Samford’s Chris hatcher turns attention to week two matchup with florida gators

By Steve Irvine

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - September 5, 2024

Samford head coach Chris Hatcher doesn’t see Florida’s first-game struggles as a factor when the Bulldogs and Gators meet on Saturday in Gainesville.

“I don't think it has any bearing on the game,” Hatcher said. “I mean, this is going to be the best athletic football team that we play all year, whether they're winning games or not. I mean, the bottom line is those guys have tremendous athletes, and every one of their players are really good players. So, I know they're going to be hungry to win the game.”

Samford moves on to Saturday’s game after dropping a 38-29 decision in the season-opener at West Georgia, which made the move from Division II to FCS this season. Florida was embarrassed by Miami in The Swamp with the Hurricanes running away with a 41-17 victory.

“It's a great opportunity for our school to be on the national stage,” Hatcher said. “The publicity we get from playing games like this is not only beneficial to our athletic department but I believe it's very beneficial to the Samford mark and all the people that go to Samford and all the alumni. For our players they get an opportunity to compete against the very best on a national stage, which they don't get the opportunity to do that very much. Then, also the environment is a lot of fun for these guys to be able to go and play in a stadium like The Swamp. So we're gonna be prepared, we're gonna play hard. You know, we've had some success in some of these games and hopefully that'll continue.”

Samford’s most recent trip to Ben Hill Griffin Stadium came in the second-to-last game of the 2021 season. In that game, Samford led 42-35 at halfime and trailed 56-52 with 12 minutes remaining in the game. Florida was able to escape with a 70-52 win in a game that Samford quarterback Liam Welch threw for 400 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 77 yards and two more scores.

Will Saturday bring the same kind of offensive fireworks?

Samford’s offense compiled 465 yards on 79 snaps in the loss to West Georgia. Quarterback Quincy Crittendon, who made his first start since the FCS playoffs quarterfinal loss at North Dakota State on Dec. 9, 2022, was sharp in the opener. The 5-foot-11, 200-pound junior was 24 of 41 passing for 307 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. He also rushed for 90 yards and two more scores.

“I thought that Quincy played really well,” Hatcher said. “He really only had two mistakes in the course of the game. And other than that, you know, he managed the team well. I thought that he ran the ball exceptionally well and then he made some good throws. So all in all, he did what I expected him to do. We got to clean up a few things, the turnover in the end zone, of course, that was very costly. Probably it was a bad call on my part. But he made it worse, and we talked about that, to overcome coaching. And then, you know, we missed one read on another play. But other than that, I was really pleased with how he prepared and really pleased with his performance.”

But the Bulldogs couldn’t find a way to open with a win.

“We gave up two big plays on trick plays and then we gave up a Hail Mary there at the end of the (first) half,” Hatcher said. “And, you know, if we make one or two of those plays, we're sitting here with an entirely different outcome. But we got a lot of work to do. (I’m) still very optimistic about our team and looking for us to rebound and improve this week, even though we play a tremendous team in the Florida Gators down in Gainesville.”