The football team's 12 seniors have an impressive resume: four consecutive winning seasons, two conference championships and the longest postseason run in school history. "We wanted to leave our mark and kind of turn the program around," senior defensive lineman Lawrence Sidbury Jr.
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. -- The University of Richmond football team improved to 7-3 this season after beating the Hofstra University Pride 34-14 on Saturday, a win that came off senior tailback Josh Vaughan's two touchdowns and career-high 240 rushing yards -- the fifth-best game performance in school history. The Spiders stormed out early in a heavy rain at Schuart Stadium, scoring on their first five possessions to make the score 27-0 after the first half.
The Richmond football team's $450,000 operating budget for 2008 remains the largest allocated to the university's varsity athletics programs. The men's basketball team has the second largest budget with $350,000 for operations, said David Walsh, the university's deputy athletics director. The football program also allocated about 63 full scholarships this year, Walsh said, which amounted to about $2.8 million, Walsh said. There are no fundraising efforts for the football program specifically, Athletics Director Jim Miller said, but the athletics department raises money through a number of venues, such as the Spider Club and athletics endowment. "All of our sports are funded by the athletics department endowment," Walsh said, "university's supplement and other revenue that the athletics department produces." Some of these revenues include corporate sponsorship, NCAA revenue distribution and ticket sales, he said. Annual proceeds from home ticket sales are generally around $300,000, Miller said. One reason it is important to bring the stadium on campus is because football attracts crowds and Miller said he hoped that this would increase ticket sales and the number of season-ticket holders. The football team also brings in revenue is when it plays in "guarantee games." A guarantee game is one where a Division1-A program will pay Richmond to go to its school and play its football team.
The University of Richmond celebrated homecoming the weekend of Oct. 24-26. The No. 9 Spiders football team shut down the Georgetown University Hoyas 48-0, a game during which seniors Keon Piper and Rachel Chikowski were crowed homecoming king and queen. Contact staff photographers Dan Petty and Jeff Bardsley at dan.petty@richmond.edu and jeff.bardsley@richmond.edu.
Homecoming turned into a coming out party for the University of Richmond football team's running game as the Spiders crushed Georgetown University 48-0 on Saturday afternoon at UR Stadium. Richmond tailback Josh Vaughan rushed for a career-high 157 yards and two touchdowns while freshman tailback Garrett Wilkins rushed for 86 yards and two touchdowns, the first touchdowns of his collegiate career.
The Spider football team played in front of its largest home crowd this season last weekend, despite playing the No.
Take the quiz and find out! 1. On a Saturday morning you are most excited for: a.
No.
Saturday's football game against James Madison University is more than an average in-state rivalry - the two teams will be playing for supremacy among all Colonial Athletic Association and Football Championship Subdivision teams when they meet at 3:30 p.m.
By Stephen Utz Collegian Reporter Richmond wide receiver Jordan Mitchell knew exactly how to beat Maine's defenders when they started playing 12 yards off him: one quick move to the sideline. That's all it took for him to get open for an 87-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Eric Ward, a play that tied for the second-longest scoring play in school history and was part of a 44-17 victory against the University of Maine Saturday at home. "It was a play we saw all week in practice," Mitchell, a junior, said of Maine's defensive coverage on the play. Ward completed 16 of 25 passes for three touchdowns and a career-high 273 yards while Mitchell earned a career high in reception yards and scored two touchdowns.
After 23 years, Richmond football is No. 1 again. The Sports Network, which had ranked the Spiders at No.
By Stephen Utz Collegian Reporter Richmond wide receiver Jordan Mitchell knew exactly how to beat Maine's defenders when they started playing 12 yards off him: one quick move to the sideline. That's all it took for him to get open for an 87-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Eric Ward, a play that tied for the second-longest scoring play in school history and was part of a 44-17 Richmond victory against the University of Maine Saturday at home in front of more than 8,000 people. "It was a play we saw all week in practice," Mitchell, a redshirt junior, said of Maine's defensive coverage right before the reception, which led to the game's first touchdown. Mitchell earned a career-high 139 reception yards off four catches and scored two touchdowns.
Less than five years after leaving the University of Richmond, a former Spider student-athlete is now unable to walk. Richard Bagby, a former Richmond football player, was injured on Aug.
Last year, quarterback Sean Schaefer threw the game-winning touchdown after a 67-yard, four-play drive, taking just 22 seconds to help Towson University beat Richmond for the second straight year. This year, it was the Richmond defense's turn to score fourth-quarter touchdowns.
After a disappointing loss at the University of Virginia last Saturday, the football team is excited to start its conference play at home against Towson, the only CAA team that beat the Spiders last year. "If the spider has eight legs, I think we shot ourselves all eight times," coach Mike London said at a press conference after the Virginia game.
During the past month, attendance at University of Virginia home games has come with an increasing set of restrictions. First came the e-mail that fans would no longer be allowed to bring signs to games.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.
Sure, our red zone offense came up short. OK, the fourth quarter was ugly. But I don't think I'm the only one who was proud of the Spiders Saturday afternoon in Charlottesville. The Spiders played a Cavaliers team that was expected to walk all over them.
The NFL's opening weekend is just around the corner and two former Richmond Spiders have every reason to be excited.
After eight months of practice and anticipation of the 2008 season, the defending CAA football champion Spiders are looking forward to their first game, at 7 p.m.
