University of Richmond Athletics
Homecoming Weekend for the Spiders
10/22/2001 | Football
Oct. 22, 2001
For the first time in a month, the Spiders football team is coming home - just in time for homecoming. Richmond, which hasn't played at UR Stadium since September 29th, hosts unbeaten and fourth ranked Rhode Island (7-0, 5-0) Saturday at 1pm.
The Spiders (1-5, 1-3) just completed a three-week road trip which saw them lose at Maine and Northeastern, sandwiched around a victory at James Madison. UR now plays back-to-back games and three of the next four at home, hosting URI and Hofstra before traveling to Delaware and then concluding the home schedule against rival William & Mary.
Here are more notes on Saturday's homecoming game against Rhode Island...
Homecoming... Richmond is 34-30-6 all-time in Homecoming games ... Last season, the Spiders defeated Maine, 17-6, on Oct. 21 to the delight of the Homecoming crowd ... Richmond has won three of its last four Homecoming games and was 5-5 during the "90s" ... Head coach Jim Reid is 4-2 in Homecoming contests at Richmond ... The Spiders' first Homecoming game, on record, is a 13-8 loss to Hampden-Sydney on Nov. 16, 1929.
Rhode Island for Homecoming... Saturday's game marks the second time in program history that Rhode Island will serve as the Spiders' homecoming foe ... The previous time the Spiders and Rams met for Homecoming was Oct. 24, 1987 when Richmond defeated the visitors, 27-14.
A Late Home Date... This Saturday's home contest against Rhode Island marks the latest for Richmond's second home date since the 1976 season ... That year, the Spiders opened their home slate with a 43-0 win against VMI (Sept. 25) before losing to Chattanooga 28-19 on Oct. 30 in UR Stadium.
Richmond's Defensive Stopper... Senior defensive end Jonathan Wilfong has led a strong Richmond defense the last two weeks ... Playing in front of a home crowd, Wilfong registered 10 tackles (four for loss, three sacks) at James Madison (Oct. 13) and followed that with a seven-tackle performance (three for loss, two sacks) at Northeastern on Oct. 20 ... After six games, Wilfong ranks sixth on the team in total tackles (30) but ranks first among the defensive lineman ... He leads the Spiders in tackles for loss (11-49 yards) and sacks (5.5-36 yards) and ranks third in quarterback hurries (3).
Points off Turnovers... Richmond has scored 24 points off its opponents turnovers this season, while its opponents have capitalized for 14 points off UR turnovers ... Junior Mark Thompson returned an interception 12 yards for a score at James Madison (Oct. 13) ... Later, the Spiders kicked a field goal after recovering a James Madison fumble ... The Dukes scored a touchdown on a fumble recovery ... The Spiders have also scored a touchdown off a turnover at Virginia and at Vanderbilt.
Held Scoreless... For the third time during the Coach Jim Reid era, the Spiders were held scoreless in a 7-0 loss at Northeastern (Oct. 20) ... The other two shutouts came during Reid's first season -- 15-0 at Delaware (Oct. 14) and 28-0 at Villanova (Nov. 18) ... The Spiders are 1-0-1 in games following a shutout under Coach Reid.
The Spider Sportsline with Coach Jim Reid...Join Coach Reid and the "Voice of the Spiders" Bob Black at Extra Billy's Restaurant 5205 West Broad Street in Richmond for The Spider Sportsline, Wednesday night from 7-8. Extra Billy's serves up the food and drink - including specials throughout the night - while Coach Reid, the audience and callers serve up the Spider football talk. Plus Coach Reid will have tickets to giveaway for Saturday's homecoming game against Rhode Island. The show will be broadcast live on WRNL-AM (910) and posted on RichmondSpiders.com Thursday.
