After dominating in their first game of the season, the Richmond Spiders got a taste of their own medicine Saturday as the University of Virginia Cavaliers beat Richmond, 45-13. The Spiders came out swinging, taking the first possession of the game all the way to the redzone, but came away with only a field goal to show for it. On Virginia's first possession, the Richmond defense forced a punt after a single first down, but it was all Cavaliers from that point on.
Positives: You'd never believe it looking at the score, but the Spiders actually outpassed Virginia yardage wise, totalling 363 passing yards to the Cavaliers 173. While they didn't have a passing touchdown to show for it, Michael Strauss and Michael Rocco combined to go 29-47 and had some big completions. Besides that, the only other positive takeaways were a few flashes of strong play from the defense, and that the Spiders escaped relatively injury-free.
Negatives: The rushing game continued to struggle all game. A few late big runs by Jeremiah Hamlin and T.J. Moon padded the stats a little bit, but even with that, Richmond managed only 69 yards on the ground. Not only did they struggle in gaining much ground, but Moon had a crucial fumble on the goal line before the half. As big as it was, it was one of seven total turnovers that plagued the Spiders offense Saturday. You can't expect to win games by giving the ball to the other team.
Up Next: The Spiders will return to the Robins Stadium next Saturday to take on the Hampton University Pirates. Kickoff is at 6 p.m.
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