We all wanted a statement win on the road to keep the momentum going after Delaware, and the guys delivered just that. A clinic from the UR offense and another multi-turnover day from the UR defense made for a comfy flight home from Bryant.

Drives

1st half drives above the red line, 2nd half drives below

Offense

64 snaps | 9 drives – 6 TDs (67%), 1 FGA (11%), 1 turnover on downs (11%), 1 punt (11%)

Fast start – How’s six TDs on our six 1st half possessions? The slow starting Spiders might be a thing of the past, with this offense clicking from the opening drive. The level of opponent definitely factors in here, however our response to an early 7-0 hole helped settle things down and led to a huge day.

Offensive identity – The Spiders know who they are. We showed it against Delaware, and we followed up that effort with an even better 1st half over the weekend. It’s easy to say we’ve known what this offense should be, however seeing it unfold in game action is another story. This group has now put back-to-back great outings together, and head into November with a full understanding of how this offense needs to operate.

Below is the 1st half play calling on 1st & 2nd down:

• 1st down | 62% run, 38% pass
• 2nd down | 50% run, 50% pass

It starts with early down passing. The lopsided score had us running it more towards the end of the 1st half, as both 1st & 2nd downs were close to 50/50 most of the way. Coleman was 7/8 on 1st down, averaging 19.9 YPA. He found his targets early and kept the offense ahead of the sticks, leading to our highest scoring 1st half of the season.

We also saw October continue to unlock different elements of the offense. Almost a mid-line read for Coleman on the goal line, some I-formation with Aziz Foster-Powell at fullback, and multiple trick plays despite being up four TDs. He had full control of the offense from the opening snap and every single player on that unit is better because of it. It’s been a joy watching him in the 1st half these past two weeks and there’s no reason the Spiders shouldn’t continue to build on that moving into November.

Cam Coleman – 15/16, 278 yards, 4 TDs. Nearly perfect from Coleman, who has really found his rhythm the past few weeks. He took shots downfield, made all the throws he needed to, and fit a couple in some really tight windows.

#14 continues to show his mobility, scoring on a run in the redzone and throwing a 3rd down TD after keeping the play alive with his legs. His 94% completion percentage would easily surpass the current UR record, but I doubt 16 attempts is enough to qualify. Either way, Coleman should take home CAA honors this week.

Nick DeGennaro – Finally. The first 100-yard game of 2024 for #11, hauling in seven passes for 162 yards and a TD. The route on the TD was a crisp double move, he was shifty in the open field, and unsurprisingly Bryant didn’t have a guy on the roster that could cover him. Once DeGennaro got going it opened things up for the rest of our receivers, leading to two TDs for Jerry Garcia Jr.

The Richmond offense is on its best two game stretch of the year right now (10 1st half TDs in just 12 drives), while DeGennaro simultaneously is putting up his best numbers (243 yards and 2 TDs in two weeks). Coincidence? I doubt it.

Running backs – We got to see all four running backs with the carries well distributed.

Brown was the first running back off the bench, with Andrew King not being featured as much as we’ve seen. Happy to see Foster-Powell still running well and very reassuring that we have four established options to carry the rock.

2nd half – Second straight game for the Spiders with zero 2nd half points. I know I ranted about how this team needs to assert themselves throughout the 3rd quarter, but that wasn’t the game to do it.  Richmond got the ball to open the 2nd half, picking up a few 1st downs (even going for it on 4^th & 1) while running the normal offense.  By the time we got near the redzone, eight minutes had gone off the clock and it was clear this game could be over with a few drawn out possessions.  In came Ashten Snelsire and UR burned clocked until the end.  I was glad to see we had no reservations to start the 2nd half, but Huesman made the right call to get Coleman out of the game.  Bryant was bad enough that scoring in the 3rd quarter wouldn’t have proved anything, so our 2nd half offense will have to wait another week.

Defense

48 snaps | 8 drives – 3 punts (38%), 2 TDs (25%), 2 turnovers (25%), 1 FGA (12%)

Bryant punched early but then the Spiders took over. Not much to say here, as we overpowered them at every position. Not an overly disruptive day from the defense, forcing just two sacks and three TFLs, however we won the line of scrimmage had no issues defending against a freshman QB.

Secondary – Another game with our secondary in much better position than we’ve seen.  Fair amount of Cover 2 from the Spiders and the middle of the field was defended well for the second straight week. Richmond benefitted from starting QB Jared Guest not playing for Bryant, and although true freshman Brennan Myer looks to be a good player the entire offense was overmatched by the UR defense.

Being in position is great, now we’ve got to finish plays.  Two weeks in a row that Trae Tomlinson has been in perfect position but lost a jump ball for a chunk play. Traynor had a similar play as well over the middle.  This is me being picky, as you obviously can’t defend every pass perfectly.  Tomlinson has played extremely well the past two weeks, and I was really hoping he’d top it off with his first INT of the season. The main takeaway is that the adjustments made over the bye week have really benefitted the Spiders.  Once our secondary starts winning a few more 50/50 balls and we get Jabril Hayes back, watch out.

Turnovers – Two forced turnovers on the day.  Right place, right time for Jeremiah Grant on the fumble recovery, with QMW tallying yet another INT from his Will linebacker position.  QMW now has an interception in three straight games (he didn’t play against A&T), as the transfer from Idaho State is just a perfect fit in this role. UR has forced eight turnovers the past four games, with our average back up to 1.5 TOs forced/game.  I mentioned this leading into the Elon game and am very pleased with the progress made in this area during October.

Personnel – Plenty of youngsters in the 2nd half played for Richmond.

Chambers (R-So.) and Laughlin (R-Fr.) are the only non true freshman on the list, as the newer Spiders got some nice game experience under their belts. With the Spiders thin at a few spots this was a great game to get our younger players game snaps, with a couple of guys making solid plays in their limited action. This list doesn’t even count Jamar Hodges, since the R-Fr. is firmly in the rotation already. We should be able to redshirt everyone besides Seelmann and I’m expecting this group to keep contributing in November.

3rd down – Richmond held Bryant to just 2/10 on 3rd downs, lowering our season percentage to just 30.9%. That’s good for 2nd in the CAA and 13th nationally. Richmond finished 4th in the FCS in 2023 and T-11 in 2022, so having this group put together three consecutive top 15 would be an amazing accomplishment.

Special Teams

Tough day for Peskin, missing a PAT and a 44-yard FG. He struck the field goal well, just seemed to get caught up in the wind. Not what he wanted but no real concern in my eyes.

Trusler only punted once and there wasn’t much activity in the kickoff game. A quiet day in the special teams department.

CAA/FCS update

Hello, Billy Cosh. Stony Brook whips W&M, Towson beats Monmouth, Delaware wins, and Villanova survives New Hampshire. Only four eligible teams now sit at 4-0 or 3-1.

The most important team out of the group above is the ineligible Blue Hens. Not only does Delaware continuing to win boost UR’s resume, they could knock of Rhode Island (Nov 9th) and/or Villanova (Nov 23rd) in the process. UD finishing at 10-1 is the dream result for the Spiders.

In other FCS games, #4 South Dakota, #7 North Dakota, #16 William & Mary, and #24 Western Carolina all lost. These results could matter if the Spiders find themselves with a chance at 10-2, but we’re not there yet.

Next Post

Game 9 – 2024: Towson preview – Friday, November 1st