Spiders receive 9-seed in FCS playoffs, will take on Lehigh

Go 1-0 every week. 

It’s a simple mentality, but it has more than worked for the University of Richmond football team, as the Spiders will now play in their third consecutive Football Championship Subdivision playoffs. 

“At 0-2, we didn’t have much margin for error, so you can’t say ‘look forward and if we get to this or get to that,’” UR Head Coach Russ Huesman said following UR’s Capital Cup win over the College of William & Mary on Nov. 23. “We just had to say ‘the next game up, let’s go play it’ and we fortunately, we won that one and just kept going and found ways to win games.” 

And win games the Spiders did. 10 games in a row, in fact, giving UR a 10-2 record to close out its regular season en route to yet another playoff berth. 

The Spiders, who were granted the number 9 seed in the 24-team field, will face Lehigh University in the first round at 2 p.m. on Nov. 30, a matchup that was confirmed during the FCS Selection show on Nov. 24. 

“I think everybody came into this room thinking eight or nine [seed],” Huesman said in a press conference Nov. 24. “[The committee] made the decision we were nine, that’s fine. We get a home game, get to play in front of our home crowd again, play Lehigh who’s got a good football team, no question about that.” 

It is only fitting the Spiders will compete against the Mountain Hawks in round one, given UR will join Lehigh as a member of the Patriot League Conference beginning next season during its 2025 campaign. 

Lehigh finished with an 8-3 regular season record, securing a Patriot League championship for its program with a win over Lafayette College on Nov. 23. The Spiders have competed thrice against Lehigh all-time, defeating the Mountain Hawks most recently during the 2022 season. 

“I’m just excited to play some more football, honestly,” redshirt senior linebacker Wayne Galloway said in the press conference. “Any time you make the playoffs, it’s a good thing.” 

UR’s previous two FCS playoff appearances in 2022 and 2023 yielded similar results. 

In 2022, the Spiders defeated Davidson College in round one and lost to California State University, Sacramento in round two. In 2023, a similar output ensued, with the Spiders taking

down North Carolina Central University in round one and falling to the University at Albany in round two. 

This time around, UR enters the FCS playoff bracket positioned one seat removed from the top-8 seeds and hot off a double-digit-win regular season. 

“I think once we got into about that halfway mark of us being on that streak, I think that’s when I really opened my eyes up like ‘yeah, I think this team can really make a deep run in the playoffs,’” redshirt senior defensive back Jabril Hayes said in the press conference. “And I’m not even saying the second round. We’ve been bounced out the second round for these last couple years. I’m talking about a team that can go the distance.” 

Contact sports editor Jimmy James at jimmy.james@richmond.edu.