By MARTY O'BRIEN, Daily PressHe's an attention-getter. Junior transfer Sam Pope debuted at Hampton University with a hard tackle ... and the hits just keep on coming.
HAMPTON — Sam Pope introduced himself to Hampton University football with an exclamation point. During the Pirates' first scrimmage, Pope sniffed out a screen pass and flattened tailback Kevin Beverly behind the line of scrimmage.
"I don't know if I'd hit a teammate like that again," said Pope, a 6-foot, 190-pound senior who will start Saturday when the Pirates host Delaware State. "I was flying around trying to show the coaches I could be physical and that I wanted to play."
The hits have kept coming ever since. Pope plays cornerback and on special teams, and he's made at least one huge play in the each of the Pirates' three victories this season.
In the season-opening win at Howard, he made eight tackles, blocked a field goal and probably should have been credited with an interception in the back of the end zone. A week later, in the win at North Carolina A&T, he intercepted his first pass.
Last week, in the Pirates' 24-17 overtime victory against Morgan State, Pope blocked another field goal. Among the Pirates' most-heralded group of newcomers in four years, Pope has made the biggest impact.
"If a play is anywhere around him, he thinks it's his to make," Hampton coach Joe Taylor said. "That was a tremendous hit he made on that screen play in practice, but he makes those kinds of plays all the time.
"If opponents try to run a sweep or a pitch to his side, he'll make a solid tackle, not just hold the ball carrier up and wait for help. That's the biggest difference between our cornerbacks this year and in the past."
Taylor credited defensive backs coach Donovan Rose with identifying his needs and targeting the right players to fill them.
"It was easy to see from looking at film that there aren't too many players with Sam's size, strength and ability to cover receivers," Rose said. "He's a sleeper, because people don't think he's moving fast, but when the ball is in the air he's at full throttle."
Pope displayed similar speed and decisiveness when transferring in August to Hampton from the University of South Carolina. Pope says he was the Gamecocks' second-team cornerback at the start of preseason practice, before being asked to move to free safety when a veteran cornerback returned to the team.
A week into practice he bolted for Hampton because he preferred playing cornerback. Pirates right tackle Ryan Cave, a teammate at Beaufort High in South Carolina, sold him on HU.
"He told me about the five players who went to the NFL Combine and the three consecutive (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) championships," Pope said. "He also mentioned that the ratio of women to men at Hampton is 12 to 1. That didn't hurt.
"But the biggest thing is that I like the 1-on-1 competition of covering receivers. South Carolina's coaches wanted me to play free safety because I can hit, but a cornerback can make big hits, too."
Pope is making lots of big plays and plenty of hits. But he's still waiting for an encore to the smack-down he laid on Beverly.
He lives for those kinds of hits but prefers to unleash the rest of them on opposing players.
"I think I'd hit a player on another team a lot harder in the same situation," Pope said. "A big hit is my favorite thing. There's nothing like the cheers a big hit generates, or the excitement it makes your teammates feel.
"Nothing else compares."
HAMPTON NOTES
Taylor said Wednesday that he does not expect Beverly to play against Delaware State. Beverly has been out since sustaining a high ankle sprain in the first half of the season-opener at Howard. The ankle is healing, but Taylor said a sore toe is delaying Beverly's return to action. ... Taylor said strong safety Henti Baird will play on Saturday. Baird missed the Morgan State game with a bruised knee.
The Pope file
NAME: Sam Pope.
SCHOOL: Hampton University.
POSITION: Cornerback.
NOTEWORTHY: Pope, a 6-foot, 190-pound junior, transferred to Hampton after beginning summer practice with the University of South Carolina. … Played the previous two seasons at Southwest Mississippi CC, where he intercepted four passes, returning two for touchdowns. … Played for Beaufort (S.C.) High, intercepting 10 passes as a senior to lead the team to the state playoff semifinals.
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