The Chris Hatcher Show: Sept. 7, 2023
9.7.23 | General
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Each week during the 2023 season, we will release The Chris Hatcher Show. The show hosted this season by Tyler Brain and featuring head football coach Chris Hatcher, will look back at the previous week's football game and look forward to the upcoming contest.
Samford is coming off of a 69-14 drumming of the Shorter Hawks to open the 2023 season. After reviewing the game film, the head Bulldog was pleased with his team's effort and performance against Shorter.
"I am very excited about how our guys came out and performed. We were physical, we played fast, but we lacked some in the execution. I was a little skeptical at halftime of our offensive performance even though we were scoring a lot of points and in the postgame, I was a little hard on the guys," Hatcher said. "After watching the tape, our defense was suffocating. Offensively, I thought we played really well and in special teams, we did a great job."
Nearly 6,000 people packed Seibert Stadium to see the Bulldogs cage the Hawks of Shorter and coach Hatcher believes that the Samford faithful had a major impact on the result of the game.
"I was very pleased with the crowd that came out. We had a tremendous group that came to the game and especially our students," Hatcher said. "If any of those guys or gals are watching, it means a lot to our players to have the student body attend the game to support the team."
Quarterback Michael Hiers had a career night in the season opener by going 28-of-35 for 375 yards and a career-high five touchdowns. Hiers' stat line was good enough to land him Southern Conference Offensive Player of the Week for the sixth time in his Bulldog career and the first time in 2023.
"I thought he was crisp. He missed a couple of throws and he is very hard on himself. He is a perfectionist. That makes me harder on him because he wants to do so well. He played a great game. He managed the game extremely well. We had good protection," Hatcher said. "What really helped us is that we made a lot of athletic plays on the perimeter. We ran the ball very well in the red zone area and just as important as a stat line for a quarterback is how well the defense plays. The defense forced a ton of three-and-outs, which allowed our offense a lot more opportunities to touch the ball."
Just as good as the offense was for Samford against Shorter, the Bulldog defense was just as stiffing. The defensive unit only allowed 14 points on 216 total yards en route to Victory.
"Our defensive staff was very pleased with the way we played, but they were very quick to point out that we didn't force any turnovers and I think you have to give shorter some credit. They were very conservative throwing the short ball and running up the middle," Hatcher said. "I thought our defense was outstanding. I thought we played fast, we were physical, and we tackled well for an opening game. We had a couple of miscues, but that is part of the game and part of finding out what guys do well. All in all, that was just an outstanding dominating performance by our defense."
To open the rough and rugged SoCon schedule, the Samford Bulldogs head to Cullowhee, N.C. for a showdown with the Western Carolina Catamounts on Saturday, Sept. 9.
"First of all, they do a great job of coaching. Kerwin Bell was two coaches after me at Valdosta State and won a national championship. He was a highly touted quarterback at Florida and we have been friends for quite some time. So there is some familiarity with how he runs his program after having known him for such a long time. He does a great job and he has done a really good job of recruiting," Hatcher said. "Their staff does a really good job of recruiting and coaching the fundamentals. Going to Western Carolina and Cullowhee is a very difficult place to play, especially early in the year when the expectations are extremely high for them. I think they have one of the best environments in our league."
Kickoff is slated for 1:30 p.m. CT in Cullowhee and can be streamed on ESPN+
FOLLOW THE BULLDOGS:
For the latest news and information on Samford football, visit the official website for Samford Athletics at SamfordSports.com. Fans can also follow the Bulldogs on social media at /SamfordFootball (Facebook), @SamfordFootball (Instagram) and @SamfordFootball (Twitter).
Samford is coming off of a 69-14 drumming of the Shorter Hawks to open the 2023 season. After reviewing the game film, the head Bulldog was pleased with his team's effort and performance against Shorter.
"I am very excited about how our guys came out and performed. We were physical, we played fast, but we lacked some in the execution. I was a little skeptical at halftime of our offensive performance even though we were scoring a lot of points and in the postgame, I was a little hard on the guys," Hatcher said. "After watching the tape, our defense was suffocating. Offensively, I thought we played really well and in special teams, we did a great job."
Nearly 6,000 people packed Seibert Stadium to see the Bulldogs cage the Hawks of Shorter and coach Hatcher believes that the Samford faithful had a major impact on the result of the game.
"I was very pleased with the crowd that came out. We had a tremendous group that came to the game and especially our students," Hatcher said. "If any of those guys or gals are watching, it means a lot to our players to have the student body attend the game to support the team."
Quarterback Michael Hiers had a career night in the season opener by going 28-of-35 for 375 yards and a career-high five touchdowns. Hiers' stat line was good enough to land him Southern Conference Offensive Player of the Week for the sixth time in his Bulldog career and the first time in 2023.
"I thought he was crisp. He missed a couple of throws and he is very hard on himself. He is a perfectionist. That makes me harder on him because he wants to do so well. He played a great game. He managed the game extremely well. We had good protection," Hatcher said. "What really helped us is that we made a lot of athletic plays on the perimeter. We ran the ball very well in the red zone area and just as important as a stat line for a quarterback is how well the defense plays. The defense forced a ton of three-and-outs, which allowed our offense a lot more opportunities to touch the ball."
Just as good as the offense was for Samford against Shorter, the Bulldog defense was just as stiffing. The defensive unit only allowed 14 points on 216 total yards en route to Victory.
"Our defensive staff was very pleased with the way we played, but they were very quick to point out that we didn't force any turnovers and I think you have to give shorter some credit. They were very conservative throwing the short ball and running up the middle," Hatcher said. "I thought our defense was outstanding. I thought we played fast, we were physical, and we tackled well for an opening game. We had a couple of miscues, but that is part of the game and part of finding out what guys do well. All in all, that was just an outstanding dominating performance by our defense."
To open the rough and rugged SoCon schedule, the Samford Bulldogs head to Cullowhee, N.C. for a showdown with the Western Carolina Catamounts on Saturday, Sept. 9.
"First of all, they do a great job of coaching. Kerwin Bell was two coaches after me at Valdosta State and won a national championship. He was a highly touted quarterback at Florida and we have been friends for quite some time. So there is some familiarity with how he runs his program after having known him for such a long time. He does a great job and he has done a really good job of recruiting," Hatcher said. "Their staff does a really good job of recruiting and coaching the fundamentals. Going to Western Carolina and Cullowhee is a very difficult place to play, especially early in the year when the expectations are extremely high for them. I think they have one of the best environments in our league."
Kickoff is slated for 1:30 p.m. CT in Cullowhee and can be streamed on ESPN+
FOLLOW THE BULLDOGS:
For the latest news and information on Samford football, visit the official website for Samford Athletics at SamfordSports.com. Fans can also follow the Bulldogs on social media at /SamfordFootball (Facebook), @SamfordFootball (Instagram) and @SamfordFootball (Twitter).
Friday, September 04
Wednesday, September 02
Monday, August 31
Sunday, August 30
