Richmond led for a total of 2 seconds but sometimes that’s all it takes. The Spiders escape Buies Creek with a 2nd half comeback to keep the winning streak alive and remain atop the CAA.

Richmond did almost everything in the 1st half you’d typically see of a team about to get upset on the road. Redzone turnover, allowing a kickoff return for a TD, missed FG, etc. Yet the Spiders responded with a strong 2nd half and did what really good football teams do in those spots – got stops, converted when we needed to, and won the game.

Drives

Offense

72 snaps | 11 drives – 3 TDs (27%), 3 FG attempts (27%), 3 punts (27%), 2 turnovers (19%)

400 yards of offense, only two 3 & outs, and three drives of 70+ yards. Offense moved the ball well, protection was clean, and it was another game where the Spiders scored enough points to win but should’ve scored a bunch more. I thought we would click more after the Towson game so I’m hoping this is our November trap game that we thankfully survived.

Zach Palmer-Smith – Things have been more difficult inside for ZPS in recent weeks. After three straight games of 100+ yards on the ground, he hasn’t hit triple digits since October 5th. He’s still getting 20+ touches, we just aren’t running it as well. Palmer-Smith averaged 5.7 YPC through our first five FCS games yet has been under 4 YPC the last four. You can tell teams are starting to key in on the ground attack and they’re doing a nice job of winning early downs.

Richmond had seven rushes (18% of all attempts) that went for zero or negative yardage. Right now, those rushing lanes aren’t as consistent and we’re getting behind the sticks early.

Run/pass breakdown – Richmond came out running. 17 rushing attempts in the 1st half, only nine passes thrown. Not surprising given Campbell’s struggles to stop the run, but once it was clear we weren’t getting much push we started throwing it more.

Here are the splits for the entire game, which ended up balancing out fairly evenly:

• 1st down: 33 plays – 19 run, 14 pass (58% run)
• 2nd down: 28 plays – 16 run, 12 pass (57% run)
• 3rd down: 10 plays – 3 run, 7 pass (30% run)

We should be running it that percentage of the time against a team allowing 209 YPG rushing. To me this was about our ineffectiveness and less about the gameplan. How we adjust to not having things go our way does stand out, as the splits on our three TD drives are vastly different.

• 1st down: 15 plays – 5 run, 10 pass (33% run)
• 2nd down: 11 plays – 5 run, 6 pass (45% run)
• 3rd down: 3 plays – 1 run, 2 pass (33% run)

This isn’t carried by the final drive either – on all three TD drives we were never below a 50/50 run/pass split, as this is clearly becoming a theme. We don’t want to a 65%+ passing team, but how the staff manages this balance while trying to get the run game going again will be a big thing to watch the next two weekends.

Cam Coleman – Good looking numbers for Coleman but he’s going to want a handful of throws back. That game probably isn’t close if Coleman hits DeGennaro for chunk plays, with #11 missing out on at least 100 yards and two TDs by a step each time.

Still doesn’t feel like we’re using the middle of the field as much as we could, and Cam going 2/11 on throws of 15+ yards really stands out from this. #14 had his accuracy on shorter routes and picked up some nice 3rd downs with well-placed throws, but the ceiling of this offense is going to be set by his ability to stretch the ball downfield. Again, good that we’re attacking and have guys open downfield, but at some point missing those chances catches up to you. I’m guessing his left shoulder that we can see him stretching and adjusting is playing into this a little bit. Hoping he gets more comfortable and finds that downfield touch moving forward.

What matters is that he didn’t let the missed throws define the game. He went 10/17 passing in the 4th quarter and ran it four times for 34 yards on the final two drives. It was encouraging to see Coleman regroup after the slow start, and after the 4th quarter interception (I think Robbert needs to work back to the ball stronger there). In the end, he led the Spiders to four 2nd half scoring drives and did just enough to escape with the victory.

Landon Ellis & Ja’Vion Griffin – Really liked the target count from this game. DeGennaro had 12, but seeing Landon Ellis with 9 was promising. We have to continue to get our X/Z receivers the ball and seeing those two combine for 21 targets is a great sign. Ellis posted his second 100-yard game of the season, with Ja’Vion Griffin returning to haul in the game tying TD late in the 4th. Unclear how banged up DeGennaro is after he went down, so Ellis and Griffin playing well gives us some flexibility.

Defense

65 snaps | 10 drives – 5 turnovers [3 on downs] (50%), 2 punts (20%), 2 TDs (20%), 1 FG (10%)

4th down – Second game this season where Richmond dominated on 4th down stops. If you remember, Richmond stopped Delaware four times on 4th down to hold the Blue Hens to nine points, and we held Campbell to 0/4 on Saturday. Three of those stops were in the 4th quarter, as we continually denied Campbell from taking a two-score lead in the 2nd half. The defense ultimately won the game in these spots, not only keeping Campbell from a go-ahead field goal but also giving our offense the ball back to eventually kick the game winner. It wasn’t the prettiest looking box score but this group stepped up in a huge way for another great 2nd half performance.

Pressure – This felt like Delaware State all over again, just without the sacks. A fair amount of pressure from the Spiders but we rarely got Chandler II on the ground, finishing with zero sacks and five TFLs. We didn’t blitz too often, sometimes bringing a linebacker or corner off the edge, yet the contain focused approach didn’t yield many results. Chandler II had no issues continually escaping the UR defense, extending plays, and running for over 100 yards.

That was the first time a UR defense didn’t record a sack since Michigan State last season, and our first against an FCS opponent since William & Mary in 2022.

Run defense – It didn’t matter who was running it for the Camels. Both running backs and the QB combined for 269 yards, averaging just shy of 7 YPC.

Whether it was designed QB runs or Chandler II improvising we couldn’t stop #1 and it kept the Campbell offense in the game. The D-line didn’t have the same level of pursuit, as you could really tell how gassed they were late in drives.

We’ve shrunk this to a 5-man rotation recently, which is a tall task against mobile QBs. With another running QB on deck next weekend, I’ll be interested to see how our gameplan changes or if we add someone to the rotation up front.

Secondary – Matthew Traynor led the team with 12 tackles, two TFLs, and an INT, earning him CAA Defensive Player of the Week honors. Jabril Hayes snagged another interception, and I thought the corners were in good position most of the day. Both Traynor and Hayes played all 65 snaps, a good sign after they each went down with injuries against Towson. Some better tackling would’ve limited a couple of Campbell’s bigger plays, but all in all that was another good day for this group.

Special Teams

Spiders are trending in the wrong direction here. Kickoff return continues to be an issue. Garcia Jr. had three returns totaling just 30 yards. He’s now averaging under 19 yards/return as we’ve got figure out the blocking here. We tried going wide a few times but continually had someone come through before we could get to the edge.

You also can’t allow one of the worst kick return teams to break a 90-yard TD. That kept Campbell in the game early, as they immediately responded to our first TD by retaking the lead seconds later. Saw multiple true freshmen on this unit so curious if that will continue or if that was us trying to establish depth. Lots to analyze this week for both kickoff units.

The credit goes to Brandon Peskin, who put the prior weeks behind him and stepped up in two big moments. He missed a PAT against Bryant, got bench after missing another against Towson, and just missed his first FG off the crossbar. I’m sure a lot was going through his mind but his 36-yarder in the 3rd quarter tied the game and his other 36-yarder with two seconds to play won it for the Spiders. Resilient effort by #34 and great to see the grad transfer get a signature moment in his one year at Richmond.

CAA/FCS update

A lot went right yesterday. Delaware beat Rhode Island, giving Richmond sole possession of 1st place in the CAA. More importantly it gives Rhody their first FCS loss, which will knock them below the Spiders in terms of playoff seeding.

Lindenwood beat #6 Southeast Missouri, so they’ll now be below Richmond as well. Montana lost to UC Davis, and if the Grizzlies lose to Montana State in two weeks they’ll finish with four losses and should be below the Spiders. Those three results made for a great week. We’ll still be rooting for upsets however a path is starting to clear for us getting the #7/#8 seed if we win out.

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Game 11 – 2024: Hampton preview: Friday, November 15th