Déjà vu, but worse. Richmond once again puts themselves in an 0-2 hole, as the September woes continue for this program.

Drives

Offense

76 snaps | 12 drives – 4 punts (33%), 4 INTs (33%), 2 TDs (17%), 2 FG attempts (17%)

Folks, I don’t know what to tell you. This is basically just a long rant and roughly my fifth draft of this recap, yet none put the confusion I had the entire game into words. Someone told me after the game I should just copy what I wrote last September, and he ain’t wrong. If anything, that would be understating how bad Saturday was because that was worse than Morgan State.

Morgan State 2023: first game of the season, first game with October calling the plays, first collegiate start for Wickersham. None of those are reasons to lose to a team like that, but you can (maybe?) start to wrap your mind around how things would go so wrong. Wofford 2024: none of that applies.

No first game excuses, no staffing excuses, no personnel excuses. Just the most lifeless eight quarters offense I’ve seen to open a season with a roster full of weapons. For all the talk about how Richmond needed to play with more joy and passion, it sure didn’t feel like the message was received.

1st down – For all of these I’m removing the final two Coleman drives, those will be at the bottom.

25 1st downs, 19 runs. Another 75%+ 1st down running day for the UR offense, followed by runs on 62% of 2nd downs. Wofford didn’t have to make any adjustments on defense, as we kept this conservative, run heavy approach throughout the game. Kyle saved our rushing numbers will some great scrambles, but the running backs as a group averaged less than 3 yards/carry. It was tough up front, and we didn’t make things easier by being predictable. I heard multiple Wofford and UR fans making comments on why we kept running it early, so clearly people were noticing. I know this team wants to establish things inside, however two games in and we’ve swung too hard in one direction.

Passing chart – Wickersham’s passing chart below:

That was Wickersham’s most inconsistent game as a Spider, as he wasn’t as pinpoint accurate as we’ve been used to. Two on the INTs aren’t on him, but a few throws early on really got away from him.

All that said, what we ran wasn’t going to win that game for any quarterback. Nearly 70% of the passes were within 5 yards, and essentially no throws in the 6-15 yard bucket. Wickersham threw a beautiful seam route to Griffin in the 1st quarter, but it felt like we never went back to it. Bob Black and Chris Anderson commented a few times on guys not being open, so it seems what we called wasn’t fooling anyone – that likely forced more check downs and a higher percentage of shorter throws. That’s the issue with sticking with early down running even when you aren’t having success.

Here are just two, of countless, 1st down looks Wofford gave us. First image shows 9 Wofford players, and we run it straight at them. Second image is a QB counter despite being outnumbered in the box. 1st down opportunities to open up the passing game, with nothing to show for it.

There is 0% chance they had guys that could consistently cover DeGennaro/Griffin 1-on-1, yet our commitment to the run trumped the opportunity for chunk plays. No slants to open up the middle of the field, no deep outs or digs like LeRoy Henley made a killing off of. We decided we were a “3rd & pass” team and it backfired once again.

Cam Coleman – Here’s Coach Huesman’s comment on brining in Coleman at the end of the game.

“We thought Cam could come in and give us a spark and kind of sling it around a little bit…. we they scored to go up 2 touchdowns, then we made the decision that we needed to move the ball quickly and through the air.”

I’m still trying to figure out why we waiting until six minutes left and a 14 point deficit to turn to our “spark.” He immediately scored and was then tasked with a do or die 2-minute drill because there was no additional time left. If he’s your spark you have to pull that trigger much earlier than six minutes to go. See if he can jumpstart the offense, and if he does it doesn’t force him to be perfect to complete the comeback. He did just about all he could, with a fantastic first drive and some great downfield throws. Definitely missed a couple he’d like back but played the role of a spark well.

Field Position – Richmond still wins that game if we do anything with our 1st half field position. Following the safety, we started three of the next four drives within two yards of midfield. The result? Four drives, three points. We could’ve had Wofford done for by halftime, but when you let lesser teams hang around bad things happen. Not the assertive tone I thought we would set after the UVA game.

Defense

59 snaps | 12 drives – 6 punts (50%), 3 TDs (25%), 2 FGs (17%), 1 turnover [safety] (8%)

Not much else the defense could’ve done. Would love to have that last play of the 1st half back, as that really changed the direction of the 2nd half, but overall they played well enough for us to win this by double digits.

Wofford running game – Non-existent. We were supposed to dominate this matchup up front and did just that. They only ran for 73 yards on 2.7 yards/carry. We made them one dimensional like I was hoping, and although Odom made some plays in the passing game, they never got in too much of a rhythm.

Pressure – We were active in their backfield early on but didn’t create much disruption as the game progressed. Only two sacks the entire game and although we forced Odom to step up in the pocket, we weren’t chasing him around as much as I anticipated. Nothing that caused us to lose but a small letdown in terms of edge pressure. Seeing Hoilette go down with a pretty bad looking injury on puts more workload on Camden Byrd and Zion Bryson moving forward.

Passing chart – Amari Odom’s passing chart below:

That’s a team that isn’t afraid to make things happen. They took the fight to us, consistently attacked our secondary, and it paid off in a big way. First offensive play of the game, they’re looking for a deep post – it develops too slowly, and they take a safety. Despite that, they came back again and hit it later on along with a few other big plays in the middle of the field. The inverse of our chart, with nearly 70% of their attempts coming in the two deeper buckets. They found space where we couldn’t, and they looked like a team that playing to win for 60 minutes.

Special Teams

Another Aaron Trusler special. Set up the safety with a 53-yard punt and averaged 45 yards/punt on the day. He continues to excel in his directional kicking, not allowing returners to cheat one way or the other.

Jerry Garcia Jr. had a big day on kickoff returns, averaging 31 yards/return. He put us in great field position a few times, and it’s encouraging to see this unit have a solid game early in 2024.

What’s next?

Hopefully we announce our QB plans early in the week. I don’t think it’s in anyone’s best interest to go through another year of a QB carousel.

In terms of the bigger picture, it’s hard to see another talent team’s ceiling lowered so early in a season. There’s a massive advantage in the FCS playoffs for getting home games and a bye, and performances like that can take it away quickly. We should all have higher expectations than just simply making the playoffs, so as we try and find our way back into the quarterfinals, seeing a playoff caliber team immediately behind the 8-ball for a second straight season is tough. I think everyone wants this program to see continued and even greater success, and while we’ll all be rooting for this group to do what the 2023 team did it’d be much more fun to watch them have a chance to fight for even bigger goals.

On the other side, last year taught us nothing is over after two weeks. In a 12-game season 9-3 is a guaranteed playoff spot, so technically we’ve still got some wiggle room. The CAA title is still in play, and we most certainly know these guys won’t back down. The 2021 team rallied, 2022 overcame the early loss to Elon, and we know what happened last year. There’s plenty still in front of us and if they figure things out, we’re one big road win at Elon from heading into the bye week at 4-2.

Next Post

Game 3 – 2024: Charleston Southern Preview – Friday, September 13th