Richmond heads to the Bronx for our first flight game of the season, taking on the Fordham Rams in the last matchup before the bye week.
Fordham Rams
It’s been a tricky season to judge the Rams. They sit at 1-5, but two of those losses came against FBS opponents, while their three FCS losses came against #5 Lehigh, #23 Colgate, and RV Stony Brook. Those are five respectable losses, with Fordham’s lone win coming in a 25-point victory at William & Mary. I won’t call them a great 1-5 team, but you could surely do worse. After witnessing what happened to the Spiders in the Bronx in 2019, there’s no reason to assume this will be an easy road win.
Having hit the halfway point of the regular season, I imagine most Richmond fans are happy with where we are, but not entirely comfortable with how we got here. We’re 5-1, have zero FCS losses, are ranked in most polls, and find ourselves squarely in the playoff picture. At the same time, we haven’t consistently looked the part of a playoff team. Winning is ultimately all that matters, but we can’t keep letting inferior teams hang around. Whether it’s turnovers, penalties, or simply failing to execute for 60 minutes, the mistakes are becoming a recurring problem. As Coach Huesman put it during the Wednesday presser, “eventually it’s going to come back and bite us, no question about that.”
At some point, you have to put teams away. After watching Lehigh shut out Fordham 34-0 last weekend, I want to see if the Spiders can take that next step. It’s not about style points — it’s about taking control of games and playing to the standard that I’m sure this group holds itself to. Mid-October is the perfect time to kick it into another gear and start looking like a real contender.
Odds
The line currently sits at Richmond -8.5 with an over/under of 44.5. Projected score is Richmond 27, Fordham 18.
Two-Deep
Kelsey Hundley, who missed the Lafayette game, is still showing as the starting left guard but Gabe Heard-Hernandez and Luke Surrett are now also listed as potential starters. Surrett has played over 300 snaps this season, including 246 the past three weeks.
At the Will/Nickel spot, Tay Burney is no longer listed, with Jordan Allen set to make his second consecutive start.
Spiders on Offense
The Rams have allowed at least 24 points in all six contests. The Spiders eclipsed the 30-point mark for the second time last weekend and should look to build on that heading into the bye week. Richmond’s 23.3 PPG currently ranks 2nd in the Patriot League, an insanely low number for the conference’s second-highest scoring team. If we can get this offense clicking consistently, there’s no reason we can’t compete for a Patriot League title.
Offensive Line – It was great to see Godwin Burger back at tackle last weekend, and with Luke Surrett filling in well at guard/center, the O-line continues to improve week after week. Over the past three games, we’ve rushed for 145, 188, and 250 yards, respectively. Aziz continues to be the focal point of the ground attack, but what’s most encouraging is our ability to sustain that success into the 2nd half.
Earlier in the season, we were running the ball well before halftime, only to see our production drop off significantly after the break. That wasn’t the case against Lafayette. UR running backs had 44 rushing yards in the 1st half (4.0 YPC), then followed that up with 126 yards in the 2nd half (5.3 YPC). We weren’t just running the ball more often — we were getting more out of every carry. That’s a significant improvement from what we saw earlier in the season and a promising sign that this O-line is rounding into form.
YAC – Looking through all of our numbers, one thing that really stands out is our lack of YAC (yards after catch). Explosive offenses aren’t just capable of throwing the ball downfield — they can also turn a 6-yard reception into a 16-yard gain. Right now, we aren’t doing nearly enough of that. Over the past three games, Richmond has gained just 107 yards after the catch on 49 receptions, barely over 2 yards per catch, with much of that coming from checkdowns to running backs. Bryce Allen has 163 receiving yards but just 13 YAC, while Quanye Veney has 119 receiving yards and only 12 YAC. We’re essentially having to throw for almost every yard we’re gaining through the air.
For comparison, I looked at Colgate (FCS #23, Patriot League contender) and Campbell (FCS #17, CAA contender). Both are averaging nearly 5 YAC/reception this season. That difference might not sound significant, but across roughly 25 completions per game, we’re talking about an additional 60–70 yards of offense. Over a 12-game season, that adds up to hundreds of yards Richmond isn’t getting.
And that’s where the lack of YAC really hurts us. We haven’t seen enough plays where the design creates separation, gets a receiver moving away from coverage, or forces a defender to make a difficult decision in space. Too often, the completion itself feels like the end of the play rather than the beginning of an opportunity for something bigger. Without those extra yards, we’re asking Snelsire to make accurate throw after accurate throw to generate meaningful yardage through the air. We aren’t getting enough 5-yard completions turning into 15- or 20-yard gains that can overcome a negative play, erase a penalty, or flip field position. That’s a difficult way to consistently score points over the course of a full game.
The bottom line is that Richmond needs to find ways to make its completions more valuable. Until that happens, even a good passing day is going to require a lot more work than it should.
Spiders on Defense
Fordham features two solid running backs, #25 Jamell James and #13 Yohan-Li Louis. While the Rams want to establish themselves on the ground, they also have senior QB Gunnar Smith back after starting all 12 games in 2025. With six seniors in the starting lineup, this is an experienced offense with plenty of size and continuity.
Chunk Plays – This has quickly become a recurring section. When the Spiders eliminate the big plays (Furman), we don’t allow a TD and hold our opponent under 10 points. When we don’t (Lafayette), we fall behind quickly and give up 31. After allowing two TD runs of 70+ yards last weekend, I’m sure the defense has paid plenty of attention to what Fordham did in its lone win. Against William & Mary, the Rams ripped off seven runs of 20+ yards on their way to 428 rushing yards (9.3 YPC). Simply put, we aren’t going to survive another road test if we can’t stop the run.
Fordham needs to win games on the ground. Through six games, QB Gunnar Smith has surpassed 200 passing yards just once and has thrown nine interceptions. They aren’t going to throw their way to a win, and forcing Smith to beat us through the air was exactly what worked in last year’s matchup. Richmond held the Rams to just 70 rushing yards (2.3 YPC), forcing Smith into a bigger role and coming away with two INTs in a game where Fordham scored only 14 points. After the communication breakdowns we saw against Lafayette, the entire UR defense needs to be on the same page tomorrow. Fordham has already shown what can happen when its running backs find open space.
Defensive Bounce-Back – If you’re looking for reasons to expect a better defensive showing this weekend, Fordham presents some favorable matchups for the Spiders.
The Rams rank 120th in the FCS in giveaways, having turned the ball over 15 times through six games. Meanwhile, Richmond has forced multiple turnovers in back-to-back games for the first time this season and now ranks 41st nationally in takeaways.
On 3rd down, Fordham ranks 110th in the FCS in conversion rate (29.2%), while the Spiders continue to improve defensively. We’re now 8th nationally at just 28% allowed, including an outstanding 6/34 (17.6%) over the past three weeks.
And then there are the sacks. Fordham allows 3.17 sacks/game (112th in the FCS), while Richmond ranks 2nd nationally with 22 sacks (3.67 sacks/game). Given how consistently we’ve generated pressure this season, this looks like another opportunity for the D-line to take over a game.
Special Teams
After another great weekend, Ned Gray ranks #2 in the Patriot League and #11 in the FCS in net punting average (41.6 yards/punt). The big-booming lefty already has nine punts of 50+ yards in 2026 (for reference, Aaron Trusler had 11 during his senior season). I’m not putting Gray at Trusler’s level just yet, but it’s safe to say he’s developing into just as valuable of an asset.
What stands out about Fordham’s special teams is its punt coverage. In six games, they’ve allowed 12 punt returns of 10+ yards. We aren’t seeing Jaiden Fair much on offense, but he continues to make an impact as our punt returner. #2 had another solid return against Lafayette and should get some opportunities tomorrow.
Next Post
2026 — Game 7: Fordham Recap – Monday, October 12th
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