No. 4 Villanova Stuns No. 1 Richmond: Postgame Notes

Nov. 7, 2009

Team Notes

· No. 1 Richmond had its 17-game winning streak snapped. It was a streak that stood as a school record, a state Division-I record, the longest active in the FCS and the second-longest in Division-I football (behind Florida's 18-game streak).

· Richmond had not lost in 393 days - since James Madison won at UR Stadium Oct. 10, 2008, 38-31, on a last-second punt return.

· The Spiders have lost just four times in the regular-season to FCS opponents since the start of the 2007 season - those loses are by a total of 16 points: 23-21 at Towson in 2007, 26-20 at Villanova in 2008, 38-31 to James Madison in 2008 and today's 21-20 loss to Villanova.

· Richmond slipped 22-19 all-time in games decided by one point. The Spiders had won their last three one-point games, including this season's 16-15 win at Delaware.

· The loss is Richmond's first-ever at home when ranked No. 1 in the nation (5-1).

· Richmond slipped to 11-3 all-time when playing as the No. 1-ranked team. It had won seven-consecutive times (all this season) when ranked No. 1 after falling at Villanova last season - its only week ranked first in 2008.

· Richmond lost the time of possession battle by just over a minute (30:39-29:21), marking the first time this season that has happened.

· The Spiders out-gained the Wildcats 383-361 in the game, including a decisive 261-141 advantage in the second half.

· The road team has won 17 of the 37 CAA Football conference games played this season, after a 2008 season where the road team was 25-23 in league contests.

· Villanova increased its lead in the all-time series with Richmond to 20-9 with its first win at UR Stadium since 2003. The home team had won in each of the last four meetings.

Individual Player Notes

· Senior QB Eric Ward posted the second-best passing game of his career with 297 yards. Entering the game, he needed just 34 yards to become the school's all-time leading passer. Now with 8,321 yards passing in his career, he overtook Bob Bleier's previous record of 8,057 (1983-86).

· Ward has recorded the two highest single-game passing marks in his career this season. He threw for 394 versus VMI on Sept. 26.

· Ward now owns each of the school's career records for a QB: yards (8,321), TDs (56), completions (722) and completion percentage (62.2).

· Ward's rushing TD was the 21st of his career, which moved him into a tie for sixth on the Spiders' all-time list. Former RBs Tyronne Turner and Barry Redden also have 21.

· Senior K Andrew Howard's PAT miss was just the fourth of his career. All-time he's made 97.8 percentage of his PATs (182-of-186). The 182 made extra points is both a school and CAA Football career record.

· Senior TB Justin Forte, who was leading the league in rushing 92.2 yards/game and averaging 115.2 over his last five games, was limited to just 57 yards on 14 carries.

· Senior DT Martin Parker ranks among the league leaders in TFL and finished the game with eight tackles, including 1.5 sacks (1.5 TFL). He also forced a fumble.

· Sophomore DB Tremayne Graham recorded his first career sack.

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