You won’t find many August matchups featuring a top 25 battle between #1 and #2 in the preseason conference poll. Welcome to the new Patriot League.

Lehigh Mountain Hawks

The reigning Patriot League champions return practically everyone from a 9-win team that is expected to make the playoffs once again. Lehigh features a strong rushing attack that dictates games on the ground, along with an aggressive defense that has veteran leadership at every position. The Mountain Hawks proved they have what it takes to win and will surely be ready for a week 1 clash – the Spiders must match their level of intensity and execution or we’ll see a repeat of November.

Odds

The line opened around Lehigh -2 but is up to Lehigh -6.5. Total is 48.5 for a projected score of 28-21 Lehigh.

2025 Season

Two questions will seemingly define the 2025 Spiders. The first is the one drawing all of the attention – can we avoid yet another slow start? The early season struggles are well documented and absolutely need to be resolved before two early road tests. For me there’s a bigger, season-long question at play – are we built to replace a significant amount of lost production through talent developed within the program?

Continually winning with our own recruits remains paramount for a school like UR and this season is not exception. 10 Spiders on the roster last November will suit up for FBS teams this week. In response, we didn’t try and match each portal exit with a corresponding addition. Sure, we plugged some holes and added depth, but the 2025 roster is built on recruited high school talent. Only 11% of our roster comes via the portal. Only five of our 22 starters didn’t begin their careers at Richmond. The 2025 Spiders’ foundation is in homegrown, developed talent, and we’re about to find out whether that formula can withstand substantial offseason losses.

Spiders on Offense

New offense – With new personnel and new Co-OCs, all eyes will be on what the UR offense looks like in 2025. This team wants our identity to be rooted in running the football. Between Wickersham and three running backs there’s no shortage of options to do it. Where we must see improvement is in our balance and variety, something that kept our ceiling too low last year.

Our balance will come by letting Wickersham throw earlier. You all know my rants about not giving Kyle the full playbook. We aren’t a team that will sit in the pocket and throw it 70% of the time on 1st down, but we can’t allow opposing defenses to pack the box and not adjust. A run-first team does not mean we ONLY run first.

Our variety will come in how we use our personnel. There’s so much talk around team speed and we absolutely have to call the game to capitalize on that. Wickersham’s mobility means we can attack horizontally in both the run and pass game – read options, RPOs, and anything else to get playmakers in space will allow the Spiders to be versatile. I want to see this group beat defenses from sideline to sideline. If we can do that, everything else becomes easier.

Kyle Wickersham – Obviously a big part of our running game involves Kyle. His size alone tells you he’s powerful QB and we’ve definitely used him in that role. In 10 full games he’s played since 2023, Wickersham is averaging 13.2 carries/game. I doubt we see that number below 15 in tomorrow’s matchup. In Jacob Huesman’s first game as OC, I imagine he’ll default to Wickersham in key moments. Hopefully getting him on the edge more leads to corners/safeties tackling him rather than defensive linemen every time.

What we haven’t seen as much from Kyle is the downfield passing. Given his week 3 injury it’s been almost two years since we really saw him cut it loose in a game. I thought he displayed great touch throughout camp but this ain’t practice. Lehigh starts one senior and three juniors, with three starters returning from 2024 squad that ranked 1st in the Patriot League in YPG allowed (174) and YPA (5.9). In his first game back, Wickersham has to make the big throws. #16 needs to be sharp in identifying when we can hit the homerun, and then executing it.

Offensive line – I’m admittedly worried about this group. This is as difficult of a week 1 matchup as you can have and it only got worse with Gabe Carbajal’s absence.

Lehigh returns four senior starters on the D-line, two of them 1st team All-Patriot selections. This veteran group allowed 129 YPG on the ground in 2024, good for 2nd in the Patriot and 29th in the FCS. They were even better at generating pressure, leading the Patriot in sacks with 34 (19th in FCS). Lehigh’s pressure doesn’t come only from their D-line, as they use a bunch of blitz looks and will surely not shy away from that against a young O-line. In our opening 15-play drive last year, we saw Lehigh bring all three linebackers AND a safety at some point.

On the flip side, Richmond has nowhere near the same level of experience. With Carbajal sidelined (foot), three of our five O-linemen (Anderson, Capristo, Hundley) will be making their first collegiate start tomorrow.

This is a matchup I would much rather see in week 10 compared to week 1. Our young Spiders likely need some time to gel, while Lehigh will be firing on all cylinders from the first snap. Factor in their complex blitz looks and Capristo’s first start at center will be a test of his ability and more importantly his communication.

Sean Clarke – Coach Huesman has gone out of his way to praise Clarke multiple times this preseason, so how about we get him the football? He’ll be on the field 90%+ of the time and his game involves much more than run blocking. UR tight ends had six receptions in the playoff game, the most of any game for that group all year. Defensively, Lehigh allowed 23 catches for 185 yards and four TDs to opposing tight ends in November. A continuation of that trend could mean a big day for #87, especially in the redzone.

Spiders on Defense

Slowing down Geoffrey Jamiel – Jamiel enters 2025 with over 1,700 receiving yards and 13 TDs. We saw the damage he can cause firsthand, as #9 had 10 catches for 137 yards and the game winning TD. Everyone sees a WR with big numbers and assumes our corners need to play well, but it’s the opposite with Jamiel. #9 aligned as the slot receiver 93% of the time in 2024, meaning he rarely is matched up on an outside cornerback.

In the playoff game, 12 of his 13 targets had either the Will linebacker or our free safety as the primary defender. Lehigh wants to run Jamiel down the seam for big gains or get him in open space against our linebackers. This is where Tayshaun Burner comes in – listed as a corner but starting at Will linebacker, this is our best shot at neutralizing the dynamic Jamiel. Burney will be undersized in run support however he will more than makeup for it if he can slow down one of the most dynamic weapons in the Patriot League. A huge first game for the transfer from Wake Forest.

Defensive line – This is a group that can win Richmond this game. These guys did their job last year and we need more of the same tomorrow. TJ Baldwin and Donovan Hoilette return from injury to replace Jeremiah Grant and Carsen Stocklinski. How these two hold up against a premier rushing attack is crucial. We know Fitz and Byrd are ready however we never got to see Hoilette play a full FCS game at his new position. Lehigh averaged 202 YPG on the ground (12th in FCS) but has three new starters on the O-line. This is one of the few areas we have a leg up in experience and we’ve got to capitalize on that.

Winning the line of scrimmage would allow us to dictate this game. I’ll steal a line from last year’s preview – In wins, Lehigh stuck to their gameplan and averaged just 15.5 passing attempts – in losses, they got off schedule and that number rose to 27.5. This is exactly how the first three quarters went – Lehigh had just 7 points, couldn’t string drives together, and was well on pace to throw it 25+ times. We didn’t finish the job but the blueprint was there.

Big plays – We didn’t finish the job because of two 4th quarter plays. 35% of their yards came on just two backbreaking plays – the 65-yard TD run and the 54-yard TD reception. A bad run fit at corner and some missed tackles turned a two-score lead into an early playoff exit. The younger Spiders need a full 60 minutes of solid football to steal a win on the road.

3rd down – For a statistically great defense, we never found our groove on 3rd down. The Spiders finished 2024 allowing 39.75% of 3rd downs, ranking outside the top 50 in the FCS. We really lost it in November, allowing conversions on 52% of attempts in those 5 games. I’m sure Coach Wood has this as a priority and we’ll be tested right away. Lehigh’s offense was 12th nationally and went 7/11 in the playoff game.

Special Teams

Excited to see what Dawson/Fair offer in the return game but there’s nothing more interesting than entering week 1 with and “or” on your depth chart at kicker.

“We don’t have any place-kicking game – zero. I don’t know how we’re going to make an extra point or a field goal. I may have to kick it [myself]. I’m just giving you an honest answer, you guys watched it… it ain’t good.”

That was Coach Huesman after Wednesday’s practice. Another poor day for our kickers led to frustration that apparently has been boiling for some time. I’m honest in my practice reports – Jackson Bonser had a great first week and a bad second week. Unfortunately, it seems the bad continued beyond week two. With R-Sr. Jayden Alsheskie sitting most of camp due to a hip flexor the level of concern continues to rise. I personally want to see Jackson Bonser in game action, let’s just hope he’s in a good place mentally before his debut.

Ultimately the Spiders may be more aggressive on 4th down near the redzone. If we aren’t confident in making a 30-yard field goal on 4th & 4, go for it. Who knows, maybe our redzone offense just needs an extra down to turn things around.

Next Post

Game 1 – 2025: Lehigh recap – Monday, September 1st