University of Richmond Athletics
No. 15 Spiders Hit The Road To Take On Villanova
Oct. 30, 2006
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The 15th-ranked Richmond Spiders get back on the road this weekend and travel north to face the Villanova Wildcats, Nov. 4, in Villanova, Pa. Kickoff at Villanova Stadium is slated for 6 p.m.
Bob Black (play-by-play), former Richmond defensive standout Jasmonn Coleman (analyst) and Matt Smith (sideline) will handle the radio call which can be heard in the Richmond area on ESPN Radio 950 AM, The Wolf 93.1 FM and worldwide at RichmondSpiders.com.
The Spiders are coming off a 27-10 loss to a James Madison squad currently ranked fourth nationally. A seven-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter pulled the Spiders within three last weekend, but the Dukes answered with two scoring plays of more than 30 yards to take a lead they would not relinquish.
Saturday's matchup marks the 26th meeting between Richmond and Villanova. The Wildcats hold a 17-8 edge in the series, but the Spiders are looking for their second-consecutive victory in the series after garnering a 38-20 win in last year's contest at UR Stadium. Richmond followed its victory over the Wildcats in 2005 by winning its next seven games including one in the NCAA I-AA Playoffs.
Richmond is under the direction of third-year head coach Dave Clawson, who has compiled an eight-year career record of 46-44 and a 17-15 mark in his tenure at Richmond. Villanova's Andy Talley has compiled a 26-year career mark of 173-112-2, which includes a 145-94-1 record in 22 seasons with the Wildcats.
QUICK OUTS...
-- Senior Adam Goloboski cracked the Richmond Top-10 in career tackles with his seven-stop effort against Northeastern, Sept. 30. The Hereford, Md., native has recorded four-straight double-digit tackle games dating back to the New Hampshire contest, moving his career total to 377, sixth on the all-time career list at Richmond. The Preseason All-America honoree needs just 13 tackles to surpass Troy Gray's (1982-84) total of 389 for fifth place on the list.
-- Richmond's defense has recorded at least one sack in 19 of its last 20 games dating back to the second game of the 2005 slate. The only game this season when the Spiders did not sack the opposing quarterback was against Bucknell which attempted just nine passes.
-- Don't let the Richmond average of 31:09 in time of possession fool you. Two times this season the Spiders' offense has been a part of two lopsided possessional games. Against Duke, Richmond had the ball for 19:28 in the second half and put together a drive of 18 plays, 83 yards and 9:09. Against Northeastern, the Spiders had the ball for 23:00 in the second half and put together a drive of 24 plays and 69 yards in 13:48. Against Rhode Island, Richmond sustained its second-longest scoring drive of the season which spanned the first and second quarters. The Spiders went 82 yards on 14 plays and ate up 7:19 to score their first TD against the Rams.
-- Richmond has outscored its opponents in every quarter except the fourth. The Spiders' biggest margin of victory in a single quarter is the second (91-17). Richmond's opponents have outscored the Spiders 52-38 in the fourth quarter.
TACKLE MACHINE
Richmond's Adam Goloboski is averaging 9.9 stops a game after recording four-straight double-digit tackle games against New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Delaware and James Madison. The Hereford, Md., native finished with a season-best 17 stops against the Blue Hens, and had 12 tackles in the first quarter alone. Goloboski's career-best total of 26 tackles came against Delaware, Nov. 13, 2004, and ranks tied for the most single-game tackles in all of Division I since the 2000 season.
CATAPULT EFFECT
Prior to last year's game against Villanova the Spiders were 1-3 and coming off a loss at Vanderbilt which was followed by a bye week.
Richmond's defense gave up just 17 yards on the ground and picked off three passes enroute to a win over the Wildcats in 2005. The Spiders then went on to win seven-straight following its 38-20 victory over Villanova, a streak which included a 38-10 win at previously undefeated Hampton in the first round of the NCAA I-AA Playoffs.
A RICHMOND WIN WOULD...
-- Make the team 6-3 to start the season for the second-straight year.
-- Make the Spiders 3-1 on the road this season and 9-7 all-time on the road under Clawson.
-- Give Clawson his second-straight win over Villanova and make him 2-2 all-time against the Wildcats.
-- Move Clawson to 47-44 as a head coach and 108-90-1 in his coaching career.
-- Cut Villanova's lead in the all-time series with the Spiders to 17-9 and make the Spiders' record 5-9 when playing at Villanova.
-- Mark the third time Richmond has won consecutive games against the Wildcats, and the first time since the 1987 season to accomplish the feat.
-- Mark the first win for the Spiders in Villanova, since 2000.
-- Cut Wildcat head coach Andy Talley's mark against the Spiders to 13-6 in his 22-year Villanova career.
-- Give Richmond an all-time record of 455-592-53.
A RICHMOND LOSS WOULD...
-- Make the Spiders 5-4 on the season for the first time since 1999.
-- Mark the first time the Spiders have lost three-straight since the 2004 season.
-- Make the Spiders 2-2 on the road this season and 8-8 on the road during Clawson's tenure.
-- Move Clawson to 46-45 as a head coach and 107-91-1 in his coaching career.
-- Extend Villanova's lead in the all-time series to 18-8.
-- Mark the fourth-time in the all-time series the Spiders have failed to record consecutive wins against the Wildcats.
-- Mark the second-straight loss to the Wildcats at Villanova Stadium.
-- Extend Wildcat head coach Andy Talley's mark to 14-5 against the Spiders in his 22-year career.
-- Drop Clawson's career mark to 1-3 against Villanova.
-- Give Richmond an all-time record of 454-593-53.
TURNOVERS LOOM LARGE
Winning the turnover battle is something Richmond head coach Dave Clawson has stressed ever since beginning his tenure as the Spiders' leader. Last season Richmond held a turnover margin of +5 which ranked fifth in the Atlantic 10.
This season, through eight games, the Spiders have a turnover margin of -5, 11th in the conference.
Prior to last week's loss to James Madison, Richmond had failed to win the turnover battle in each of its two losses. Despite recording two interceptions against JMU, and winning the turnover battle 2-1, the Spiders lost the contest to the Dukes.
Last season against Villanova, the Spiders had a +2 margin in the turnover battle and scored 21 points off their four turnovers gained (one fumble, three interceptions). Villanova recovered two Richmond fumbles last season, one of which led to a touchdown.
REDZONE ALERT
The Spider offense and defense are among the Top-2 in the Atlantic 10 inside the redzone. Richmond's offense is first in overall redzone efficiency (91.7 percent) and fourth in redzone efficiency in A-10 games (90.9 percent).
The Spiders have failed only twice this season inside the redzone, once on a missed field goal against Northeastern, and then by kneeling on the ball at the VMI one-yardline to end the game, Sept. 16.
Richmond has converted on each of its last 10 trips inside the redzone with seven touchdowns and three field goals. Of the Spiders' 213 total points scored this season, 126 of them have come on drives inside the opponents' redzone.
Richmond's defense is second in overall redzone defense (61.1 percent) and third in redzone efficiency defense in A-10 games (61.5 percent). Richmond opponents have not scored on five of their last 13 trips into the redzone.
THREE-AND-OUT
Prior to the game at New Hampshire the Spider defense had not allowed an opponent more than four third-down conversions in a game. Even New Hampshire (8-of-17), Rhode Island (6-of-14) and Delaware (5 of 12) could not break the 50 percent mark in third-down conversions. James Madison was the first Spider opponent to break the third-down defensive trend by converting 9-of-15 tries for 60 percent success.
Richmond ranks seventh in the Atlantic 10 with its opponents garnering success on third downs 37 percent of the time.
Most of its success occurs when it makes opposing offenses get off schedule. Opponents have just over 50 percent success when facing third-downs of 6-or-less yards, but are a combined 10-for-51 (19.6%) when facing situations of 7-or-more yards
On the flipside, Richmond's offense ranks second in the conference in third-down conversions (44.6 percent) and are at their best when they face third-down situations between 1-6 yards (28-of-65, 54.9 percent).
OVER THE AIR
Spider football games can be heard live on the Spider Sports Network. The network includes two new radio affiliates for all of Spider Athletics. ESPN Radio 950 AM will carry every Spider Football game in 2006, while The Wolf 93.1 FM will broadcast each the Spiders' scheduled three night games (at Duke, Delaware, at Villanova).
The "Voice of the Spiders" Bob Black, a veteran broadcaster in his 23rd season for the Spiders, will handle the play-by-play.
Former Spider defensive standout Jasmonn Coleman (analyst) will join Black in the booth for his second season with Spider Football. Coleman, a Henrico High School product, played in 42 games on the defensive line for the Spiders during his career. During the 1997 season, as a senior, Coleman tied for the team lead with seven sacks.
Matt Smith reports from the sidelines, offering listeners an all-access field level view of the action and will have the first word from the Spiders and head coach Dave Clawson live from the locker room following the game.
Matt Josephs rounds out the radio team, producing the broadcasts and anchoring the Spider Sportsdesk from the studios of flagship station ESPN Radio 950, keeping listeners up-to-date on Atlantic 10, state and national college football scores and highlights throughout the day.
SPIDER FOOTBALL IN THE RANKINGS
Richmond Football has now been in The Sports Network I-AA Top-25 for each of the last 15 weeks. The Spiders first appeared at No. 23 in the national poll, Oct. 31, 2005, after topping James Madison, 17-15. Richmond then moved up in the poll each week for the remainder of the season. The Spiders debuted at No. 15 in the 2006 Preseason poll. After its shutout-win over Duke, Richmond jumped to No. 10, then moved up two spots to No. 8 the following week. The Spiders jumped to No. 7 Sept. 18 after topping VMI, and remained in that position for three weeks. After falling to top-ranked New Hampshire, Richmond dropped to No. 10 in the Oct. 9 release and remained there until the Oct. 16 edition. After the loss to Delaware the Spiders dropped to No. 13 in the Oct. 23 edition, and fell to No. 15 following last week's loss to JMU.
Below is a rundown of Richmond's chronological movement in the poll:
Date (Ranking): Oct. 31--No. 23, Nov. 7--No. 18, Nov. 14--No. 17, Nov. 21--No. 12, 2005 Final--No. 8, 2006 Preseason--No. 15, Sept. 4--No. 10, Sept. 11--No. 8, Sept. 18--No. 7, Sept. 25--No. 7, Oct. 2--No. 7, Oct. 9--No. 10, Oct. 16--No. 10, Oct. 23 -- No. 13, Oct. 30 -- No. 15
NCAA I-AA PLAYOFF RECAP & RANKINGS
Richmond was impressive in their two contests in last season's NCAA I-AA playoff run. The Spiders finished the Championship format ranked among the Top-5 in several categories combining all 16 teams in the field.
In its two games, the Spiders were a perfect 9-for-9 on trips inside the redzone -- one of just four teams in the entire field of 16 to be perfect in the category.
The Spider defense allowed an average of 17 points in its two games during the playoff run, which ranked second among the 16-team field. Only Nicholls State allowed an average of fewer points in its playoff run (14 points in one game).
Richmond's defense allowed opponents a 33 percent success rate on third-down conversions in the NCAA I-AA Championships. Only Texas State had a better opponent third-down conversion figure of 30.6 percent in the 16-team field.
The Spider offense rushed for an average of 223 yards in their two games during the NCAA I-AA Playoffs, ranking fourth among the 16-team field.
The Richmond defense allowed the third-lowest rushing average in the NCAA I-AA Playoffs, at just 147.0 per game.
BIGGER, STRONGER AND SMARTER
The Spiders have not only improved on the field, but also in both the weight room and the classroom since head coach Dave Clawson first year at Richmond.
Since first taking over the program in the spring of 2004, Clawson has talked about the correlation of off-the-field success and program success. The Spiders have done just that, raising the team GPA at least two points in each of the four semesters. The culmination of the success came in the transition from last fall's team GPA of 2.46 to the spring 2006 team GPA of 2.62, a jump of 0.16.
As mentioned above, the Spiders have also improved in the weight room. In 2004, Richmond had just 20 players on its roster with a three-lift combined total of 1,000 pounds. In 2005, the Spiders upped the total to 42 players of 1,000 pounds. The improvement happened once again this past off-season, as now 54 players (61 percent of the roster) has a three-lift total of more than 1,000 pounds.
LEFTOVERS FROM JAMES MADISON
-- The loss made the Spiders 5-3 on the season for the second-straight season.
-- The loss made Richmond 2-3 after five Atlantic 10 games for the first time since 2001.
-- The loss marked Richmond's first consecutive losses at home since the 2004 season.
-- The loss made the Spiders 9-8 all-time at UR Stadium under Clawson.
-- The loss moved Clawson to 46-44 as a head coach and 107-90-1 in his coaching career.
-- The loss made the Spiders 16-35 versus ranked opponents since the 1995 season.
-- The loss made Richmond 0-2 against ranked opponents this season and 5-9 during Clawson's tenure with the Spiders.
-- The loss cut Richmond's lead in the all-time series with JMU to 13-11.
-- The loss dropped Clawson's career mark to 1-2 against the Dukes.
-- The loss gave Richmond an all-time record of 454-592-53.
-- Senior Adam Goloboski, who recorded 12 total tackles, has recorded double-digit tackles in each of the last four games.
-- Senior Ryan Cameron garnered a sack for five yards, marking his third-straight game with a sack.
-- Junior Stephen Howell picked off two passes in the contest, his first two of the season which mark a career-best single-game total. Howell now has six interceptions in his career.
-- The Spiders allowed four sacks, the most allowed in a single-game going back to the 2004 season.
-- Richmond's 165 yards of total offense are the fewest since gaining 143 yards against William & Mary, Nov. 16, 1996.
-- Freshman Andrew Howard's 45-yard field goal with 1:06 left in the second quarter was a career-long.
-- The Spiders' 10 points are the fewest they have scored in a single-game since being shutout by Lafayette, Sept. 10, 2005.
-- Richmond's nine first downs are the fewest it has gained since garnering just eight first downs against Maine, Sept. 17, 2005.
-- Redshirt freshman Eric Ward's 30 pass attempts are a career-high.
-- Freshman Brian Radford's nine punts mark a career-high.