University of Richmond Athletics
Top 25 Clash Highlights Spiders' Home Opener
09/24/2001 | Football
The Stadium will be placed in lockdown at 6:00 pm the night prior to each game and will be staffed overnight by the police department.
Back packs, tote bags and coolers will be prohibited from the stadium. Baby bags and medically necessary bags will be allowed, but contents checked. There will be police officers assigned to both the East and West ticket gates for this purpose.
There will be a policy of "No Pass Out" during the game and the ticket takers will remain at post until the conclusion of the game. The police department will remain at all entrance gates for the entire game. The south and East drive through gates will remain closed but manned for the entire game. Police Officers will use discretion with regard to emergency pass outs.
Thank you for your cooperation with these necessary security procedures.
Click here to listen to highlights from the Vanderbilt game
Sept. 24, 2001
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. -
Home Opener. Atlantic 10 opener. Parents Weekend. Television. Special Olympics Day. American Red Cross Relief Fund Game. Add two Top 25 teams, and it's all happening at UR Stadium Saturday at high noon when the Richmond Spiders host the Villanova Wildcats in a key, early season conference game.
The Spiders will begin defense of their Atlantic 10 football co-championship by playing on their home field for the first time this season. Richmond opened the year with back-to-back losses, by a total of seven points, to two Division 1-A schools, Virginia of the ACC and Vanderbilt of the SEC. That was good enough for the voters of this week's Sports Network poll to place the Spiders 17th, making Richmond the only winless team in the Top 25.
Villanova(2-0, 1-0) hasn't played since beating Northeastern September 8th. The Wildcats will endure a three-week layoff, as the Spiders did between the UVa. and Vanderbilt games. Villanova is ranked 14th in the Sports Network poll.
Saturday's game is part of the annual Parents Weekend on the University of Richmond campus.
In addition, athletes who participated in this summer's Special Olympics held at UR, have been invited to the contest. The game will be televised by the Atlantic 10 Television Network, with regional coverage in the Virginia area on Comcast SportsNet.
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Here are some more notes for Saturday's game...
Atlantic 10 Openers... Today's game marks the Atlantic 10 opener for the Spiders ... Richmond is 3-3 in conference openers under Head Coach Jim Reid ... The Spiders are 2-2 since the Atlantic 10 began play in 1997 ... UR defeated UMass, 31-24, in last year's A-10 opener ... Richmond and Villanova opened the Atlantic 10 Conference slate in 1999 when the Wildcats won 35-30 at UR Stadium.
Spiders in I-A Rankings... Following games against I-A foes Virginia and Vanderbilt, Richmond has compiled rushing numbers that compete at any level ... The Spiders rush offense averages 183.0 yards per game -- 28th among all I-A members ... Virginia ranks 59th and Vanderbilt ranks 69th in that category ... Richmond's rush defense has allowed 113.0 yards per game -- 42nd among all I-A members ... The Spiders have contributed to Virginia's 53rd and Vanderbilt's 104th rush defense ranking.
Welcome to September... During the Jim Reid era, the Spiders have compiled a 15-10 record during the month of September ... The record includes a perfect 4-0 month during his first season, 1995 ... Richmond lost at Virginia on Sept. 1 and at Vanderbilt on Sept. 22 to open this season ... Last fall, Richmond went 3-1 in September: a 10-7 win against Bucknell, a 34-6 loss at Virginia, a 31-24 win against UMass and a 30-27 win at Arkansas State.
The Computer Says... The Richmond Spiders are the third highest ranked I-AA team in this week's Jeff Sagarin ratings on USA Today ... UR is 87th ... Georgia Southern, the nation's top-ranked I-AA team, is 76th while Northwest Louisiana is ranked 81st ... William & Mary (103rd) and Rhode Island (109th) are the closest Atlantic 10 members.
This Date in UR Football... Richmond is 3-7-1 all-time on September 29 ... The last time a Spider team played on Sept. 29 came in 1990 when UR defeated Maine, 24-16 ... Richmond's biggest win on this date, came in 1973 when the Spiders defeated Wake Forest, 41-0.
Last Time at 0-2... The last time Richmond started the season 0-2 was in 1998 ... The Spiders responded with a nine-game winning streak that propelled them to an Atlantic 10 Championship and a berth in the I-AA playoffs ... It was Richmond's longest win streak in program history.
A Long Layoff... When Richmond and Vanderbilt played on Sept. 22, it marked the longest span of time between games since the 1981 season when the Spiders also went 21 days between games ... UR opened the 2001 season with a 17-16 loss at Virginia Sept. 1 and then lost 28-22 at Vanderbilt ... In 1981, Richmond lost 28-17 at Cincinnati on Oct. 17 and then won at VMI, 45-14, Nov. 7.
Spider Sportsline...Coach Reid and the "Voice of the Spiders" Bob Black will broadcast live from Extra Billy's Restaurant (5205 W. Broad St.) every Wednesday from 7-8pm on WRNL (910 AM). Coach Reid will take calls and audience questions as he discusses Spider football.
