University of Richmond Athletics
Spider Football Gameday Central - Virginia
08/31/2016 | Women's Soccer
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - One of the most highly anticipated seasons in Richmond football history will get underway this weekend in Charlottesville, when the third-ranked Spiders travel to battle ACC foe Virginia in the season opener for both programs.
"We're extremely excited about the opportunity to compete against a BCS opponent. We're appreciative of these opportunities and look forward to putting our best foot forward when we take the field on Saturday," Head Coach Danny Rocco said.
The Spiders return 16 starters from last year's team that reached the FCS Semifinals, including seven preseason All-CAA selections, led by preseason All-Americans David Jones, Brian Brown and Omar Howard.
Live Audio for Saturday's game can be found on RichmondSpiders.com with Live Stats available on VirginiaSports.com. The game will be broadcast nationally live on ESPN3 with Bob Picozzi and Tom O'Brien on the call.
For complete gameday coverage of Richmond Spider football, be sure to scroll down for Gameday Central.
| Who | No. 3/4 Richmond @ Virginia |
| When | Saturday, September 3 - 3:30 PM ET |
| Where | Charlottesville, Va. | Weather | Parking Map |
| Venue | David A. Harrison III Field at Scott Stadium | Directions | Tickets |
| Radio | RichmondSpiders.com | ESPN 950 AM | WBBT 107.3 FM |
| Live TV/Video | ESPN3 |
| Live Stats | VirginiaSports.com |
| Game Notes | Richmond | Virginia | CAA |
| Pregame Media | Coach Rocco Presser | Offense Presser | Defense Presser |
| SpiderTV | Spiders Deliver Season Tickets | MIC'd Up: Quarterback Kyle Lauletta |
| Social Media | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram |
| Hashtags | #OneRichmond | #UnitedInRed | #CAAFB |
NOTES
- Richmond enters the 2016 season as the preseason CAA favorites for the first time since 2009, the year after the Spiders' 2008 National Championship run.
- The Spiders, who enter as high as #3 in the preseason national polls, enter the year ranked in the top-five for the first time since 2009.
- The Spiders return 16 of 22 starters from last year's squad that posted 10 wins and made a trip to the FCS semifinals. Amongst that group returning for Richmond is two All-Americans in David Jones and Brian Brown, along with eight other players who earned All-CAA accolades last fall.
- Statistically, the Spiders return over 55-percent of their total scoring, over 65-percent of their total receiving yards and over 75-percent of their tackles from last fall.
- The Spiders boast the CAA Preseason Offensive Player of the Year in Kyle Lauletta and the CAA Preseason Defensive Player of the Year in David Jones. It's just the second time in the past 15 seasons that one team has been named the concensus favorite and had both the preseason offensive and defensive players of the year.
- This will be the 471st time that the Richmond Spiders have clashed with an in-state opponent. All-time, the Spiders are 236-234 against opponents who hail from the Commonwealth. In the past 10 seasons, Richmond is 25-12 against in-state competition, including a perfect 5-0 last year and seven of the last eight such contests.
- In the past 10 seasons, Richmond has played an ACC opponent eight times, three times coming away with victories in those contests. The last victory over a BCS/FBS opponent for the Spiders came in 2011 when Richmond toppled Duke in Durham, 23-21.
- In four of the past five meetings (since 2001) between these two schools, the Spiders have posted double-digits in points, which only happened twice in the prior 27 meetings.
- The current Richmond staff has plenty of ties to UVA with Coach Rocco spending five seasons (2001-2005) on staff with the Cavaliers, serving as associate head coach, linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator during his time in Charlottesville. First-year offensive coordinator John Garrett, Associate Head Coach/Recruiting Coordinator Sparky Woods, Tight Ends Coach Bill Polin and Defensive Line Coach Levern Belin also all spent at least two seasons on staff in Charlottesville, while Fontel Mines (WRs coach) and Clint Sintim (OLBs coach) played their collegiate careers for the Cavaliers.
