RollSpides

Everything UR football

October 2, 2026

2026 — Game 6: Lafayette Preview

Patriot League play resumes in Easton, PA, as the Spiders hit the road for the first time in conference play to face a tricky Lafayette team.

Lafayette Leopards

Lafayette enters Saturday at 1-3, having played one fewer game than Richmond due to the Georgetown cancellation. The Leopards have struggled on offense but are coming off a solid performance, scoring 30 points and throwing for 306 yards in a loss to Holy Cross. The bigger issue has been on the other side of the ball, where Lafayette is allowing 35.8 PPG and 475 YPG, including 315 through the air. After dominating the box score the past two weeks, the Spiders will need to be better at turning yards into points if they want to handle their business on the road.

Once again, we’re facing a team with 1st-half struggles. Lafayette has been outscored by 58 points in the 1st half, allowing seven 1st-quarter TDs through four games. The Spiders have led at halftime in all four FCS contests thus far. We saw at Howard how quickly momentum can shift on the road, so I’d like to see us take advantage of Lafayette’s early struggles and continue our trend of starting fast.

Odds

Richmond is currently a 6.5-point favorite, with an over/under of 42.5. Projected score is Richmond 25, Lafayette 18.

Two-deep

Well, that’s one solution to filling the Nickel position if Burney can’t go. Jordan Allen is back on the two-deep, potentially stepping into Burney’s role after he was injured at the end of the Furman game. Even if Burney can play, expect the Spiders to find a way to get Allen on the field.

Matt Holland is listed at corner again after making his first collegiate start last weekend. Washington and Bullock still saw the most action, but Holland played 23 snaps and recorded two tackles. The true freshman has been on the two-deep since Week 0, and his role should only continue to grow.

Coach Huesman also said RT Godwin Burger and TE Sean Clarke will return this week, two big pickups for our offense.

Spiders on Offense

In four FCS games, the UR offense has scored 35, 28, 24, and 13 points. Our scoring is trending in the wrong direction, and with just one touchdown over the past six quarters, Lafayette may be exactly the opponent we need to face. The Leopards have allowed 38 and 40 points the past two weeks, with their secondary struggling to slow opposing quarterbacks. I love that we re-established our ground game against Furman, and tomorrow is a great opportunity to get the passing attack back on track.

Aziz Foster-Powell – #3 is doing everything for the UR offense right now.

In essentially four games (he played four snaps against NC State), he has 465 yards of total offense and has accounted for six of our 13 offensive TDs. So far, he’s the only Spider with a rushing TD. And on top of all that, he’s PFF’s top-rated running back in pass protection.

The Spiders have an RB1 who can impact every phase of the game, and we’re significantly better when Aziz is a focal point of the offense. With the O-line starting to find its footing, there’s plenty of reason to believe #3 can keep this rolling into October.

Depth – Our injuries have not been fun to sit through this season, but they have highlighted the depth we’ve developed at a few positions. I already discussed Luke Surrett and Brady McIntyre, who have stepped up along the O-line with both starting tackles missing time recently. We all know about Butter Stephenson, who was called into action with Michael Creamer and Jamaal Brown sidelined and has tallied 126 yards on 29 carries, showing impressive toughness every time he gets the ball.

Another younger Spider who answered the call against Furman was Carson Derey. Starting tight end Sean Clarke was sidelined, yet the offense was still able to fully utilize the TE position thanks to #88. He played 81 of 82 snaps, hauling in four passes for 22 yards and the only touchdown of the game. Last year, Clarke going down completely changed how we utilized this position, but Derey stepped right into that role against Furman and contributed in both the passing and running game. Between the O-line, running backs, and now tight end, we’re starting to see just how valuable that added depth can be over the course of a season.

Chunk plays – As our scoring declines week over week, so do the chunk plays. In the first two weeks of the season, we had six chunk plays of 25+ yards. In the past three games, we’ve only had two. A couple of these have come in the run game, but we all know this is about improved downfield passing. Lafayette gives up the most passing yards/game in the Patriot League, a welcome sign for an Ashten Snelsire bounce-back game.

In their two most recent matchups (Columbia and Holy Cross), opponents are 11/18 for 293 yards on passes 16+ yards downfield. Their secondary is getting torched by the deep ball, exactly where the Spiders have been lacking of late.

In our two most recent games, we’re 3/17 for just 73 yards on throws 16+ yards downfield. This was a huge part of Snelsire’s success in 2025, and while we generated open receivers downfield to begin this season, that’s fallen off lately. Against a Lafayette secondary that’s struggled badly against the deep ball, we’ll see if the staff has figured out a way to get this element back into our offense.

Spiders on Defense

The Leopards boast three seniors on the offensive line, one of their strongest position groups. The offense struggled early in the season but has started to find more traction recently, scoring 34 and 30 points the past two weeks.

Defensive line – The highest-graded D-line in the FCS (per Pro Football Network) should get a good test tomorrow. Lafayette allows just one sack/game, third-best in the Patriot League and t-14th in the FCS. The Spiders are up to #2 in the FCS in total sacks (19), led by edges Cam Byrd and Daniel Sellers (5.5 sacks each). So far, we have 3+ sacks in every FCS matchup, and so much of our defensive success has started with how well this group controls the trenches. Tomorrow needs to be more of the same.

Turnovers – Turnovers haven’t been as big a part of the UR defense in recent years, averaging below 1.5 TOs/game after sitting near 2 in prior years. Forcing two fumbles against Furman was great, and I’m glad to see us recovering more of the fumbles we’ve forced, but the interceptions still haven’t come.

For as well as we’ve played in coverage, having just one INT through five games is an extremely low number. Lafayette has turned the ball over five times the past two games, including three interceptions. With a young Richmond secondary featuring two freshmen and two sophomores, it’d be nice to see one of the youngsters get into the INT column tomorrow.

Chunk plays – Chunk plays stand out on the defensive side as well. Last weekend, Lafayette had five receptions of 25+ yards. Receiver Mason Kuehner (#8) led the charge with 152 yards and three TDs, as the Leopards’ passing game has started to click. They’ve thrown for six TDs the past two weeks after not having any in their opening two games. With QB Daniel Lipovski (#2) completing just 47% of his passes, the big play has become an important part of their offense — and it’s something we did a great job shutting down against Furman. Our secondary didn’t allow a big play for the first time all year against Furman, an encouraging sign for the young group.

Special Teams

Lafayette has been shaky in a few areas on special teams.

The first is punt protection, allowing two blocked punts in three games against FCS opponents — one against Marist and another against Holy Cross. We got close to a few Furman punts last weekend and surely spent some time on Lafayette’s punt team this week.

Kickoff coverage has also been an issue, with opponents averaging 23 yards/return (87th in the FCS). That doesn’t count Georgetown’s kickoff return TD in the cancelled game, further highlighting how vulnerable this unit has been. With touchbacks on only 5 of 17 kickoffs, this should be yet another opportunity for us to break out of our KOR funk. On eight kickoff returns this year, we haven’t taken one beyond our own 26-yard line, averaging 15.4 yards/return. Maybe this is the week something clicks?