Our September stretch of non-conference games wraps up against the Howard Bison. With Patriot League play resuming next week the Spiders need to keep the momentum going before some tricky October matchups.

Howard Bison

Howard is The Real HU, at least for 2025. The Battle for the Real HU (Howard vs Hampton) is one of the better named rivalries and that title belongs to the Bison after a 34-7 victory. Howard won the MEAC in 2022 & 2023 but hasn’t posted an overall record above .500 since 2017. They’re looking to change that with a 3-1 start, led by a veteran group. 12 starters on last weeks’ two-deep are seniors/grad students, as this is a physical and experienced team looking to return to the top of the MEAC.

Late September is when you can start to see young teams coming together, and executing another strong 60-minute effort would signal the younger Spiders are starting to gel. Like VMI, Howard won’t boost our rankings, but that doesn’t make this any less important. Tomorrow is all about building on the VMI game and continuing to establish our identity. Two solid games to close out September would bring plenty of optimism into October.

Odds

Line sits at Richmond -13.5 with an O/U of 44.5. Projected score is Richmond 29-15.

Redshirts

As we enter our fifth game, four freshmen are at or approaching the four game limit. Obviously punter Ned Gray isn’t redshirting. The same goes for Devin Geronomi, who continues to play special teams and start at corner in D’Angelo Stocker’s absence.

Michael Creamer played in three games but his injury against VMI makes his status unknown. He can play in one more game while still maintaining a redshirt. Lastly is Tramayne Bullock, who has played in all four contests on special teams and made a few appearances at corner.

Spiders on Offense

The Bison held both Florida A&M and Hampton to under 10 points, are good on 3rd down, and haven’t allowed many big plays. This will be a tougher battle than VMI and should indicate whether our offensive approach has truly shifted.

Offensive line – The shuffle continues but I think we’re getting closer? The left side has been steady, with Ron Anderson (LT) and Scott Hummel (LG) playing 99% of snaps. The right side has been the exact opposite.

Plenty of rotations on the right side, which is great for building depth but not what you want entering October. I’m hoping the combination of Capristo-Smith-Gray can string two good games together and build some continuity before Patriot League play resumes. The Spiders had great success running wide against VMI, something Howard struggled with last week. Hampton rushed for over 100 yards outside the tackles against the Bison defense, potentially a blueprint for what we’ll see tomorrow.

Pass protection – Howard has forced three sacks in both of their FCS wins, while the Spiders have allowed 2+ sacks in three games. In looking for ways to avoid negative plays I’m curious if we move the pocket. These wouldn’t be anything like sprint outs, just subtle slides to keep #16 in rhythm and change the launch point.

Above were three 1st quarter pass attempts against VMI where #16 was moving laterally. Wickersham has always thrown the ball on the move fairly well and he made three good throws here. Even if it’s just once or twice, this would be a nice wrinkle for a developing O-line and a QB that enjoys moving his feet.

Redzone – After a 3/3 day against VMI the Richmond offense has scored six TDs on seven redzone trips against FCS competition. Too early to say we’ve flipped the script from 2024 but it’s a nice start. The Howard defense has been excellent, allowing just one TD in eight trips in FCS/D-II games. We’ve shown good variety in this area. Four of our TDs were on the ground, while both passing touchdowns came via screens. I’m interested to see how we attack Howard near the goal line and if utilizing screens continues to be part of our redzone approach.

Secondary – Howard’s two-deep lists a “Star” defender rather than a third linebacker, meaning we’ll see a 4-2-5 look from the Bison. Of their five starting DBs, two are freshmen and one is a sophomore. One of their younger groups but it’s been a position that has held up well thanks to their ability to limit big plays. In four games opponents have just nine completions on throws 10+ yards down the field. The asterisk here is that they haven’t faced great QBs. It’s difficult to say whether this is the result of good defense or bad offense, but I do know the Spiders need to exploit this young secondary and find chunk plays in the passing game.

Spiders on Defense

The numbers behind Howard’s offense don’t jump off the page. They average 22 PPG and just under 300 total YPG, with an even run/pass split. What makes them difficult to defend is their variety, leaning on their physicality up front while also being able to beat teams horizontally.

Defensive line – 1/3 of the way through the regular season and the defensive line snaps are shaping out about where I thought they’d be. We’ve established a clear 7-man rotation.

Defensive end snaps add up to more than 200% because we’re using three DEs on 3rd & long situations. That helps get DTs more rest and more pass rushers on the field. One thing I like is TJ Baldwin playing nearly 60% of downs. He lost weight this offseason for better conditioning and looks great after missing most of 2024. #93 will never play 75%+ of snaps but getting him on the field 60% of the time has helped fill Carsen Stocklinski’s void.

The most surprising part is the rise of Daniel Sellers. Sellers played just eight snaps last season yet plays a crucial role in this year’s rotation. He comes in for our three DE package and has picked up a 1/2 sack and a few QB hurries. The fact we’re able to maintain this consistent rotation each game shows how much confidence the staff has in all seven guys and this will surely pay dividends as the 12-game season goes on.

Mobile quarterbacks – We’re going to need every single one of our D-linemen to slow down the Howard offense. Quarterback Tyriq Starks runs it over 10 times each game, as the Bison use plenty of option and RPO looks to get their QB on the move. I’m guessing you haven’t forgotten how much we struggled with these style quarterbacks last year. Both Campbell and Hampton gave us scares in November of 2024 due their QB’s ability to extend plays.

• Campbell (Mike Chandler II) – 17 runs, 121 yards, 1 TD
• Hampton (Malcolm Mays & Chris Zellous) – 18 runs, 81 yards, 1 TD

Whether it was designed runs or scrambles, we didn’t have much success containing the QB in those games. With Howard starting four grad students on the O-line, they’re going to want to control things up front and give Starks the chance to make plays. This will be a good gauge for just how athletic our defense is.

3rd down – The biggest impact mobile QBs had in the Campbell/Hampton games was extending drives. Campbell & Hampton combined to go 20 for 32 (63%) on 3rd down, which led to our defense playing a ton of snaps and our offense rarely seeing the football. That’s the exact situation we have to avoid against the Bison. I’ve already talked about why we want higher possession games, and while our defense is deep enough to handle a higher snap count we need our improved 3rd down defense to continue. The Spiders allow FCS opponents to convert just 28% of 3rd downs, a much better start to the 2025 campaign.

Personnel/targets – Howard loves to use multiple tight end sets. For the season they’re using two tight ends over 35% of the time, a number that jumped to over 50% against Hampton. They aren’t used exclusively in the run game – 27% of all passes are thrown to tight ends, as their three options have combined for 139 yards and two TDs. Our linebackers will be challenged to keep up with the Bison going sideline to sideline but also in defending their larger TEs. Tayshaun Burney has been great defending the slot but the 5’9″ Burney will definitely have a size disadvantage against these personnel groupings.

Special Teams

The Bison blocked field goals against Florida A&M and Morehouse. In 2024 they blocked six kicks (5th in FCS) so our PAT/FG units will need to be crisp.

Kickoff returns are a weakness for Howard. They rank 103rd in the FCS at just 15.5 yards/return. Will McManus has been excellent through four weeks, drilling touchbacks 38% of the time and leading Richmond to a top-20 KOC unit (allowing 15.8 yards/return).

Next Post

Game 5 – 2025: Howard recap – Monday, September 29th