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who would have ever believed the Spiders would be playing two of the weakest rated teams in D-1 football in the course of three weeks?...Delaware State and North Carolina A&T both appear near the bottom of every Football Power Rating formula I've seen...

what makes this game interesting is whether, or not, the Spiders can handle being a multi TD favorite versus an outmanned opponent that is really struggling?...we sure didn't handle Delaware State very well...how far have we come since Dover?

Coach Huesman in what must have been some of the most difficult "coachspeak" he ever muttered warned that A&T would be hungry for a win; that they were athletic and reminded fans how tough their defense was on the Spiders last season in Greensboro...he did not mention that the NC A&T defense has given up >40 points in each of their D-1 losses...

Huesman summed it up by warning that the Spiders needed to play A&T with equal, or more intensity...I agree with this but would add execution as well...as a giant favorite versus Delaware State we were all of the things you don't want to be... sloppy, inconsistent and mistake riddled...it almost cost us...we have to have gotten better in the last two weeks!

we should know quickly on Saturday how far we've come...anything less than a dominating win will be a disappointment and leave open the question of have the Spiders gotten better, or are the three consecutive wins just a function of the weak opposition (CSU, DSU and Elon 3-11)!

enjoy the Prologue

Go Spiders!

A mind is a terrible thing to waste! I forgot to include The Spider Gang predictions. All aboard the Richmond wagon except Ms. Crook who used this risky upset strategy to win the 2023 Predictions Contest Championship.

Here are the NC A&T picks presented in the order of the standings after the Elon game:

The Chief - UR 33-10
Ms. Crook - A&T 34-27
Scooper - UR 38-14
Mr. Electric - UR 34-12
Ms. Diplomat - UR 31-17
Crook - UR 34-27
Ms. Springer - UR 21-7
Satchmo - UR 35-14
The Sheriff - UR 40-20
Ms. Spirit - UR 24-14

Go Spiders!

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wow!...the Spiders open their defense of the CAA Championship with what's arguably one of their toughest opponents...I hope Wofford, Charleston Southern and Delaware State prepared us well...

the Phoenix, formerly known as the Fighting Christians, have been awful tough on the Spiders since Coach Huesman arrived...they've won 5 of the last 6 full season games...Richmond has not won at Elon since Danny Rocco was coach!

I expect Elon to be a Championship contender despite the Media Day poll picked them 6th in the 16 team league...Richmond will find out quickly in this one what its going to take to defend our Championship...the Phoenix bring back a lot of talent and experience on both sides of the ball...coach Trisciani believes his team is ready to break through the Championship door after just missing their piece last season...

Spiders fans painfully remember losing last season's CAA opener...as a result we had to run the table with 7 straight wins to get a piece of the Championship...in the 16 team CAA with the crazy scheduling you can just about count on a logjam at the top of the league every year...it might take seven CAA wins again...a win over a competitor on the road would be giant for Richmond...the margin for error in the CAA is very slim...I'm not sure we can win seven in a row again!

enjoy the Countdown!

Go Spiders!

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Freedom High School,Bethlehem,Pa

• POSITION(S):​

  DE, TE

• HEIGHT:​

  6'5"

• WEIGHT:​

  265lbs

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awful glad we've gotten to the CAA portion of our schedule...believe we will finally find out Saturday whether, or not, we are the CAA Championship and FCS Playoff contender we thought we were in preseason...

so far the offense and defense have been inconsistent enough to leave fans wondering about the season's high expectations...for Saturday's CAA opener there should be no questions about the venue, opposing team or stakes of the game...if the Spiders can't go into Rhodes Stadium and play their best on both sides of the ball a disappointing season could lay ahead!

I like Coach Huesman's decision to go with Coleman at QB...despite the red zone picks at DSU his ability to throw the ball downfield gave our offense a weapon that had been missing...with Nick DeGennaro also back the UR offense could put some of those points it missed last week on the board...

but I'm worried about the former Fighting Christians...they seem to always play well against Coach Huesman's teams...last season Huesman finally broke through to get his first non COVID season win...Coach Trisciani has a team that needs a win as badly as the Spiders...this will be the Phoenix's 3rd straight home game...they have lost their last two...watch out for QB Downing, WR Brayboy and RB Thomas to come up big for Elon... our defense will have to be at its best or it could be a long afternoon!

find a way to win Spiders!

In honor of the Spiders final season in the CAA, I will share The Spider Gang's predictions for the CAA games each week...this week The Gang is solid in the Spiders camp 7-3...the predictions are listed in the order of the season long Predictions Contest standings following the Delaware State game:

Mr. Electric - Elon 21-17
The Chief - UR 31-27
Satchmo - Elon 28-27
Ms. Crook - UR 27-17
Scooper - UR 24-20
Ms. Diplomat - UR 24-17
Crook - UR 20-7
Ms. Springer - UR 20-14
Ms. Spirit - Elon 24-14
The Sheriff - UR 35-17

enjoy the Prologue!

Go Spiders!

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Delaware State has had a hard time winning football games in recent years...however, they do hold a dubious FCS football record...losing 105-0 versus Portland State in 1980 is the largest losing margin ever in FCS football...like Dimaggio's 56 game hitting streak that one may never be broken...

for the third straight week the Spiders could be a significant favorite over a rebuilding program...State head coach Lee Hull expects better things than last season's 1-10, 0-5 MEAC, but on MEAC Media Day the Hornets were picked to finish in the MEAC basement again...

besides getting the win, the most important thing about this game is the team learning what it takes to win on the road...no doubt if these Spiders hope to defend their CAA Championship they will have to win on the road in the much tougher games CAA games ahead...I believe we were 4-0 on the road in the CAA last season..

the game winds up our non conference schedule and Satchmo would be surprised if we don't finish 3-1...the Terriers, Buccaneers and Hornets are all rebuilding...Richmond is in most FCS Top 20 preseason polls and picked to finish 2nd in the CAA...these are wins a team that lives up to these expectations wins on the field...

enjoy the Countdown!

Go Spiders!

Trying to get everyone up to date. We are past “Next Season”.

The SEC has taken advantage of NIL. Six of the top 7 spots in the AP Poll are held by members of the South Eastern Conference. This has never happened before. It reflects the amount of money these schools are spending to acquire elite players. The divide between the SEC and other conferences will only grow. The ACC will be left behind.

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the impressive Charleston Southern win will mean nothing if the Spiders don't go to Dover and play well!

the Hornets may be better than the well known and respected Sagarin Rating's #253 ranked team out of 263 programs, but it doesn't matter...Richmond needs another strong, dominating performance!

taking confidence and momentum home on the bus from Dover, instead of Wofford like questions rising again, would set the Spiders up for the most important week of practice yet!

all this plus it should be interesting and entertaining to see Cam Coleman under center...many Richmond fans will never forget his spectacular arrival with the six TDs against Maine that turned around our season...can he continue to give the team a lift?...

may Friday east coast traffic treat the team well!...and the Hornets be handled accordingly!

who said a Richmond at Delaware State game couldn't be fun?

enjoy the Prologue!

Go Spiders!

I expect Hunt, Dji, and Walz to start with 2 incoming transfers/freshman. We lose our top two 3 point guys in King and Bigs and likely have to replace them with 3 point guys if we are to match the success of this season.

PG...we saw what King did for us. Hopefully, the right transfer PG saw that too and will be the perfect fit like King was. Tyne showed some promise, but I'm not sure he is ready to be a big minute PG, so our best option is probably the portal.

Hunt. I really liked what he brought and think he had a solid year. He also showed what a great leader he is, and should be an even bigger leader next year. We might need a little more scoring from him next year, and I would like to see him shoot more 3s. He made 22 of 57 (38.6%). So doubling that would help us tremendously.

Dji. He had a really good year at both ends of the court. He is really good at driving and did a good job finishing at the basket. He needs to dramatically improve his FT shooting, and I still think he needs to find a way to at least be a threat from 3 if left open. He averaged 31 minutes a game, but only shot 38 3s ( 12-38 for 31.6%). Regardless of who we land in the portal, I'm not sure they will match the volume and percentage from 3 that King (84-203 for 41.4%) and Bigs ( 48-128 for 37.2%) gave us. So, Dji has to work and work and work that much more on becoming a 3 point threat.

Walz. I liked what I saw this year. He is physical, he can block some shots, doesn't back down from anyone, and thank goodness he doesn't shoot the floater. I appreciate everything Quinn gave us, and he had some huge games for us, but I was never a fan of his floaters and push shots. Even when he made a few, I think our opponents were more than happy to give him those all game long. When he shot those, we weren't shooting 3s, weren't shooting lay ups, and weren't drawing fouls. It's just not an efficient shot and I hope we never see it again. At 7 feet tall, I just never understood why he couldn't take one or two more dribbles for the layup or slam, or draw a foul at the rim, especially considering he rarely got doubled. But, he did a lot of real good things for us this year, so just because I didn't like his floaters and push shots doesn't mean he wasn't a good player for us. He absolutely was and we will miss him. Back to Walz, I think he is ready for good minutes. I like how active and physical he is, and with more minutes, he will need to stay out of foul trouble and be a key inside presence for us.

Bench: Roche. Need a bounce back year from him. I would never count him out. If you can shoot, you can shoot, and we all know he can shoot. It wouldn't surprise me to see him get his confidence back next year and be a key piece for us.

Tyne. Love his quickness and confidence with the ball. Needs to be much better from 3 point land. He got a lot of good looks and needs to knock more of them down.

Everything else is too much of a guess right now. Not sure how many minutes our current freshman will get next year. Hopefully, Soulis is ready to get minutes and back up Walz. Hard to tell what roles Tanner, Smith, and Graham will have without seeing much of them yet. I think Noyes might be exactly who we saw this year, so not sure if I expect him to be a rotation guy. Maybe he can prove me wrong, kind of like Dji did this year. I'm excited about Robinson and McGlothin coming in and McGlothin looks like he could get some minutes from day 1. Who knows? Maybe even start, because the minutes will be there to grab.

Anyone have any information on the Spider Collective NIL and what is has been up to? How much money have they raised? How much have they given out, etc.

Or is this still a secret Fight Club situation where the first rule of Spider NIL is not to talk about Spider NIL. Just thinking with the transfer portal being open and trying to get guys, this is where NIL money could really have an impact IF the school wanted to go that direction.

Since Jordan got his own thread, think Mr. Hunt deservers one as well. Glad that Delonnie has 2 years of eligibility left and excited to see another lefty from Wagner at Robins next season.

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That's right folks. Shots were fired in an attempted assassination against Donald Trump.

What I like
Improvement - Agree with Brooklyn on his YOY improvement. I too was skeptical after his freshman year. Seemed from interviews he was a smart hard working guy that was content to put the work in and wait his turn. And that may be the case. But his play was improved, he was aggressive and for the most part made the most of his minutes.
Toughness, Rebounding - I thought he really provided a physical presence on the court - one that Quinn lacked a bit. Also had a little edginess to his game - and let the other big guys playing against know he was not backing down.
Offense - Yes, there were times that he did not look at the basket, BUT I thought he was much more opportune than Quinn as far as catching the ball and surveying the landscape as opposed to just looking for the next perimeter pass or hand off. He showed some ability to hit 3's though his percentage was not great - I felt like early in the season it was pretty good then lost confidence a bit. I am like some others I don't generally want him looking for the 3 but if left wide open he seems to have the ability. Though not exactly polished with post moves - I did think that again showed great improvement when he got the ball in the post making a decisive move or a quick decision to take what the defense gave him. Also liked his ability to take and make the wide open 15 footer at the foul line, with good form and a normal shot. Not trying to bang on Quinn, but he would look and look and then dribble and do the flip shot. I know metrics hates the mid range - but just like with Cayo, if they are going to leave you wide open from 12-15 that should be a high percentage shot and I think Walz agrees and will take advantage.
Rebounding - solid rebounder, not afraid to use his body and athleticism.
Defense - Good effort, I was going to say he was foul prone - but looking at his stats per 40 minutes - averages 4 fouls per - so not bad for his level of physicality. I think opposing big man knows he will be in for a physical battle going against Walz.
Areas for improvement
Passing - I think sees the court really well and is a willing and able passer, and did have a positive ASS/TO ratio. He does tend to let one bad pass affect his outlook, but overall I think we will see even more ability next season with the experience gained this season.
FT shooting - 54% not good obviously. But only 1 FT attempt per game - which is hard to get any rhythm. So would like to see him use some moves to draw fouls down low, and shoot at a 75% clip. I think he has the form and touch to do so, just needs more attempts and a little more confidence.
Low post moves - Again, I liked his decisiveness and aggression. Would like to see develop a signature move and counter as a go to. This would also tie into getting to the FT line more.
Mentality - First off, overall I like his edge, his aggression, and joy he plays with. He does get a little down or flustered when he makes a mistake and it impacts his next play. Would like to see him clean that up and keep his head in the game if he makes a mistake.
Outlook
I think future is bright for Walz next two seasons. As widely discussed it will be very interesting to see how he is used in tandem with Beagle. I do think Walz has earned trust with Mooney, and has very good experience and minutes last season - which should serve him well running the offense this year. Seems to be a split on the board whether Walz will be starter or back up - I am leaning to starter, but think it will be a pretty even split unless Beagle really outplays him. I want to see Walz take the next step. If he does he can be one of the best big men in the league. I think he has the tools just needs to come in a take control and keep a good mind set all game long.

Only fair that Dusan gets his own thread along with Manon and Beagle.

Grad transfer wing out of Dartmouth. 6'8", 205. Born in Serbia, raised in Bosnia and Herzegovina, played a postgrad year at Hotchkiss.

Played in 23 of Dartmouth's 27 games, starting 16. Was the leading scorer on a bad Dartmouth squad this year at 16 ppg, only one in double figures. Shot 43% from the field and 36% from three, rising to 45% and 43% in Ivy play. Led the team with 135 attempts from distance. Only averaged 4 boards a game, and had 25 assists to 54 turnovers.

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my favorite comments of the week were Coach Huesman lamenting that neither QB could succeed unless everyone playing around them plays better....that call for improvement should include the defensive players who had a tough time stopping the Terriers when we needed it the most and the special teams...

Huesman also used the word "explosive several times when talking about the Buccaneers offense...

I hope our players, coaches and support staff all answer Huesman's call for better play Saturday.... I expect a battle that will require a much better Richmond team than we've seen games one and two...

enjoy the Prologue

Go Spiders!

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it’s very ironic that Charleston Southern is located in North Charleston…the Spiders have never played the Buccaneers who are members of the Big South conference…the Big South has joined with the Ohio Valley conference to form a football Association of nine programs.

CSU head coach Gabe Giardina enters his 2nd full season off of a 4-7, 2-4 Big South 2023 season…last season the Bucs struggled offensively…they showed potential on the defensive side of the ball, but were inconsistent…

Coach Giardina hope’s a year’s experience and key newcomers will make the Buccaneers more competitive in the tougher Association…Giardina runs a pro spread offense and a multiple front defense…Charleston Southern returns 14 starters from the 2023 squad…the Association’s Media Day preseason poll picks the Bucs to finish 6th in the 9 team Association…

this is another game in which the Spiders will likely be significant favorites…the game should serve as another chance to develop team skills on the field against a team we should defeat…a solid performance and win should serve the Spiders well when the schedule gets tougher in late September…

enjoy the Countdown!

Go Spiders!

Bison score 2 TDs in last few minutes and then an int to seal the win. Game was at ETSU, they had a great chance when up 35-23 in closing minutes at home, but could not pull it off. Great game.

Former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry warned in an interview this week about “massive emissions consequences” from a Russian war against Ukraine, which he also said would be a distraction from work on climate change. Nevertheless, he added, “I hope President Putin will help us to stay on track with respect to what we need to do for the climate.”

think it's exactly the same, just fresh paint. still looks great.
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6'4" SG out of St. John's in DC. Offers from GW, ODU, Towson, American, Mason, etc.


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Greatest three-point shooter in Richmond history is following Carlisle from the Mavs to the Pacers.

Yes, a 2025. Same high school as Trevor Smith. Already 6'8".

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Not shocking.

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this home opener at The Brick House sets up pretty much like last year's opener against Morgan State...

the Terriers are rebuilding after three very disappointing seasons and picked to finish in 8th place in the nine team Southern Conference...in fact Coach Rocco's VMI squad is picked to finish in 7th ahead of Wofford...

the Spiders are projected to finish 2nd in the CAA and are nationally ranked in several FCS polls...I expect we'll be solid double digit favorites...maybe even 20+ points again?

what could go wrong? the Terriers may be better than expected...they return 16 starters...nine players were on the SOCON Preseason All Conference teams (5 on 1st Team)...they did defeat #2 ranked Furman in last season final game...but the biggest factor is likely to be the level at which Richmond plays...

there are lot's of returning Spiders who were on the field, or sidelines, last season when Morgan State, a 20+ point underdog shocked and embarrassed us...there's no way that could happen again is there?!...

I expect Richmond to play hard and well in this one...no one wants to be a part of a generational upset two years in a row....the Spiders should take care of business...

enjoy the Countdown!

Go Spiders!