University of Richmond Athletics
McBride, Abramowitz Tackle CAA Weekly Awards
10/22/2007 | Football
Oct. 22, 2007
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - Freshmen defensive players Eric McBride and Adam Abramowitz were honored Monday as the CAA Football Defensive Player and Rookie of the Week, respectively. McBride and Abramowitz were key in the No. 18 Spiders' 38-6 win over Rhode Island Saturday.
With two more this week, the Spiders have now won a league-leading seven CAA weekly awards this season. A CAA South Division rivalry game awaits Richmond (5-2, 3-1) Saturday at James Madison (6-1, 4-0).
In a year where the Spiders' offense has provided the main storylines, it was a pair of freshmen on the other side of the ball getting the attention. The Spiders won their second straight game and have not allowed a touchdown since the closing seconds at Towson.
"We've said all year that we're young on defense, but I think we're talented," said head coach Dave Clawson on Monday's CAA Teleconference. "Eric is a very good player and he was all over the field Saturday. He made 16 tackles and one of them saved a touchdown on a reverse."
McBride made a career-high 16 stops, had a sack and recorded two tackles for loss in the win. The outside linebacker helped keep an opponent out of the end zone in Richmond's second-consecutive game and hold the CAA's leading rushing attack entering the game to just 166 yards.
The Richmond native and graduate of nearby L.C. Bird High School made three stops on third-down plays, which prevented the Rams from moving the chains. He was in on two of the Spiders' 16 tackles behind the line of scrimmage and his sack dropped Derek Cassidy for an eight-yard loss on second-and-14 on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Abramowitz, a redshirt freshman backup lineman, was in on his first career sack and made a game-high four stops behind the line of scrimmage (15 yards lost). His 10 tackles and seven solos stops mark career-highs for the Marietta, Ga. native.
"Adam is just getting better every week," said Clawson. "With Sherman Logan down, Adam's has been the beneficiary of more playing time and every week he's improving."
Abramowitz made three of 10 tackles on third downs, preventing the Rams from moving the chains all three times. Two of his stops came with URI facing first-and-goal at the eight. He pulled Cassidy down after a four-yard gain on first down, and then dropped him for a five-yard loss on second down. The Rams were forced to kick a field goal to make the score 17-6, but would get no closer.
