Samford set to face the Alabama of the FCS: North Dakota State
You could forgive Chris Hatcher if he started calling his football team the Samford Chilldogs, because his Bulldogs are just that laid back.
“I was really concerned last week because we were a little bit more relaxed than we’ve been at any other time during the year,” Hatcher said. “These guys, they’re just like that (even keeled) all the time and I still haven’t gotten used to it. I try to say as little as possible to the guys to get them out of their routine.”
Samford has made winning a part of its routine this season, notching a victory in every contest except its Week 2 loss to Georgia, the defending national champion from the College Football Playoffs.
That string of success put the Bulldogs into the Football Championship Subdivision, where they followed a first-round bye with a playoff victory on their home field. This week, Samford (11-1) takes a step up in competition, heading to Fargo, North Dakota, to face the No. 3 North Dakota State Bison (10-2) at 6 p.m. on Friday in the FargoDome on ESPN2.
And while the playoff challenge gets greater from week to week, it’s hard to imagine a taller task than taking on the standard of FCS football at its own house.
Samford coach Chris Hatcher talks about his QBs, running game from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.
No FCS program has claimed more national championships than North Dakota State football, winner of nine of 11 FCS titles from 2011 to 2021. The Bison started their extraordinary run with a five-peat from 2011 to 2015 and ended their decade of dominance with three more from 2017 to 2019.
After Sam Houston claimed its first-ever championship in the 2021 spring season, ending North Dakota State’s three-peat, the Bison won their ninth national title in January 2022.
“When you think FCS football, North Dakota State comes to mind,” Hatcher said. “We’re a find-a-way group. We’re excited about playing. We’re not going to back down from anybody. It’s like I told the team the other day, the Samford Bulldogs play really well on Friday nights in domed stadiums.”
Samford faced Georgia State in the Georgia Dome on a Friday night in 2013 and won 31-21.
“We’re excited about the opportunity,” the coach said. “We’re gonna be ready to play.”
The calling card of the Bison is their physical play on the offensive and defensive lines.
“They like to run it right at you,” Hatcher said. “They’re big. They have a lot of misdirection. It’s almost a little like playing an option team with the different looks they give you.
“Defensively, again, they’re very athletic, very big in the trenches,” he continued. “But it doesn’t matter who you play. In football, you’ve got to win (at) the lines of scrimmage. You better run the ball and you better stop the run. They hang their hat on that and they’re very good at it. We’ve got to be able to match that intensity for 60 game minutes Friday night.”
Hatcher said he and his staff will focus more on the Bulldogs than the next opponent. They will focus on what they can control, how well Samford plays fundamentally and schematically.
“Each week, you have to give the team different tools that you feel like are going to help them be successful for that opponent that week,” he said. “You get to what? Game 13? You’re not going to change much. You’re gonna do what you did to get here. Plus, we’re on a very short week this week, so you’ve got to keep it simple and let the guys go play. I expect us to play really, really well.”