University of Richmond Athletics
50-Year Anniversary Look Back – 1968 Season Starts With Two Tough Games
09/22/2018 | Football
RICHMOND, Va. – The 2018 season for Richmond football marks the 50th anniversary of the 1968 Tangerine Bowl Championship. Spider athletics will be taking a walk down memory lane throughout the fall, reliving moments in the season heading to the Tangerine Bowl. This week, we look back at the first two games of the 1968 season where the Spiders battled tough in losses to Toledo and West Virginia.
The Spiders opened the season on the road at Toledo, facing a Rocket team that held the nation's longest winning streak at nine-straight. Richmond held an early 7-3 lead on Toledo after a Buster O'Brien touchdown pass to Walker Gillette but Toledo would answer back going into the halftime with a 17-7 lead, thanks in large part to a 91-yard kickoff return touchdown by the Rockets.
The Spiders would score another touchdown in the second half when O'Brien connected with Tommy England on a seven-yard touchdown pass to cap an 80-yard scoring drive. Toledo would prove too much though, pulling away for a 31-17 victory at the Glass Bowl in front of 13,075 fans. Toledo All-American running back Roland Moss ran for 209 yards on 37 carries in the victory. Moss also impacted the game on special teams as the 6-3, 215-pound senior averaged 44.6 yards per punt, pinning the Spiders' offensive deep in their own territory during much of the game.
O'Brien wrote his name into the Richmond record book during the game on multiple occasions. His 40 pass attempts in the loss set a single-game record for the Spiders while the senior became the program's all-time leading passer in the loss. O'Brien moved into the top spot with 2,618 yards passing in his career, surpassing the former mark held by Mel Rideout (1960-62) of 2,492.
In the second game of the season, the Spiders travelled to Morgantown, W.Va., for a meeting against West Virginia. Richmond suffered a 17-0 loss in front of 27,500 fans and ran into one of the top defenses in the country. The Spiders' strong offensive attack was limited to just 151 yards of total offense, including only 51 yards pass from O'Brien.
Richmond had miscues throughout the game, turning the ball over six times in the first half with three interceptions and three turnovers. In the second half, the Spiders had seven possessions that got into the WVU territory but were unable to put points on the board.
Running back Joe Kellum was the Spiders' bright spot on offense, rushing for 89 yards on 25 carries. Illustrating the Richmond difficulties on offense in All-American Walker Gillette was held without a reception in the loss.
All was not lost for the Spiders after the game as Richmond would head home for their home opener against Davidson, the start of five-straight wins and wins in eight out of its last nine games.
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The Spiders opened the season on the road at Toledo, facing a Rocket team that held the nation's longest winning streak at nine-straight. Richmond held an early 7-3 lead on Toledo after a Buster O'Brien touchdown pass to Walker Gillette but Toledo would answer back going into the halftime with a 17-7 lead, thanks in large part to a 91-yard kickoff return touchdown by the Rockets.
The Spiders would score another touchdown in the second half when O'Brien connected with Tommy England on a seven-yard touchdown pass to cap an 80-yard scoring drive. Toledo would prove too much though, pulling away for a 31-17 victory at the Glass Bowl in front of 13,075 fans. Toledo All-American running back Roland Moss ran for 209 yards on 37 carries in the victory. Moss also impacted the game on special teams as the 6-3, 215-pound senior averaged 44.6 yards per punt, pinning the Spiders' offensive deep in their own territory during much of the game.
O'Brien wrote his name into the Richmond record book during the game on multiple occasions. His 40 pass attempts in the loss set a single-game record for the Spiders while the senior became the program's all-time leading passer in the loss. O'Brien moved into the top spot with 2,618 yards passing in his career, surpassing the former mark held by Mel Rideout (1960-62) of 2,492.
In the second game of the season, the Spiders travelled to Morgantown, W.Va., for a meeting against West Virginia. Richmond suffered a 17-0 loss in front of 27,500 fans and ran into one of the top defenses in the country. The Spiders' strong offensive attack was limited to just 151 yards of total offense, including only 51 yards pass from O'Brien.
Richmond had miscues throughout the game, turning the ball over six times in the first half with three interceptions and three turnovers. In the second half, the Spiders had seven possessions that got into the WVU territory but were unable to put points on the board.
Running back Joe Kellum was the Spiders' bright spot on offense, rushing for 89 yards on 25 carries. Illustrating the Richmond difficulties on offense in All-American Walker Gillette was held without a reception in the loss.
All was not lost for the Spiders after the game as Richmond would head home for their home opener against Davidson, the start of five-straight wins and wins in eight out of its last nine games.
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