Spiders fumble second round FCS playoff chances, fall to Lehigh

Up until its devastating 20-16 loss to Lehigh University in the first round Football Championship Subdivision playoffs on Nov. 30, it had been 84 days since the University of Richmond football team had lost a game.

The Spiders, who started their 2024 campaign 0-2 following losses to the University of Virginia and Wofford College, completely changed the narrative surrounding their season and put together 10 wins in a row. 

In the span of 11 weeks, UR went from a team whose playoff aspirations were slim to a team that finished the regular season with a 10-2 record, defeated the College of William & Mary to win a second-straight Capital Cup trophy, won a second-straight Coastal Athletic Association Championship and made a third-straight trip to the FCS playoffs. 

The Spiders went from down and out to on top of their conference and in possession of the 9-seed in the 2024 FCS playoff bracket – all noteworthy accomplishments that helped continue to define this success-driven era of UR football. 

Unfortunately for the Spiders, any chances of building off their postseason success from the past two seasons were stripped from them in the fourth quarter against the Mountain Hawks. 

UR led for most of the game, and even had the lead at the 6:21 mark in the fourth quarter, but it was then that Lehigh took the lead once and for all, leaving the Spiders with their first loss since early September. 

“Obviously a tough one right there,” UR Head Coach Russ Huesman said in a postgame press conference. “A tough one to handle. Credit to Lehigh. They played really well, they played hard, they defended the run game really well.” 

The Spiders took to the scoreboard on the first drive of the game, as first-year kicker Sean O’Haire put a ball through the uprights to give UR a 3-0 lead. Much to the Spiders’ chagrin, they could not execute in the red zone and had to settle for O’Haire’s field goal. 

Settling for a field goal on that drive was a harbinger of things to come, as UR only turned one of its red zone trips into a touchdown. 

“You go out there and you prepare to finish, that’s what we’ve done all week, all season,” sophomore quarterback Camden Coleman said in a postgame press conference. “We go out there preparing to go the full length of the field whether we start on the one-yard line, the 25 or the 50, it doesn’t matter. The goal is to get in the endzone and we didn’t do that today, and that’s on us. We just gotta be better there.” 

Just when Lehigh was getting into its groove on its first offensive possession, redshirt senior defensive back Jabril Hayes intercepted the Mountain Hawks’ pass, putting the Spiders in control on both sides of the ball early. 

The Spiders’ next offensive series saw them attempt a conversion on 4th and 4, but UR ended up with a turnover on downs, not able to capitalize off the momentum of forcing the first turnover of the game. 

After a Lehigh punt, UR had a chance to extend its lead, but another failed chance in the red zone following a 70-yard drive left the Spiders up just 6-0 with 5:27 to go in the first half. 

UR’s score was negated soon after, as the Mountain Hawks sustained a chunk drive of their own and did what the Spiders could not up to that point – convert in the red zone. This touchdown gave Lehigh a 7-6 lead with just over a minute to play until halftime. 

The Spiders’ hurry-up offense got them into the red zone again, however, and with 15 seconds, UR had a 1st and goal on its hands. 

With four seconds to go, O’Haire ultimately tallied his third field goal of the game to close out the half, but on the previous play, it appeared as if the Spiders may have had time to run another quick play. 

Coleman rushed to try to pick up some ground near the endzone, but a timeout with four seconds to go left UR with another opportunity for its special teams unit instead, and with that, a 9-7 lead. 

The Spiders could not get anything going scoring-wise in the third quarter. The Mountain Hawks, on the other hand, had another chance in the red zone, but just when UR needed a boost, a Mountain Hawks snap went awry on a 4th and goal field goal try, leading to a turnover on downs with 1:43 to go in the third quarter. 

UR still, however, could not increase its lead on the scoreboard, even after the turnover downs and later on another interception forced by Hayes. 

Finally, the Spiders converted in the red zone thanks to a seven-yard fourth-down touchdown pass from Coleman to redshirt sophomore tight end Sean Clarke. It looked at this point, with 10:36 to play in the game, like UR was in full control, leading 16-7.

Touchdowns on back-to-back drives for Lehigh played spoil to any control the Spiders had on the scoreboard, however, and suddenly, with 6:21 to play, UR found itself down 20-16. 

The Spiders were not able to convert on their next offensive series, meaning their defense would be tasked with stepping up in the clutch to give UR one more possession to save its season. 

And while the defense did execute and force a punt with plenty of time left for the Spiders’ offense to put together another quick drive, the punt return was muffed by redshirt sophomore wide receiver Quanye Veney. 

Soon after that, it was a Lehigh kneel down that pulled the extinguisher on UR’s further postseason hopes. 

“We had plenty of opportunities offensively to make plays and we didn’t do it, we had plenty of opportunities on defense to make plays and we didn’t do it,” Huesman said. “And when that happens in a playoff game, you usually lose the football game.”

Despite UR’s early FCS playoff exit – a round earlier than the previous two seasons in which the program advanced to the second round – the Spiders undoubtedly left an impact in their last season as members of the CAA conference. 

Aside from the playoff appearance, the conference championship, and the Capital Cup victory, several Spiders also garnered honors for their efforts throughout the 2024 season. 

Offensively, graduate offensive lineman Tom Elia made First Team All-CAA, junior running back Zach Palmer-Smith made Second Team All-CAA, and Coleman and redshirt senior wide receiver Nick DeGennaro made Third Team All-CAA. 

Defensively, redshirt senior defensive lineman Jeremiah Grant made First Team All-CAA, redshirt sophomore defensive lineman Camden Byrd and redshirt sophomore linebacker Carter Glassmyer made Second Team All-CAA, and redshirt senior linebacker Wayne Galloway and redshirt first-year defensive back Matthew Traynor made Third Team All-CAA. 

On the special teams side, redshirt senior punter Aaron Trusler also made the Second Team All-CAA. Traynor also won the CAA’s Defensive Rookie of the Year award. 

With the Spiders’ inaugural season in the Patriot League Conference on the horizon, UR will vie for a fourth-straight appearance in the FCS playoffs. The Spiders will face some new talent in 2025, but Lehigh will stay in the mix, as the Mountain Hawks are already members of the Patriot League. 

“We play hard every week,” Huesman said. “And our guys, great guys, love being around ‘em. But when you start to get in the playoffs, you better make as many plays as you possibly can or you’re gonna lose to good football teams, and Lehigh’s a good football team.”

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