University of Richmond Athletics
Bright Horizons: Spider Football Primed For Big 2016
01/11/2016 | Football
RICHMOND, Va. – As most students arrived back on campus, several members of the University of Richmond football team stood around a TV inside the Robins Center watching the FCS National Championship Game.
The Spiders were just a couple weeks removed from dropping a hard-fought road game to eventual national champion North Dakota State, which won the title for the fifth straight year. Watching the game, those student-athletes had one thing on their mind: next year.
Next year, Richmond, which finished third and fourth in the final FCS polls of the year, returns 16 of 22 starters, including two All-Americans and eight All-Conference honorees. Statistically, the Spiders return over 55-percent of their scoring, over 65-percent of their receiving yards and over 75-percent of their tackles.
The 2015 season marked the fifth time in school history that the Spiders had posted double-digit victories and the third time in the past nine years that they reached the FCS Semifinals.
After the season-opening loss at Maryland, the Spiders dropped just two regular season games, both on the road and by a combined six points. In their 10 victories, the average margin of victory was over 17 points.
Among the wins was a signature triumph at then-No. 3 James Madison on a day when the eyes of the college football world were on Harrisonburg, where ESPN's College Gameday televised its popular pre-game show live. And there was not one, but two victories, over long-time rival William & Mary, including a regular season win in the 125th renewal of the South's Oldest Rivalry. For good measure, the Spiders beat the Tribe again two weeks later in the playoffs at Robins Stadium.
Offensively, the Spiders piled up 6,326 total yards, the second highest figure in program history. In his first season in the starting role, sophomore quarterback Kyle Lauletta earned second-team all-conference accolades, tossing for 3,598 yards, the second-most in a single season in program history. His top target, Brian Brown, also returns next year after becoming the first Spider in program history to break 1,400 yards and have back-to-back 1,000 yard seasons.
Defensively, All-American David Jones and first-team All-Conference linebacker Omar Howard both return, along with Winston Craig and Andrew Clyde up front. Jones finished with the most interceptions in school history (9) and Howard's 136 tackles in 2015 ranked in the top-10 in a single season.
Leading the way is Head Coach Danny Rocco, the reigning CAA Coach of the Year and two-time Virginia State Coach of the Year by the TD Club of Richmond. The 33 wins during his tenure is the highest total in the first four years of any coach in program history.
As next fall approaches, the message is short. The future is bright for the Spiders.
With six home games at Robins Stadium, there is plenty of time to be #UnitedInRed and watch the Spiders fight for another trip to the FCS Playoffs and to be the team on TV in that national championship game when next year rolls around.
