Samford head coach Bill Gray turned to his bench when starting quarterback Jefferson Adcock didn’t complete any of his five pass attempts in the first quarter of Thursday’s game against Austin Peay.

He put Dante Williams into the scoreless game and Williams used his arm and his legs to lead the Bulldogs to a 17-14 non-conference win.

It turned out to be a good decision.

Just one year after Adcock threw for 2,338 yards for Samford, Gray is not sure if Adcock will even start this week’s game against Eastern.

“(The quarterback position) has been a revolving door so far,” Gray said. “We feel like we got some competition at that spot.”

Williams finished the game 13 of 16 with 114 passing yards and 10 rushes for 31 yards.

Gray said a final decision would come later in the week.

He said while Williams’ helped the Bulldogs do “just enough to come out on top,” the problems on offense weren’t completely solved.

“He has stepped it up,” Gray said of Williams. “(But) we’re still sputtering at that spot and still are offensively.”

Adcock has taken the decreased playing time in stride, Gray said. But he’s not happy about the situation.

“He’s a competitor and doesn’t want to be on the sidelines,” he said. “But he’s a class individual. He’s gonna put the team first.”

Samford is eighth in the conference in total offense, averaging only 283.7 yards a game.

Last season, they averaged more than 360 yards per game and finished second in the conference.

Eastern defensive coordinator Roc Bellantoni said they would not change their game plan regardless of who starts at quarterback for the Bulldogs.

“They are both athletic kids who run the football,” he said. “They can move around in the pocket and scramble.”

The Panthers have yet to stop a team from running the ball.

They have given up 11 rushing touchdowns and more than 200 yards rushing per game.

Bellantoni said the team has to remain focused and not worry about who is on the field and what players are injured. Linebacker Clint Sellers (shoulder) will miss his third straight game and safety Tristan Burge (knee) is questionable.

“We’ve shown in the first three games when we do what we’re supposed to do,” he said, “not try to do too much on defense, we can be dominant. When we don’t, we are a scout team.”

Eastern beat Samford 43-14 in 2005 while Williams sat on the sidelines.

His increased snaps have given him more confidence, Gray said.

“He’s got more pep in his step,” he said. “He’s gotten more experience in the last three weeks than he had all last year.”