UVA Football: What Cavaliers fans need to know about Richmond

Richmond won nine games in 2023, won an FCS playoff game, and yes, it’s been a while since UR beat UVA in the 2016 season opener, but that’s in the program’s DNA.

This year’s Spiders are once again a favorite to get an FCS playoff berth, picked second in the rugged CAA in the preseason.

Like Virginia, Richmond head coach Russ Huesman has two QBs who got a lot of snaps in 2023 – in UR’s case, in the form of redshirt junior Kyle Wickersham (1,405 yards, 72.6 percent completion rate, 10 TDs/4 INTs in 2023) and sophomore Camden Coleman (1,161 yards, 66.7 percent completion rate, 12 TDs/6 INTs in 2023).

Huesman, talking with the media on Monday, declined to say who he was going with as his starter.

Wickersham is the guy more likely to move the chains with his feet (402 net yards rushing in 2023), so he’s probably the one to worry about more, particularly with Richmond needing to find a new RB1 with the loss of Savon Smith (708 yards, 4 TDs on the ground in 2023) to graduation.

The most promising back on the roster is probably Wagner transfer Zach Palmer-Smith (699 yards as a sophomore at Wagner in 2023).

The Spiders’ leading receiver from a year ago is back, in 6’1”, 190-pound redshirt senior Nick DeGennaro (71 catches, 904 yards, 11 TDs in 2023).

Richmond ranked in the upper quartile in FCS in team defense in 2023, allowing 338.5 yards per game, ranking 19th among the 122 teams in FCS in rushing defense (112.7 yards per game).

In short, the Spiders won’t be a pushover for a UVA program that under Tony Elliott is 2-0 against FCS competition, including a 34-17 win over Richmond back in 2022, but his Cavaliers haven’t exactly knocked the socks off the teams from a level down.

UVA Football

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  UVA Football: Elliott names Anthony Colandrea starting quarterback

• UVA Football: Internal frustration over Tony Elliott dawdling on his QB
• UVA Football: Is Tony Elliott on the hot seat? It’s at least warm, and getting warmer
• UVA Football: The computers don’t like the ‘Hoos heading into Elliott’s Year 3
• Elliott ‘not surprised’ that UVA was picked 16th in ACC preseason football poll

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