University of Richmond Athletics
Spiders Host Tribe As Nation's Fourth Oldest Football Rivalry Renews Saturday
11/12/2001 | Football
Nov. 12, 2001
It's the oldest football rivalry in the south and fourth oldest in the nation. When Richmond and William & Mary kick off Saturday at 3pm at UR Stadium, the teams will be clashing for the 111th time.
The weekend also includes a reunion of former Spiders from the Coach Frank Jones era (1966-1973) and the dedication of the football locker room in the Robins Center, which was renovated and expanded this summer.
Complete release in PDF format
Here are more notes for Saturday's game...
An Age-Old Rivalry ... Today's game marks the 111th time that Richmond and William & Mary have met on the football field ... The Spiders and Tribe are the oldest rivalry in the South and the fourth oldest in college football (D-I) ... The series began in 1898 with a 15-0 UR win ... No games were played in 1900, 1902 or 1943 ... The schools met twice in 1906, 1913, 1914, 1915, 1916 and 1917 ... They played three times in 1905 and 1919 ... They have met one a year since 1920 (except 1943) ... Listed below are the top five series in Division I entering this season:
1. Lehigh-Lafayette 136
2. Princeton-Yale 122
3. Harvard-Yale 116
4. Richmond-William & Mary 110
4. Minnesota-Wisconsin 110
Final Home Game ... The Spiders are 4-2 during the Jim Reid era in their final regular-season home game ... Last season Richmond defeated James Madison, 21-2, in the home finale, on Nov. 11 ... The Spiders have finished their home slate in the playoffs twice under Reid ... Richmond lost to Leigh, 24-23, in 1998 and defeated Youngstown State, 10-3, on Nov. 25, 2000.
Last Game. Where's the Tribe? ... For the first time since 1995, Richmond will not complete the regular season against long-time rival William & Mary ... The Spiders and Tribe have played in UR's last regular season game in 18 of the last 19 years and 31 of the last 33 seasons ... Richmond has closed its regular season with William & Mary 73 times.
Tough on Third Down ... The Spider defense leads the Atlantic 10 in holding its opponent on third down ... Richmond has stopped its opponent 80 out of 108 chances (74 percent) ... UR was a perfect 10-for-10 holding Delaware on third-down opportunities ... In the last five games, Richmond has held on 47 of 54 attempts (87 percent).
Winning the Ground Attack ... Richmond has outrushed its opponent in eight of nine games this season and have outgained its opponents 2102-877, or 233.6 yards/game to 97.4 yards/game on the ground ... The only team to outrush the Spiders was Maine (Oct. 6) ... The Black Bears ran for 180 yards, while Richmond managed 132 rushing yards -- its lowest mark of the season ... 100-yard Rushers ... Richmond's Cordell Roane has rushed for more than 100 yards three times this season ... The Richmond defense has allowed one opponent rusher to eclipse the 100-yard mark ... Maine's Royston English ran for 161 yards on 32 carries.
A Career-Long Kick ... Junior Doug Kirchner kicked a career-long 46-yard field goal at Delaware (Nov. 10) ... He later added a 26-yarder to account for all six points in Richmond's 10-6 defeat ... The Waldwick, N.J. native, is 8-14 in field goal attempts this season (57.1 percent) and has kicked two field goals twice this season.
Spider Nation ... After nine games this season, the Richmond Spiders are highly ranked in numerous national categories ... UR's scoring defense (16.2) ranks 17th and their total defense ranks 18th (290.0 yards/game) ... Richmond's rush offense averages 233.6 yards/game, 11th nationally ... Georgia Southern leads all of I-AA with 323.2 yards/game on the ground ... Richmond's rush defense allows just 97.4 yards per game, 10th nationally ... Pennsylvania yields a I-AA low 56.1 rushing yards/game.
Atlantic 10's Top Defense ... The Spider defense leads the Atlantic 10 in numerous categories ... Richmond ranks No. 1 in scoring defense (16.2 points/game), total yards (304.8 yards/game), rush defense (97.4 yards/game) and opponents' first downs (116 total for the season) ... Richmond ranks first in the Atlantic 10 in kickoff coverage, yielding just 14.1 yards per return.
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. Plus there will be extra surprises as Coach Reid, the audience and callers serve up the Spider football talk to get you ready for the showdown with arch-rival William & Mary! The show will be broadcast live on WRNL-AM (910) and posted on RichmondSpiders.com Thursday.
This will be the last show of the football season - so don't miss it! The Spider Sportsline with Coach John Beilein will be held on Monday nights throughout the basketball season. The first show from Extra Billy's, 5205 West Broad Street, with Coach Beilein, will be Monday December 3rd from 7-8.
