University of Richmond Athletics
No. 7 Spiders Host Second-Straight Home Game
Sept. 18, 2006
Spider Football Gameday Central
Complete Richmond Game Notes in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
Complete Atlantic 10 Release in PDF FormatDownload Free Acrobat Reader
Complete Opponent Game Notes in PDF FormatDownload Free Acrobat Reader
The seventh-ranked Richmond Spiders host the second of three-straight at UR Stadium Saturday, Sept. 23, when the Bucknell Bison come to the Capital City. Kickoff against the Bison is set for 1 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 and worldwide at RichmondSpiders.com.
The Spiders are coming off a 58-7 win over VMI in last week's home-opener, a game in which Richmond wracked up 560 yards of total offense over the Keydets. The Spiders' 58 points, as well as their total yard output, rank as the fourth-best ever at Richmond in the respective categories. The point total was also the most since the Spiders scored 74 points in 1943. Bucknell comes into the weekend 2-1 after downing Cornell, 20-5, in Lewisburg, Pa., last weekend. The Bison are led by quarterback Andrew Lair, a U.S. Naval Academy transfer, averging 116 yards of total offense per game.
Richmond is under the direction of third-year head coach Dave Clawson, who has compiled an eight-year career record of 43-41 and a 14-12 mark in his tenure at Richmond. Tim Landis is in his fourth season as the Bison's head coach. Landis has compiled a 14-year career mark of 69-73-1 and a 16-21 mark in his tenure at Bucknell.
QUICK OUTS...
-- Richmond's offense had its string of consecutive redzone scoring snapped against VMI when it kneeled on the ball to run out the fourth quarter. Going into their final drive of the game against the Keydets, the Spiders had converted on 17-straight trips into the redzone dating back to the first round of the NCAA I-AA Playoffs at Hampton in 2005. The Spiders ended the 2005 season converting on 27 of 28 trips into the redzone, extending the string to what is now 35 of the last 37.
-- Senior Adam Goloboski has amassed 312 tackles in his four-year career with the Spiders. He needs just 11 more stops to appear on Richmond's all-time career tackles list at No. 10 which would tie him with Taylor Lackey at 323.
-- Freshman Eric Ward and sophomore Levi Brown showed their effeciency running the Spiders' offense against VMI. Ward finished the game 8-for-9 with a career-high 130 yards and two TD's. Brown was a perfect 5-for-5 for a career-best 63 yards and his first career touchdown pass. Ward ranks second in the A-10 in passing efficiency, behind New Hampshire quarterback and Walter Payton Award candidate Ricky Santos, with a 155.9 rating -- 13th in the country.
-- The Spider defense has limited their first two opponents to just seven points for the first time since the 1973 season. Richmond has limited its first two opponents to seven-or-fewer points 13 times in the 123-year history of the program.
RESTED AND READY - PART 2
A lot was said of the two fourth-quarter goal line stands at Duke to open the season -- they helped the Spiders preserve their first shutout since 2004. A large thanks should go to the offense, which gave the Richmond defense a long rest during the third quarter in Durham, N.C.
The Spider defense spent close to 13 minutes (12:51) on the bench in the third quarter while the offense mounted drives of 3:32 and 9:09 in length, as the final drive lasted 18 plays and 83 yards ending in a field goal.
This week "rested and ready" can be looked at in a different way. Last week the Spider starters on both defense and offense did not play more than one full half of football. After scoring 44 points in the first half, head coach Dave Clawson and his staff gave the starters a break, which allowed the backups time to shine.
Freshman running back Justin Forte took advantage by rushing 24 times for 144 yards in just two quarters. Freshman defensive back Derek Hatcher siezed the opportunity and picked up a fumble and returned it 21 yards for a touchdown.
OFF ON THE RIGHT FOOT
True freshman Andrew Howard started his career off on the right foot. The Hermitage High School alum (Richmond, Va.) connected on all three of his kicks against Duke, including one PAT and two field goals (20 yds, 22 yds).
Last week the freshman tied a school record for extra points which dates back to the Spiders' final game in 1920. Howard connected on all eight of his PAT attempts against VMI, knotting W.R. Broaddus' school record of eight extra points against Randolph-Macon.
Currently Howard ranks fifth in the Atlantic 10 and 46th in the country in scoring with an average of 7.5 points per game.
A RICHMOND WIN WOULD...
-- Make the team 3-0 to start the season for the first time since beginning the 1995 season 3-0.
-- Make the Spiders 2-0 at home this season and 8-6 all-time at UR Stadium under head coach Dave Clawson.
-- Give Clawson his first win over a Patriot League opponent during his tenure at Richmond.
-- Move Clawson to 44-41 as a head coach and 105-87-1 in his coaching career.
-- Make Clawson 3-3 in his head-coaching career against Bucknell.
-- Extend the Spiders' win-loss record in the all-time series with Bucknell to 2-0.
-- Give the Spiders 11 wins in their last 12 games dating back to a 38-20 win over Villanova, Oct. 8, 2005.
-- Extend the Spiders' regular season win streak to 10 games and their regular season home win streak to seven-straight.
-- Give Richmond an all-time record of 452-589-53.
A RICHMOND LOSS WOULD...
-- Make the Spiders 2-1 on the season for the first time since 2004, Clawson's first season at Richmond.
-- Make the Spiders 1-1 at home this season and 7-7 all-time at UR Stadium under Clawson.
-- Move Clawson to 43-42 as a head coach and 104-88-1 in his coaching career.
-- Even the all-time series with the Bison at 1-1.
-- Drop Clawson to 2-4 against Bucknell in his head-coaching career.
-- Snap the Spiders' nine-game regular season win streak which dates back to the 2004 season.
-- End Richmond's six-game regular season home win streak.
-- Give Richmond an all-time record of 451-590-53.
SPIDER FOOTBALL "ON THE MOVE" IN THE RANKINGS
Richmond Football has now been in The Sports Network I-AA Top-25 for each of the last nine 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. This week the Spiders again jumped -- one spot to No. 7.
DEFENSIVE SUPREMACY
Richmond's defense is second in the nation in three major categories (total defense, scoring defense and pass defense), trailing only Cal Poly in all three areas. The Mustangs from San Luis Obispo, Calif., are 3-0 to start the season after playing Division II Fort Lewis and two Big Sky opponents in Weber State and Sacramento State.
The Spiders held Division I Duke to just 210 total yards, and limited a VMI Keydet offense to 129 yards.
Weber State and Sac-State have combined to go 1-4 to open the season and have combined to average just 184.4 yards per game in those five.
Duke and VMI have a combined mark of 1-5, but combine to average 271.5 yards per game in their six contests. VMI's 913 total offense yards is only nine off the combined total of 922 for Weber State and Sac-State.
HOMECOMING OF SORTS
Bucknell head coach Tim Landis is making a homecoming of sorts this weekend. Landis is a Randolph-Macon Hall of Fame member after earning First Team All-ODAC honors in both football and baseball during his collegiate career. Landis later began his coaching career in 1986 at Randolph-Macon.
Sophomore Kadero Watson is also returning to his old stomping grounds. Watson was an Honorable Mention All-Metro selection as a senior at Monacan High School in Richmond.
SPIDER SPORTS ON THE WEB
Richmond's official athletics website can be found at www.RichmondSpiders.com. The comprehensive site, which includes releases, photos, biographical sketches, statistics and video highlights as well as audio broadcasts for every Spider Football game, is part of the College Sports Television Network. CSTV currently hosts sites for more than 100 universities, as well as its newest member -- the Atlantic 10 Conference.
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 (sideline) rounds out the radio team, Smith will offer listeners a field level view of all of the action and will have the first word from the Spiders and head coach Dave Clawson following the game.
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 since head coach Dave Clawson first year at Richmond, but also in both the weight room and the classroom.
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.
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 VMI
-- The win made the team 2-0 to start the season for the first time since beginning the 1997 season 2-0.
-- The win marked the first time head coach Dave Clawson has been victorious in a home-opener at Richmond.
-- The win marked the first win in a Spider home-opener since the 2002 season when Richmond topped No. 9 Delaware, 15-13.
-- The win gave the Spiders seven-straight wins at home over the Keydets.
-- The win gave the Spiders 10 wins in their last 11 games dating back to a 38-20 win over Villanova, Oct. 8, 2005.
-- The win extended the Spiders' regular season win streak to nine games and their regular season home win streak to six-straight.
-- Richmond's 560 yards of total offense rank as the fourth-most ever in a game for the Spiders. It also is the most since the Spider rolled up 573 yards of total offense against the Keydets in 2005.
-- The Spiders' 58 points are the most they have scored in a single game since 1943, and ranks fourth on the all-time single-game scoring list. The last time Richmond scored 50-or-more points in a contest was Sept. 20, 1997 against VMI.
-- Freshman Andrew Howard tied the school record for single-game extra points with eight on the day.
-- Freshman Justin Forte garnered a career-best and team-best 144 yards on the ground, and scored his first career touchdown.
-- Sophomore John Crone caught two passes for 34 yards and two touchdowns to mark his first career multi-touchdown game.
-- Freshman Derek Hatcher scored the first touchdown of his career with a 21-yard fumble recovery. The TD-return marked the first for Richmond since John Liebrand returned a fumble nine yards for a TD against James Madison, Oct. 28, 1995. The fumble recovery also extended Richmond's forced fumble streak to six-straight dating back to Nov. 12, 2005 against Towson.
-- The Spiders held the Keydets to -1 yard passing, marking the fewest passing yards for VMI in school history. The defensive effort also was one off the NCAA I-AA record for fewest yards passing allowed of -2.