University of Richmond Athletics
Postgame Notes: Richmond Wins National Championship
12/20/2008 | Football
Dec. 20, 2008
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• The victory marks Richmond's first-ever NCAA National Championship in any sport. (The 1982 women's tennis team captured the AIWA Division-II title, which previously stood as the school's only national title).
• The Spiders end the season with a school-record 13-wins (13-3).
• Richmond has won nine-consecutive games - its longest winning streak since 1998. (The school record in 10-straight wins from 1972-73).
• Mike London is the first African-American to lead his team to the FCS National Championship game in 30 years - when Florida A&M head coach Rudy Hubbard won the inaugural FCS (then I-AA) title.
• London is just the third rookie head coach to lead his team to the National Championship game - the previous two have won the title as well: Georgia Southern's Tim Stowers in 1990 and Marhsall's Bob Pruett in 1996.
• Richmond is just the third private school to earn an FCS National Championship game berth. Furman won the title in 1988 (lost in 2001) and Colgate fell to Delaware in 2003.
• Richmond's first touchdown marked the second-consecutive game the Spiders have successfully pulled off a gadget play. Ward's flea-flicker with Josh Vaughan turned into a 40-yard TD pass to Kevin Grayson versus UNI. Against the Grizzlies, John Crone took a pitch to the right and threw back left to a wide-open Ward for the TD.
• For Crone, it was his first career pass. For Ward, it was his first career TD reception on his third career catch. • After rushing for 162 yards on 23 carries and a TD, senior TB Josh Vaughan finished his Richmond career with 3,389 career yards rushing to place third all-time at Richmond. He passes Barry Redden's 3,324 in the game.
• Vaughan's rushing TD, which gave the Spiders a 14-0 lead, was his 20th of the season to tie Tim Hightower (2007) for the Richmond single-season record.
• Ward's TD pass to RB Garrett Wilkins that put the Spiders up 21-0 was the first career TD catch for the true freshman.
• Senior DE Lawrence Sidbury, Jr. ended the game with a career-high 4.0 sacks. He finished his career with 20.5 to stand fourth on the Spiders' all-time list. Former NFL star Shawn Barber - who was at Friday's game - was previously in fourth with 20.0.
• The 21 points allowed by Montana in the first half was the third-most allowed all season, behind the 31 scored by Weber State in a 45-28 Griz loss (it was 31-21 WSU at the half) and the 24 scored by Central Washington in a 38-35 Griz win (it was 24-21 CWU).
• The seven points scored by Montana ranked as the fourth-fewest scored in the 30-year history of the FCS Championship Game. Delaware blanked Colgate, 40-0, in 2003, Youngstown State beat Marshall, 17-5, in 1993 and Montana defeated Furman, 13-6, in 2001 and Montana State beat Louisiana Tech, 19-6, in 1984.
• Richmond limited Montana to just 39 yards rushing on 25 carries to mark the 12th opponent this season to gain less than 100 yards rushing versus the Spiders.
• The Spiders, who finished third in the rugged CAA Football South Division and entered the playoffs as an unseeded team, knocked off four-consecutive conference champions and three-consecutive seeded teams on their way to the title.