University of Richmond Athletics
Inside the Web: Defense Takes It Personal
10/16/2017 | Football
TOWSON, Md. – For weeks, all they've heard was questions… about their ability, their toughness, they've heard the offense get all the praise. The defense finally had enough, it became personal.
"We knew we were better than what we had shown so far," junior LB Dale Matthews said. "We wanted to come out and make a statement."
Matthews and the rest of the defensive unit did exactly that on Saturday in a dominating 23-3 victory over Towson. It was the fewest points allowed by the Spiders since last year's Homecoming win over Villanova (23-0).
In Saturday's win, the Spiders proved to be an opportunistic defense, forcing the Tigers into six turnovers (four INTs and two fumble recoveries). It was the most turnovers by a Spider defense since the 2015 win over Albany, a span of 25 games.
"As a defense, we wanted to really come out and play well. We knew we had not played anywhere close to our potential, this was a chance for us to play with confidence and build towards getting better as the season goes on," sophomore safety Daniel Jones said. "We're a defense that can force turnovers and I think we showed that today."
Championship level teams win games in a variety of ways. No matter how good the offense is or how good the defense is, there are times throughout the season when each side of the ball will have to win games.
Offensively, the Spiders boast one of the nation's most potent offenses, but it was the defense that carried them to victory on Saturday.
"We took it personally," Matthews said. "We didn't want to continue to rely on the offense to score points, we didn't want to be questioned anymore. We wanted to flex our muscles."
Statistically, the defense has shown its strengths over the past two weeks with 12 sacks in the past two games and seven turnovers (five INTs) during that stretch.
Even with Saturday's performance, Coach Huesman and the Spiders both know there is still work to be done as the season goes on.
"Holding them to three points is outstanding and the turnovers are great, but I thought we still could've played better," Huesman said. "We still gave up some big plays and we've got to work on cleaning those up. I was happy to see a lot of different guys make a lot of different plays today, that bodes well for us as the season continues."
"This doesn't make us satisfied," Matthews said. "We want to build on this week, clean up some more things and continue to get better each game."
"We knew we were better than what we had shown so far," junior LB Dale Matthews said. "We wanted to come out and make a statement."
Matthews and the rest of the defensive unit did exactly that on Saturday in a dominating 23-3 victory over Towson. It was the fewest points allowed by the Spiders since last year's Homecoming win over Villanova (23-0).
In Saturday's win, the Spiders proved to be an opportunistic defense, forcing the Tigers into six turnovers (four INTs and two fumble recoveries). It was the most turnovers by a Spider defense since the 2015 win over Albany, a span of 25 games.
"As a defense, we wanted to really come out and play well. We knew we had not played anywhere close to our potential, this was a chance for us to play with confidence and build towards getting better as the season goes on," sophomore safety Daniel Jones said. "We're a defense that can force turnovers and I think we showed that today."
Championship level teams win games in a variety of ways. No matter how good the offense is or how good the defense is, there are times throughout the season when each side of the ball will have to win games.
Offensively, the Spiders boast one of the nation's most potent offenses, but it was the defense that carried them to victory on Saturday.
"We took it personally," Matthews said. "We didn't want to continue to rely on the offense to score points, we didn't want to be questioned anymore. We wanted to flex our muscles."
Statistically, the defense has shown its strengths over the past two weeks with 12 sacks in the past two games and seven turnovers (five INTs) during that stretch.
Even with Saturday's performance, Coach Huesman and the Spiders both know there is still work to be done as the season goes on.
"Holding them to three points is outstanding and the turnovers are great, but I thought we still could've played better," Huesman said. "We still gave up some big plays and we've got to work on cleaning those up. I was happy to see a lot of different guys make a lot of different plays today, that bodes well for us as the season continues."
"This doesn't make us satisfied," Matthews said. "We want to build on this week, clean up some more things and continue to get better each game."
Players Mentioned
DB
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