Word for tomorrow- Scrimmage in RS at 6 pm. Russ has let it be known that we are all welcome and he very much wants the fans there. I say lets get out of the recliner and go support our guys. See you there.
Scrimmage
- Thread starter R&B fan
- Start date
I understand there are legions of JMU alumni in the Richmond area. If this event is open to the public, just don't bring out the playbook. There will probably be JMU spies present!
And next thing you know their fans will recognize a formation during the game and shout it out from the stands to the players!!!
Don’t worry - I understand they are checking ID at the gates and they have a rolladex of JMU alumni.
I know The Brickhouse opened in 2010. I believe some football practices were held on the old Pitt Field back in the 1970s. I seem to recall some "spies" from Villanova were caught hiding in the woods near the practice field the week prior to the UR/VU game.
Richmond junior quarterback Kevin Johnson enters his first season as a starter. JOE MAHONEY/TIMES-DISPATCH▲
Richmond quarterback Kevin Johnson started three FCS playoff games in 2016 when Kyle Lauletta was out with a knee injury. JOE MAHONEY/TIMES-DISPATCH▲
BY JOHN O'CONNOR Richmond Times-Dispatch
22 min ago
Check “handle a wet and heavy ball in a game-like situation” and "show mobility when pressured" from the list of things Kevin Johnson needs to do as he prepares for his first season as the University of Richmond’s starting quarterback.
Johnson, a 6-foot junior from Atlanta who redshirted last year, and the rest of the Spiders engaged in their first preseason scrimmage at Robins Stadium Sunday night, a bit later than originally scheduled because of lightning and heavy rain in the Richmond area.
“This was really the first time this [preseason] where I feel like he escaped, got out of the pocket when he needed to get out of the pocket, which is a good thing. We’ve been emphasizing that to him,” second-year coach Russ Huesman said of Johnson. “For the most part, he’s had a good camp so far.”
Johnson, a 202-pounder, is expected to be a more consistent running threat than Kyle Lauletta, Richmond’s career passing leader who started the last three seasons.
“It feels good. Leader of the team. I know I’m the guy now. Got to lead by example,” said Johnson, who started three FCS playoff games in 2016 when Lauletta was out with a knee injury.
Richmond’s back-up quarterback, 6-4, 215-pound sophomore Joe Mancuso, also stood out Sunday night with his running ability. Huesman said it’s too early to determine if Mancuso, along with Johnson, will see game-day activity.
The Spiders, coming off a 6-5 season (4-4 CAA), opened camp on Aug. 3, and Huesman recognized senior linebacker Justin Rubin as a player who has made a major impact as a defender and leader.
“He’s been amazing,” said Huesman. “He busts it every single play.”
Melvin Keihn, a pass-rushing end and a graduate-transfer from Maryland, recently joined the Spiders following the resolution of transcript issues. He spent a year at Virginia Tech before transferring to Maryland, where Keihn was a part-time regular.
“Thank goodness Virginia Tech did a great job with us to get it all sorted out,” said Huesman. “I think he’s thrilled to be here, and we’re happy to have him. He can run. He’s got some twitch to him.”
Keihn, a 6-3 230-pounder from Baltimore, did not participate in Sunday’s scrimmage. As a late arrival to camp, he continued to progress through the NCAA-mandated acclimation period in practices. Keihn will be fully involved this week, according to Huesman.
As for the Spiders’ scrimmage performance, “Some of the guys who haven’t played a whole lot made some plays. That’s really what we wanted to get out of this,” said Huesman, whose team will hold one more scrimmage, on Sunday at 2 p.m., before its season-opener at Virginia on Sept. 1.
NOTE: Receiver Jarmal Bevels, a 6-4 senior from Fredericksburg who has missed two seasons because of knee injuries, left the scrimmage at about the midway point and did not return after hitting the back of his head hard on the turf as he was tackled following a reception. Bevels is projected to be a key player in UR's receivers rotation.
Tyrek Funderburk (16) looks like he will be in DB rotation as a true freshman. Impressive athlete.
Definitely some good talent back there. Biggest question, I think, is if Keels is ready to go or, if not, who means the other corner position.
Attended the scrimmage on Sunday. Observations are as follows:
1 - Injured players I noticed were Jack Doherty (crutches), Taz Sumpter (ankle), Cortrelle Simpson (?), Jarmal Bevels (probably in concussion protocol), Geraghty (strained hamstring), and a few others.
2 - Kevin Johnson played reasonably well; and the offensive line held up well. The defense looked good, with some of the redshirt freshmen and a true freshman making some noise. Lots of switching around makes it difficult to tell a clear first team and second team for very long. I guess that's a good thing, since it means that we have some depth.
Noah Nicholson intercepted a pass and took it to the house. Griffin Trau kicked well. Defense pursued well and had three interceptions that I saw. Maffe has the best hands I have seen in a while - played with first team and second team offense - and stole an interception from a defensive back. I hope our running game looks better at the next scrimmage - I can't remember anything impressive from today.
1 - Injured players I noticed were Jack Doherty (crutches), Taz Sumpter (ankle), Cortrelle Simpson (?), Jarmal Bevels (probably in concussion protocol), Geraghty (strained hamstring), and a few others.
2 - Kevin Johnson played reasonably well; and the offensive line held up well. The defense looked good, with some of the redshirt freshmen and a true freshman making some noise. Lots of switching around makes it difficult to tell a clear first team and second team for very long. I guess that's a good thing, since it means that we have some depth.
Noah Nicholson intercepted a pass and took it to the house. Griffin Trau kicked well. Defense pursued well and had three interceptions that I saw. Maffe has the best hands I have seen in a while - played with first team and second team offense - and stole an interception from a defensive back. I hope our running game looks better at the next scrimmage - I can't remember anything impressive from today.
Richmond coach Russ Huesman JOE MAHONEY/TIMES-DISPATCH▲
BY JOHN O'CONNOR Richmond Times-Dispatch
13 min ago
John Yarbrough started the University of Richmond’s last 18 games at center, and in July was named preseason All-CAA. He played tackle Sunday morning in the Spiders’ second and final scrimmage, primarily because of injuries that kept a couple of offensive linemen out of pads.
“Chess pieces have to be moved,” said Yarbrough, a 6-foot-5, 301-pound senior from Hoover, Ala.
Offensive line wasn’t the only position group at less than full strength Sunday because of injuries. According to coach Russ Huesman, 16 players were on the athletic training staff’s list of those who could not participate.
“Thank goodness that everyone, behind their name it will say, ‘One week, seven-to-10 days.’ It will say that sort of thing, which is a lot better than ‘six-to-eight months,’” said Huesman, whose team opens Sept. 1 at Virginia. “That means we’re OK right now.”
Richmond works with a roster of 84. The CAA preseason poll is led by James Madison, with 114 players. Following the Dukes are New Hampshire, which has 102 players, and Delaware, which has 120.
Another team picked above Richmond, which was forecast as the seventh-place finisher, is Stony Brook, which has 112 players.
Every FCS program works with a scholarship limit of 63, but large state universities enroll more recruited walk-ons than small, private schools, such as UR. That's because of attendance costs, Title IX considerations, and other factors. The 2008 FCS championship Spiders had 87 players.
“We’ve got a very limited roster, and when you start to have 16 or 17 sitting on the sideline for a scrimmage, the scrimmage really shrinks down,” said Huesman, who’s in his second year.
The NCAA's new redshirt rule figures to be particularly helpful for programs such as Richmond. Starting this season, a player can participate in up to four games and retain his redshirt year. Previously, competing in any games equated to a year of eligibility, unless the NCAA granted a medical exception because of injury.
Yarbrough saw a bright side to recent injuries. He said they present “more of an opportunity for young guys to get better.”
Case in point: Ben Maffe (rhymes with taffy), a 6-3, 225-pound redshirt freshman receiver from Ashburn. On Sunday, he stole an interception from a UR defensive back for a long completion and also made a one-handed catch, extending his strong camp. Wide receiver is Richmond’s top position, with several veterans who were productive in past seasons, but Maffe has drawn Huesman's attention.
“So far, I feel like I’ve learned a lot more than last year. I’ve got my speed up a little bit. I’ve dropped some weight and focused on my assignments,” said Maffe. “I definitely have the size to get that cover defender off of me and get that space. I have that frame where the quarterback can throw the ball.”
Huesman said the Spiders will conduct a “prep-rehearsal type of game” before beginning to focus on the opener at Virginia
Our private school peers are really Nova and Elon.Hopefully,those headcount are pretty close.
Watched scrimmage video our QBs looked like crap. Very few passes leading the receiver and timing
looked horrible. If we are going to have that type of passing, we had better be able to run.
looked horrible. If we are going to have that type of passing, we had better be able to run.
Here is UR summary:
RICHMOND, Va. – The University of Richmond football team held its second scrimmage of fall camp Sunday morning, less than two weeks away from the season-opener at Virginia September 1. The scrimmage lasted a little over an hour at Robins Stadium and the defense had some big plays this morning.
"I like our work ethic and our guys have a good grasp of what we want to do offensively and defensively," head coach Russ Huesman said. "The commitment to wanting to be good is there with this group and that is good to see. We are so dinged up right now that we couldn't go very long in the scrimmage. We have to get healthy right now. It is a lot of nicks, bumps and bruises – those 7-10 day injuries - so we are lucky in that aspect, but it makes it hard to go very long."
The Spider defense came up with two turnovers on the afternoon with redshirt freshman Noah Nicholson (Olney, Md.) and freshman Aaron Banks (Stephens City, Va.) each recording interceptions on the day. Senior linebacker Justin Rubin (Southampton, Pa.) also had a big play, coming up with a drive-ending sack to spark the defense.
"Our defense was very active today," Huesman said. "We are very athletic and we have some size to us, especially up front. We made some plays on defense today, which was great to see. We can be physical now and can run as a team."
Junior quarterback Kevin Johnson (Atlanta, Ga.) highlighted the offense going 9-of-11 on the day, including his last seven passes hitting the target. Redshirt senior running back Gordon Collins (Stafford, Va.) scored on a one-yard touchdown and senior kicker Griffin Trau(Hanover, N.H.) also converted from 36-yards out.
"We have a few days this week to get back at it in practice and get guys healthy," Huesman said. "Once Friday gets here, we get into game week and our guys will start to get a bounce in their step as they feel the energy of the first game coming on. We have work still to do and need to take care of our bodies this week."
Our receivers were the primary reason for the completions. Timing just seemed to be off where rarely a receiver caught pass in stride which could have meant more yardage. Maffe does look like a rising star
with great hands and size.
One note Brissette is a beast and if the ball is near him, he is going to get it. He will save many a bad throw.
Good Counsel grad pick(#7) with Damascus grad (#12) running interference.Both speedsters.
I was out of the town this past weekend and couldn't catch the scrimmage yesterday morning, but after reading JoC's articles and through this forum, I'm not sure what to think or how to feel...
Luckily, these injuries are 7-10 days, but the next 7-10 days of camp are the most important. We need Sumpter and Doherty to be ready for the UVA game, so Yarbrough can start the season at center. We don't need our all-conference center starting Week #1 at right tackle. #13 Ben Maffe has found the perfect niche in this WR / TE group. He is a walking mismatch against DB's and LB's who will benefit from single coverage all year. We have been very fortunate with talented WR's, but I can't remember anyone with the catch radius and body control in the air as #18.
Let's finish camp strong.
Luckily, these injuries are 7-10 days, but the next 7-10 days of camp are the most important. We need Sumpter and Doherty to be ready for the UVA game, so Yarbrough can start the season at center. We don't need our all-conference center starting Week #1 at right tackle. #13 Ben Maffe has found the perfect niche in this WR / TE group. He is a walking mismatch against DB's and LB's who will benefit from single coverage all year. We have been very fortunate with talented WR's, but I can't remember anyone with the catch radius and body control in the air as #18.
Let's finish camp strong.
I seem to remember Clawson and even Rocco having close to 100 on roster. I'm assuming they consider prospects who can get need based or academic scholarships to help. I recall Clawson talking about that angle/effort; he had to apply it at Fordham and later at Richmond.
there were a fair number of folks like me that didn't get the time change and showed up at 2; our loss. Frankly nor did we understand the weather concerns? Too hot and humid? The chance of rain was low?
I recall the same. We need to get that number closer to 100 than 80.
We won the national championship with only 3 more than we have now.
It's not quantity as much as quality.
incorrect. It lies at the door of title ix.....it is not scholarships but roster spots that are factored into the calculation.
How does Elon have 102 and we have 84? More women's sports programs there?
MM, I don't know the answer, but I know that its not as simple as # of sports. I believe, I could be wrong, that is a formula of breakdown based on # of men/women breakout on campus. If there are 54% women on campus, then 54% of the roster spots have to be on womens teams.
Elon:
https://www.collegefactual.com/colleges/elon-university/student-life/diversity/
9 Women’s (Includes Softball and Volleyball)
7 Men’s ( No Lacrosse)
Elon started WLAX 2013-14
UR:
https://www.collegefactual.com/colleges/university-of-richmond/student-life/diversity/
9 Women’s
7 Men’s
https://www.collegefactual.com/colleges/elon-university/student-life/diversity/
9 Women’s (Includes Softball and Volleyball)
7 Men’s ( No Lacrosse)
Elon started WLAX 2013-14
UR:
https://www.collegefactual.com/colleges/university-of-richmond/student-life/diversity/
9 Women’s
7 Men’s
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