UR vs. Hofstra: Can you say “blowout”?

What a way to kickoff the 81st and final season of Richmond Spider Football at the University of Richmond Stadium at 600 McCloy Street. The defending NCAA Champion and #1 ranked Spiders routed visiting Hofstra Pride 47-0 to push their record to 3-0 and extend their winning streak to 12.

September 20, 2009; 3:14 PM • by Chris Farmer

What a way to kickoff the 81st and final season of Richmond Spider Football at the University of Richmond Stadium at 600 McCloy Street. The defending NCAA Champion and #1 ranked Spiders routed visiting Hofstra Pride 47-0 to push their record to 3-0 and extend their winning streak to 12, the longest active winning streak in the Football Championship Subdivision.

Senior QB Eric Ward continued his strong play by completing 12 of 16 passes for 165 yards and a ridiculous 4 TDs, before being pulled in the third quarter with Richmond sporting a comfortable 38-0 lead. The Preseason All-American also chipped in with 24 of the team’s season best 213 yards rushing, which opened up the passing game and methodically wore down Hofstra’s Defense.

It was the Spiders’ Defense, however, that firmly denied the Pride of having any chance in this game. Led by D-lineman Nicholas Battle‘s two forced fumbles, Richmond recovered four total fumbles in the first half which led to their first 24 points. They mugged and swarmed Hofstra’s Offense all game, holding them to a meager 13 yards rushing on 34 carries for an alarmingly pitiful average of .4 yards per carry.

Head Coach Mike London commented, “It was huge to get the turnovers. It’s a great thing to see the things you preach in practice come to fruition in games. Our offense was great managing the game and getting the ball to the play-makers. The significance of the turnovers was huge.”

Team captain Ward added “They (the defense) gave us the ball and I just said to the huddle `Ok let’s turn this into a touchdown’. Then we kicked it into gear.” Kick it into gear they did. When Hofstra’s pressure threatened to collapse the pocket around Ward, he usually found a way out of the jam with nimble footwork. When he had the time to throw he was on point, such as when he targeted sophomore Donte Boston in stride for a beautiful 49-yard TD, the first of Boston’s career.

Stadium note: construction has begun on the Spider’s future on campus home, with a target completion date of Fall 2010. This is essentially a major facelift for the existing First Market Stadium, currently home for University of Richmond soccer, lacrosse, and track and field programs.

Chris Farmer writes about the NFL and Fantasy Football on his blog Undrafteds and Bleacher Report. He is also the Arizona Cardinals writer for NFLTouchdown.com and a blogging intern at FantasyFootball.com.

(Image courtesy of Scott K. Brown, SKB Photography)

September 20, 2009 3:14 PM 2