University of Richmond Athletics
No. 13 Spiders Set To Host No. 5 JMU On Homecoming
10/23/2006 | Football
Oct. 23, 2006
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The 13th-ranked Richmond Spiders welcome No. 5 James Madison to UR Stadium Saturday, Oct. 28, for Homecoming 2006. Kickoff against the Dukes is slated for 3 p.m.
Bob Black (play-by-play), former Richmond defensive standout Jasmonn Coleman (analyst) and Matt Smith (sideline) will handle the radio call which can be heard in the Richmond area on ESPN Radio 950 AM and worldwide at RichmondSpiders.com.
The Spiders are coming off a 28-24 loss to Delaware at UR Stadium last Saturday. Richmond roared back from a 14-point deficit and scored 24 points to take a 24-14 lead against the Blue Hens with just over 10 minutes left in the game. Delaware then posted an 11-yard touchdown with 10:07 left in the game, and went on to add the game-winner with 43 seconds remaining to down the Spiders.
Saturday's matchup marks the 76th game played on homecoming for the Spiders. Richmond holds a 38-31-6 mark in contests held during the alumni gathering, and has faced the Dukes five times in those 75 games.
Richmond is under the direction of third-year head coach Dave Clawson, who has compiled an eight-year career record of 46-43 and a 17-14 mark in his tenure at Richmond. Mickey Matthews has compiled a mark of 58-38 in his eight career-seasons, all as the Dukes' head coach.
QUICK OUTS...
-- Senior Adam Goloboski cracked the Richmond Top-10 in career tackles with his seven-stop effort against Northeastern, Sept. 30. The Hereford, Md., native has recorded three-straight double-digit tackle games dating back to the New Hampshire contest, moving his career total to 365, sixth on the all-time career list at Richmond. The Preseason All-America honoree needs just 25 tackles to surpass Troy Gray's (1982-84) total of 389 for fifth place on the list.
-- Senior Ryan Mace leads the Atlantic 10 in punt return yardage. The McKinney, Texas, native averages 15.3 yards per return, which is eighth-best in the country. In his career, Mace has returned 44 punts for an average of 9.0 yards and has a career-long of 40 yards.
-- Richmond's defense has recorded at least one sack in 18 of its last 19 games dating back to the second game of the 2005 slate. The only game this season when the Spiders did not sack the opposing quarterback was against Bucknell which attempted just nine passes.
-- Don't let the Richmond average of 31:44 in time of possession fool you. In two games this season the Spiders' offense has been a part of two lopsided possessional games. Against Duke, Richmond had the ball for 19:28 in the second half and put together a drive of 18 plays, 83 yards and 9:09. Against Northeastern, the Spiders had the ball for 23:00 in the second half and put together a drive of 24 plays and 69 yards in 13:48. Against Rhode Island, Richmond sustained its second-longest scoring drive of the season which spanned the first and second quarters. The Spiders went 82 yards on 14 plays and ate up 7:19 to score their first TD against the Rams.
-- Richmond has outscored its opponents in every quarter except the fourth. The Spiders' biggest margin of victory in a single quarter is the second (81-10). Richmond's opponents have outscored the Spiders 42-38 in the fourth quarter.
TACKLE MACHINES
Richmond and James Madison enter this weekend's contest with the top two tacklers in the Atlantic 10. Richmond's Adam Goloboski is averaging 9.6 stops a game after recording three-straight double-digit tackle games against New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Delaware. The Hereford, Md., native finished with a season-best 17 stops against the Blue Hens, and had 12 tackles in the first quarter alone. Goloboski's career-best total of 26 tackles came against Delaware, Nov. 13, 2004, and ranks tied for the most single-game tackles in all of Division I since the 2000 season.
James Madison's Akeem Jordan leads the conference and ranks second nationally with 12.3 tackles per game. Both he and Goloboski rank 1, 2 in Atlantic 10 games with averages of 14.0 and 12.2 tackles, respectively.
A RICHMOND WIN WOULD...
-- Make the team 6-2 to start the season for the first time since the 2000 season.
-- Make the Spiders 3-2 after five Atlantic 10 games for the first time in school history.
-- Make the Spiders 4-1 at home this season and 10-7 all-time at UR Stadium under Clawson.
-- Give Clawson his second career win over James Madison and move his streak to two-straight wins over the Dukes.
-- Move Clawson to 47-43 as a head coach and 108-89-1 in his coaching career.
-- Make the Spiders 17-34 versus ranked opponents since the 1995 season.
-- Make Richmond 1-1 against ranked opponents this season and 6-8 during Clawson's tenure with the Spiders.
-- Improve Richmond's win-loss record to 14-10 in the all-time series with the Dukes.
-- Mark the fifth time the Spiders have won consecutive games against the Dukes dating back to 1981.
-- Give Richmond an all-time record of 455-591-53.
A RICHMOND LOSS WOULD...
-- Make the Spiders 5-3 on the season for the second-straight season.
-- Make Richmond 2-3 after five Atlantic 10 games for the first time since 2001.
-- Mark Richmond's first consecutive losses at home since the 2004 season.
-- Make the Spiders 9-8 all-time at UR Stadium under Clawson.
-- Move Clawson to 46-44 as a head coach and 107-90-1 in his coaching career.
-- Make the Spiders 16-35 versus ranked opponents since the 1995 season.
-- Make Richmond 0-2 against ranked opponents this season and 5-9 during Clawson's tenure with the Spiders.
-- Cut Richmond's lead in the all-time series with JMU to 13-11.
-- Drop Clawson's career mark to 1-2 against the Dukes.
-- Give Richmond an all-time record of 454-592-53.
TURNOVERS LOOM LARGE
Winning the turnover battle is something Richmond head coach Dave Clawson has stressed ever since beginning his tenure as the Spiders' leader. Last season Richmond held a turnover margin of +5 which ranked fifth in the Atlantic 10.
This season, through seven games, the Spiders have a turnover margin of -6, 12th in the conference. In the Spiders' two losses, they have also lost the turnover battle by a margin of 7-0. In Richmond's wins they are ahead 2-1 in the turnover battle.
REDZONE ALERT
The Spider defense and offense are among the Top-2 in the Atlantic 10 inside the redzone. Richmond's offense is first in overall redzone efficiency (91.3 percent) and second in redzone efficiency in A-10 games (90.0 percent). The Spiders have failed only twice this season inside the redzone, once on a missed field goal against Northeastern, and then by kneeling on the ball at the VMI one-yardline to end the game, Sept. 16. Of the Spiders' 203 total points scored this season, 119 of them have come on drives inside the opponents' redzone.
Richmond's defense is first in both breakdowns, limiting overall opponents to 53.3 percent success inside the redzone. The Spider defense has limited A-10 opponents to a 50.0 percent success rate inside the 20.
THREE-AND-OUT
Prior to the game at New Hampshire the Spider defense had not allowed an opponent more than four third-down conversions in a game. Even New Hampshire (8-of-17), Rhode Island (6-of-14) and Delaware (5 of 12) could not break the 50 percent mark in third-down conversions. Richmond ranks third in the Atlantic 10 with its opponents garnering success on third downs only 33.3 percent of the time.
Most of its success occurs when it makes opposing offenses get off schedule. Opponents are near 50 percent when facing third-downs of 6-or-less yards, but are a combined 6-43 (13.9%) when facing situations of 7-or-more yards
On the flipside, Richmond's offense ranks second in the conference in third-down conversions (47.2 percent). The Spiders have sustained scoring drives an average of 3:32 and are at their best when they face third-down situations between 1-6 yards (27-of-46, 58.7 percent).
HOMECOMING NUMBERS
The Spiders have faced the Dukes five times out of the 75 homecoming contests, and are 1-4 in those contests.
In the most recent homecoming meeting against James Madison (Oct. 23, 2004) the Spiders fell 26-20. Richmond's only win in a homecoming game against the Dukes came Oct. 19, 2002, when it topped the Dukes 26-0.
James Madison comes in fourth on Richmond's list of favorite homecoming opponents behind VMI (13 times), Virginia Tech (7 times) and The Citadel (6 times). JMU and William & Mary have been part of the homecoming celebrations for the Spiders five times.
OVER THE AIR
Spider football games can be heard live on the Spider Sports Network. The network includes two new radio affiliates for all of Spider Athletics. ESPN Radio 950 AM will carry every Spider Football game in 2006, while The Wolf 93.1 FM will broadcast each the Spiders' scheduled three night games (at Duke, Delaware, at Villanova).
The "Voice of the Spiders" Bob Black, a veteran broadcaster in his 23rd season for the Spiders, will handle the play-by-play.
Former Spider defensive standout Jasmonn Coleman (analyst) will join Black in the booth for his second season with Spider Football. Coleman, a Henrico High School product, played in 42 games on the defensive line for the Spiders during his career. During the 1997 season, as a senior, Coleman tied for the team lead with seven sacks.
Matt Smith reports from the sidelines, offering listeners an all-access field level view of the action and will have the first word from the Spiders and head coach Dave Clawson live from the locker room following the game.
Matt Josephs rounds out the radio team, producing the broadcasts and anchoring the Spider Sportsdesk from the studios of flagship station ESPN Radio 950, keeping listeners up-to-date on Atlantic 10, state and national college football scores and highlights throughout the day.
SPIDER FOOTBALL IN THE RANKINGS
Richmond Football has now been in The Sports Network I-AA Top-25 for each of the last 14 weeks. The Spiders first appeared at No. 23 in the national poll, Oct. 31, 2005, after topping James Madison, 17-15. Richmond then moved up in the poll each week for the remainder of the season. The Spiders debuted at No. 15 in the 2006 Preseason poll. After its shutout-win over Duke, Richmond jumped to No. 10, then moved up two spots to No. 8 the following week. The Spiders jumped to No. 7 Sept. 18 after topping VMI, and remained in that position for three weeks. After falling to top-ranked New Hampshire, Richmond dropped to No. 10 in the Oct. 9 release and remained there until the Oct. 16 edition. After last week's loss to Delaware the Spiders dropped to No. 13 in the Oct. 23 edition. Below is a rundown of Richmond's chronological movement in the poll:
Date (Ranking): Oct. 31--No. 23, Nov. 7--No. 18, Nov. 14--No. 17, Nov. 21--No. 12, 2005 Final--No. 8, 2006 Preseason--No. 15, Sept. 4--No. 10, Sept. 11--No. 8, Sept. 18--No. 7, Sept. 25--No. 7, Oct. 2--No. 7, Oct. 9--No. 10, Oct. 16--No. 10, Oct. 23 -- No. 13
NCAA I-AA PLAYOFF RECAP & RANKINGS
Richmond was impressive in their two contests in last season's NCAA I-AA playoff run. The Spiders finished the Championship format ranked among the Top-5 in several categories combining all 16 teams in the field.
In its two games, the Spiders were a perfect 9-for-9 on trips inside the redzone -- one of just four teams in the entire field of 16 to be perfect in the category.
The Spider defense allowed an average of 17 points in its two games during the playoff run, which ranked second among the 16-team field. Only Nicholls State allowed an average of fewer points in its playoff run (14 points in one game).
Richmond's defense allowed opponents a 33 percent success rate on third-down conversions in the NCAA I-AA Championships. Only Texas State had a better opponent third-down conversion figure of 30.6 percent in the 16-team field.
The Spider offense rushed for an average of 223 yards in their two games during the NCAA I-AA Playoffs, ranking fourth among the 16-team field.
The Richmond defense allowed the third-lowest rushing average in the NCAA I-AA Playoffs, at just 147.0 per game.
BIGGER, STRONGER AND SMARTER
The Spiders have not only improved on the field, but also in both the weight room and the classroom since head coach Dave Clawson first year at Richmond.
Since first taking over the program in the spring of 2004, Clawson has talked about the correlation of off-the-field success and program success. The Spiders have done just that, raising the team GPA at least two points in each of the four semesters. The culmination of the success came in the transition from last fall's team GPA of 2.46 to the spring 2006 team GPA of 2.62, a jump of 0.16.
As mentioned above, the Spiders have also improved in the weight room. In 2004, Richmond had just 20 players on its roster with a three-lift combined total of 1,000 pounds. In 2005, the Spiders upped the total to 42 players of 1,000 pounds. The improvement happened once again this past off-season, as now 54 players (61 percent of the roster) has a three-lift total of more than 1,000 pounds.
LEFTOVERS FROM DELAWARE
-- The loss made the Spiders 5-2 on the season for the first time since 2000.
-- The loss made Richmond 2-2 after four Atlantic 10 games for the first time since 1997.
-- The loss marked Richmond's first loss at home this season and makes the Spiders 9-7 all-time at UR Stadium under Clawson.
-- The loss moved Clawson to 46-43 as a head coach and 107-89-1 in his coaching career.
-- The loss pushed Delaware's lead in the all-time series to 18-5 in favor of the Blue Hens.
-- The loss marked the sixth time in the all-time series Richmond has failed to win consecutive games against Delaware.
-- The loss dropped Clawson's career mark to 1-2 against the Blue Hens.
-- The loss gave Richmond an all-time record of 454-591-53.
-- Sophomore Josh Vaughan logged his first career 100-yard game, a career-best 110 yards on eight carries.
-- Senior Adam Goloboski recorded his third-straight double-digit tackle game with 17 stops. His 17 tackles, including 10 solo stops, were a team-best and a season-best for the Hereford, Md., native.
-- Delaware's 23 first downs were the most allowed by the Spider defense this season. The Blue Hens also gained more first downs than the Spiders, the first time the feat has been accomplished by an opponent this season.
-- Senior Ryan Cameron's three-yard sack against Delaware marked his second-straight game in which he recorded a sack. He recorded a 6-yard sack in the previous week against Rhode Island.
-- The Spiders have now sacked the opposing quarterback at least once in each of the previous four games and 18 of their last 19 games.
-- Richmond was successful on all four of its trips inside the redzone. That streak extends the Spiders' current streak of success inside the redzone to nine-straight. Richmond has been successful on 13 of its last 14 trips inside the opponent 20-yardline dating back to the Bucknell contest.
-- Junior Arman Shields' 41-yard kickoff return in the second quarter marked the longest for the Spiders this season.
-- Shields' average of 24.3 yards on his three kickoff returns are the highest single-game average this season for Richmond while his 73 total kickoff return yards are a career-best.
-- Goloboski's 17 tackles are a season-best for the Richmond defense, while his 10 solo tackles also are a season-best for the Spider defense.
-- Redshirt freshman David Horton's three pass breakups mark a career-best for the cornerback, and are also an individual season-best for the Spider defense.