University of Richmond Athletics
Eric McBride Named State's Top Linebacker, Dudley Award Runner-Up
12/08/2010 | Football
Dec. 8, 2010
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND - University of Richmond senior LB Eric McBride was honored Tuesday by the Touchdown Club of Richmond at its annual banquet as the top linebacker in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the CAA Defensive Player of the Year finished runner-up in the voting for the 2010 Dudley Award.
The Dudley Award is presented annually to best Division-I football player in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and Virginia Tech QB Tyrod Taylor took home the award to mark the 18th time in the 21-year history of the award that either a Tech or Virginia player has won.
Defensive tackle Marc Megna (1998) is the only Spider to take the trophy.
The Dudley Award is voted on by a panel of journalists and is named for former University of Virginia star Bill Dudley, the No. 1 pick in the 1942 draft.
McBride, who was honored as the CAA Football Defensive Player of the Year, an AFCA All-America and a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award, started all 54 games of his career - the longest active streak in CAA Football - and finished 2010 with the league's second-most tackles (119). The two-time CAA Football Defensive Player of the Week tied for the league-lead in fumble recoveries (three), and finished the year with two forced fumbles, two interceptions, 6.0 tackles for loss and four pass breakups.
The local product from L.C. Bird High finished his college career ranked second all-time at Richmond in tackles (446).
Under first-year head coach Latrell Scott, Richmond (6-5, 4-4) limped its way through an injury-plagued 2010 campaign but still was in playoff contention on the season's final weekend. The Spiders, who won the 2008 National Championship, missed the playoffs for the first time since 2006 but posted the sixth-consecutive winning season -- the longest streak at Richmond since seven-straight winning campaigns in the 1920s.
Led by McBride, Richmond's 2010 senior class tied last year's seniors as the winningest class in school history (41). These seniors posted a 41-13 overall record, were 21-4 at home and went 24-8 versus the CAA (including 3-1 marks versus rivals William & Mary, James Madison and Delaware). The Spiders won two CAA titles, made three NCAA Playoffs and won the 2008 National Championship with these seniors, who played 93 percent of their games ranked in the Top 25 and 70 percent in Top 10.
