Westward Bound: Spiders Blank Davidson, Travel to Sacramento State Saturday

Saturday, November 26

Richmond, Va.

2:00 PM

University of Richmond

9-3 , 6-2

Davidson

8-4 , 6-2

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Davidson

Richmond

Photo by: Keith Lucas

Westward Bound: Spiders Blank Davidson, Travel to Sacramento State Saturday

11/26/2022 | Football

Box Score Photo Gallery

Richmond, Va.— The University of Richmond football team will continue its playoff journey following a 41-0 victory over Davidson at Robins Stadium Saturday. The Spiders will travel across the country to play No. 2 Sacramento State Saturday at 5 p.m. eastern time at Hornet Stadium.

Richmond (9-3) jumped to a convincing lead early and never looked back as it routed Davidson for the team's first-ever playoff shutout and first in any game since 2017. The Wildcats end their season at 8-4.

The Spiders excelled in all phases, with the Richmond offense picking up 482 yards while the defense limited Davidson to just 226. Reece Udinski (North Wales, Pa.) was nearly perfect, connecting on 28 of 31 pass attempts for his highest completion percentage (90.3%) this season.

Finding the endzone in each quarter, Aaron Dykes (Knoxville, Tenn.) started the Richmond scoring spree with a 12-yard rush before Andrew Lopez (New Orleans, La.) knocked in a 35-yard field goal in the first quarter. The second saw Udinski connect on two touchdown throws— a 25-yard pass to Jakob Herres (Easton, Pa.) and a 30-yard completion to Jerry Garcia Jr. (Hope Mills, N.C.)— before Jake Larson (Baltimore, Md.) kicked a 46-yard field goal to make it 27-0 at the half.

The Richmond run game picked up even more after the break with Milan Howard (Charlotte, N.C.) running in two touchdowns for the first multi-score game of his career. Howard led the Spiders ground attack, racking up career-highs on both yards (73) and carries (12).

Aaron Trusler (Melbourne, Australia) averaged a season-high 46.50 yards per punt and booted a career-high 63-yarder in the contest.

"Really happy to pick up a win here," said head coach Russ Huesman. "I think we played really well in all three phases… on offense we were really efficient and hung onto the ball and defensively, to pitch a shutout against a team [like Davidson] is really good."

Leading the Spiders with eight tackles including 2.0 for loss (-5) Tristan Wheeler (Bethlehem, Pa.) eclipsed the 100 tackles mark this season, making it his third-consecutive full season of football with over 100 tackles. Xavier Marshall (Charlotte, N.C.) and Philip O'Connor (Philadelphia, Pa.) followed with six each, while Marlem Louis (Venice, Fla.) picked up a sack for a loss of 12 yards. Defensive tackle Matei Fitz (Leesburg, Va.) snagged his first-career interception on a wild pass in the second quarter.

Prior to the contest, Davidson led the nation in rushing offense, picking up 350.5 yards per game on the ground.

"I think everyone did a great job honing in on what their assignment was," said Wheeler. "We're super excited and super blessed to be in this position to be playing in these big games, and we're going to approach [the game at Sacrament State] the same way we do each week and go in and play Richmond football the way we have been."

Saturday's game marks the first meeting between the Spiders and Sacramento State (11-0) and comes as Richmond's first-ever game in California.