Richmond returns home for its final two-game homestand, looking to spoil Lehigh’s hopes of the Patriot League auto-bid.
Lehigh Mountain Hawks
Barring an end-of-season collapse, Lehigh will win at least a share of its third straight Patriot League title. Given Holy Cross’ recent dominance in the conference, that’s an impressive run by the Mountain Hawks, and unfortunately, we’ve had a front-row seat to it. They played playoff spoiler in 2024, then started our 2025 season on a sour note.
While our postseason hopes may be gone, I don’t expect anything less than a full effort from this squad. One thing that’s remained constant over the years is how hard Huesman’s teams compete, and I’m hopeful we can find something that clicks against the best the Patriot League has to offer. The odds below aren’t particularly favorable, but a win would suggest this roster is closer to the top of the league than our recent results indicate. I’ve spent plenty of time focusing on this team’s shortcomings over the past month, and I’d love to come away from Saturday with a reminder of what this group is capable of.
Odds
Richmond is currently a 12.5-point underdog, with an O/U of 44.5. Projected score is Lehigh 29, Richmond 16.
The last time the Spiders were a double-digit home underdog across all sportsbooks was against JMU in 2021.
Two-Deep
Kyle Bitsko is listed as the kickoff specialist for the second straight week, with Jackson Bonser backing him up.
Calum O’Shea is listed as QB2 after dressing for the first time last weekend, having spent the early part of the season recovering from a high school injury. It’s hard to tell if he’s fully healthy with that bulky knee brace, but he appeared to be moving well. With Snelsire and McCauley sidelined by injuries, I’m glad we still have two scholarship QBs available.
Spiders on Offense
We sure didn’t give Jack Callaghan the easy stretch of the schedule. Now making his 2nd start, Callaghan will face arguably the best all-around defense in the Patriot League. Lehigh is dominant in the trenches (4th-fewest rushing yards allowed per game in the FCS) and has forced 13 INTs this season (most in the Patriot). Our best path to victory is probably a low-scoring game, but we’ll still need a much better offensive showing than what we saw against Villanova to have any chance of pulling off the upset.
Drive Length – Whether it’s struggles with running, blocking, passing, or whatever else, one of the clearest signs of our offensive problems is how little ground we’re covering on each possession. Our average drive length tells that story pretty well.
Early in the season, the Spiders were consistently moving the ball. Bucknell and Howard have lower averages due to some short fields created by the defense and special teams, but we continued moving the ball well into early October. Ever since Fordham, though, things have come to a screeching halt.
It’s pretty easy to see why our scoring has dropped off so heavily. Over the past four weeks, just six drives have surpassed 40 yards, with the Spiders averaging less than 20 yards/possession. Even when we aren’t scoring, we’re failing to flip field position and put our defense in a better spot.
Of course, we don’t need to accomplish this with 14-play, seven-minute drives. The explosive-play numbers in our game notes continue to dwindle, with the Spiders producing just one play of 25+ yards across our three recent FCS losses. If we aren’t sustaining drives, we need to be capable of making up that yardage with chunk plays, and right now we’re doing neither. Whether it’s methodically moving down the field or scoring on a quick strike, we simply have to find ways to spend more time on our opponent’s half of the field.
Completions – One of the biggest reasons we’ve struggled to move the ball has been the dramatic drop in completions. No doubt we’ve had issues running the ball as well, especially against Villanova, but I think our RBs have actually been doing okay for most of the season. In seven of our first eight FCS games, Richmond RBs averaged over 4.5 YPC. We aren’t explosive on the ground, but we’ve been fairly steady. Don’t get me wrong, there’s plenty of room to improve up front, but I don’t think the running game is nearly as concerning as what’s happening through the air.
In our first six FCS games, the Spiders averaged 22 completions per game. Over the past three, that number has plummeted to just nine per game, with our completion percentage falling well below 50% during this recent losing stretch. The last time UR completed fewer than 10 passes in consecutive FCS games was 2010, including the Montel White-UMass thriller. There’s simply no chance of beating Lehigh tomorrow if we have a third straight game with single-digit completions.
There are still plenty of ways we can get more out of this passing game. Jaiden Fair provided a spark against Colgate but has just one reception since. Our TEs were shut out against Villanova, with targets dropping significantly in recent weeks. And while I know Higgins’ fumble against Lafayette was costly, he’s had just one touch in the past four games, and it went for 16 yards. I’d like to see us bring back the pop pass and find ways to get him the ball on the edge.
At this point, just about anything is better than continually running into the top-ranked Mountain Hawks’ defensive front or throwing the ball wide. Get Callaghan some early completions, let him settle into a rhythm, and find different ways to put the ball in our best players’ hands.
Spiders on Defense
Lehigh has navigated QB issues of its own this season. First-team All-Patriot League QB Hayden Johnson suffered a knee injury early in the year, with Derek Morgan stepping in before eventually giving way to Patrick Coan after a couple of losses. The freshman threw for 221 yards and a TD in a convincing 33-7 win over Colgate. It’s a different offense without Johnson, but Lehigh’s dominant running game has made the transition between quarterbacks much easier, allowing Coan to step in and steady the ship.
That’s not a typo — Lehigh really does average 254 rushing yards/game, the second most in the FCS and nearly 100 yards more than anyone else in the Patriot League. What’s particularly impressive about the Mountain Hawks is their consistency. They average 5.7 YPC, have the most efficient 1st-down offense in the conference, and do it all while running the ball more than 44 times per game. They don’t hide what they’re going to do because they don’t have to. Their dominant O-line, anchored by the Patriot League’s highest-rated center, allows them to impose their will on the ground, and Luke Yoder has taken full advantage of it.
Luke Yoder – Insanely impressive numbers from #6 this season, and it’s no surprise he’s the entire focus of my preview.
Yoder is the leading rusher in the FCS, ranks second in rushing TDs, and has topped 100 yards in nine of 10 games. Obviously, everything starts with slowing him down. Given our last two outings, I understand if you’re not particularly optimistic. We’ve allowed more rushing yards over the past two games than in any two-game stretch in nearly a decade, with opponents scoring on 11 of their last 17 drives. Saying Justin Wood’s defense needs a bounce-back performance would be an understatement. If there’s reason for optimism, though, it’s how we’ve defended Lehigh over the past two seasons. For all the success the Mountain Hawks have enjoyed, they’ve had a much tougher time against us.
In 2024, Lehigh ran for 128 yards at 3.8 YPC. In 2025, they managed 163 yards at 4.0 YPC. Both performances were well below their respective season averages of 202 and 231 yards. They had plenty of success on 3rd down (12/24 combined), but our defensive front was by no means overmatched. I’d love to see our D-line get back to that level and reestablish itself as one of the Patriot League’s best. There’s simply no path to victory without slowing down Lehigh’s rushing attack, putting more of the game on the shoulders of their freshman QB, and giving our pass rush a chance to dominate.
Special Teams
The Patriot League’s two best punters square off tomorrow, with Lehigh’s Connor Poole leading the conference in punting average and Ned Gray close behind. I imagine these two will take the top spots when All-Patriot League honors come out.
Neither team has gotten much production from its kickoff or punt return units, but Poole gives Lehigh another weapon in the kicking game. He also handles field goals and ranks second in the conference in makes, coming off a perfect 4/4 day against Colgate last week.
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2026 — Game 11: Lehigh Recap – Monday, November 16th
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