Richmond ends September the way it started, losing to another non-quality opponent and all but officially putting their playoffs hopes to rest before the month of October even rolled around.

Drives

1st half drives on the left, 2nd half drives on the right

Offense

12 drives – 8 punts (67%), 2 TDs (16%), 2 turnovers (16%)

Not great. Actually, a lot worse than that. Another disappointing game from this unit overall that saw a confusing QB plan and a lackluster game on the ground.

What was the quarterback plan? – I understand not playing Coleman at Stony Brook. He was supposed to be the 4th string that day, there was no time for him to prepare, and that would’ve been his first collegiate appearance. This week was the opposite – we knew Hardy was out, and likely knew Wickersham couldn’t go either. If you’re going to play your only remaining scholarship QB, why not start him? We played conservative with Snelsire early on and Coleman offers a lot more at that position in terms of working the ball downfield. Felt like we wasted three or four drives by flip-flopping the QBs that wasn’t beneficial for either player. Not sure if we thought we could steal an early lead and play with mostly Snelsire but to me it’s that mindset that’s gotten us in these situations. If you’ve got a guy that can throw it like Coleman start with him from the opening kick and go take the game to Hampton.

Camden Coleman – I said it ain’t happening, and I was wrong. What I wasn’t wrong about is his talent. What a welcome to college football for the true freshman – sadly a loss as a two TD favorite (UR opened -15) will be what most fans remember yet the spark and arm talent he showed was everything he was advertised to be. I won’t go crazy and say one solid half against Hampton has earned him that spot but it’s #14 at QB1 until we get some guys back from injury.

Heck of an effort in your first collegiate action. The red zone pick felt like some miscommunication between back-shoulder vs. fade and besides that it was a pretty clean day. Threw on the run well, showed off the arm talent, and by no means looked like a kid that hadn’t played in college before. Didn’t expect to see him on Saturday but on a day when nothing went right, Coleman’s performance was easily the brightest spot.

Running game – Still not there. 45 yards for our two running back at roughly 4 YPC. No point in repeating myself as we’re still in the same spot. Still saw a few guys play LT, as well as LG. I can’t tell you if this is personnel based or scheme based however we can all agree that there rarely seems to be a lot of room and our backs tend to spend a lot of time looking for a hole, rather than hitting it. A struggling downfield passing game isn’t likely to improve too much without a return of our running game.

Wideouts – Finally saw us focus on DeGennaro as much as we should, with #11 grabbing seven receptions on 11 targets. Also split 12 receptions between Griffin, Garcia Jr., and Wilson so the overall distribution was solid. We knew this group was solid, we just haven’t been able to get them the ball. If this offense is ever able to figure things out it’s clear that DeGennaro can continue to be the focal point.

Defense

13 drives – 6 punts (46%), 4 TDs (31%), 2 FG attempts (15%), 1 turnover (8%)

Hardest section to write all season because our #1 strength got pushed around the field for four quarters. Nearly 500 yards of offense, a balanced running & passing attack, and no answers as the game went on. Was Hampton as bad as Hampton usually is? No. Were they THAT good? Also, no.

Personnel – Richmond had everyone we wanted out there. Both Bryson Parker and Jeremiah Grant returned, and although Jarmolowich left with a hamstring he eventually returned. It was great news that we were essentially back to full strength but that made the performance on Saturday hurt even more.

Worst outing since? – Hard to remember a game where we got torched that bad by an opponent that simply isn’t as good as we made them look. Over 250 yards passing despite being a team that only completed 55% of their passes coming in. Over 5 YPC on the ground and they continually had a ton of space inside. It looked like we adjusted our front to attempt to slow down the read option, but both RBs and the QB ended up with great games. Plenty of missed tackles, we lost a majority of 1-on-1s in the secondary, and Hampton had six red zone appearances. It was a game that still could’ve been won with a solid defensive outing but it never even came close to that. No need to dive into each area any further as the Spiders followed up a great effort on Long Island with a dud this past weekend.

Negative plays – Gotta find one positive. 10 TFLs and two sacks, along with a couple breakups and QB hurries. Jarmolowich tallied three TFLs and a sack in his second start, with true freshman TJ Baldwin (Benedictine) recording his first TFL. 10 tackles apiece for Galloway and Wheeler, who continues to climb the all-time tackles leader board.

Special Teams

I didn’t picture this phase being our best group for an entire game anytime soon, but here we are. Punting was fantastic with a 44 yard average, kickoff coverage was strong, and Howard had multiple kickoff returns for big yardage. I’m happy to find any bright spots this past month and it does feel like real progress is happening. In a month where nothing went right, entering October with encouraging special teams would offer something positive to focus on.

End of September

Absolute nightmare of a month. What looked like a four win month during the summer winds up with three losses, two at home to Morgan State and Hampton. 2023 was supposed to show that 2022 was the true direction of this program, instead this past month makes 2022 feel like the anomaly. The Spiders will almost assuredly finish 2023 without a playoff bid and it could shape how we approach October and November. No reason to not keep playing Coleman and getting him experience, yet without the hope of the playoffs we won’t burn his redshirt and see him in more than four games. Ideally Wickersham is back soon but I’d imagine Saturday’s showing earned Coleman a few more appearances in 2023.

I’m not sure how much this offense can adapt at this point but it was an underwhelming start (to put it nicely) for our new coordinators. Under 20 PPG overall and just about 14 PPG if you take away fringe D-II team Delaware St. What we change (or don’t change) will be telling in October, and while you can’t change but so much in-season there’s no reason to not give some fresh ideas a chance. I’m hoping we can regroup, get some people back, and try to salvage what’s left of this season.

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Maine Preview (Friday morning)