but was thrown too high, gaining 13 yards. Four plays later, Edwards faked a handoff and hit Sellars in the end zone for the tight end's fifth TD of the season and a 14-10 lead.

"You never know how a guy will handle the pressure of a game," Higgins said. "But Tommy did a great job. His eyes never got big."