2010 Football Previews–Richmond

Friday, September 03 2010 by Tiki

It is somewhat difficult to write a preview for this game, since both teams have entirely new coaching staffs in place. Obviously, the Virginia part of the preview is easier for me to write (you are, after all, on dearoldUVA.com). There are plenty of unknowns about the Virginia football team coming into this season, despite the unprecedented access given in “The Building of a Program”. Still, that is nothing compared to the unknowns (at least from my perspective) about a Richmond program that is decidedly tougher to find information on, despite being one of the top DI-AA programs.

The new Richmond head coach was our WR coach Latrell Scott last year. No less than 3 other coaches on the Richmond staff were working in Charlottesville a year ago. I imagine there were no issues with the two staffs trading some film. And there will likely be some tender moments both before and after the game. Nonetheless, once the whistle blows, it will be a battle. The Hoos are hyped for their first game under head coach Mike London, not to mention wanting to erase last years’ embarrassment to William & Mary. The Spiders, on the other hand, would love to open their season with a win over a DI-A program, and would love to show Coach London that he made the wrong decision in leaving. It promises to be a heated affair.

Virginia on Offense

As we have noted, the Virginia offense returns to its roots, with a pro-style offense built around a power rushing game and loads of play-action. While QB Marc Verica is 100% set in stone as the starter, the RB situation is still a work in progress; expect to see several backs get significant playing time.

In somewhat of a shock, the leader on the depth chart is senior Raynard Horne. It is a shock, because Horne was basically a forgotten player in the minds of most Virginia fans, not because he lacked the talent. As a pure runner, Horne may be unmatched on the team. His weakness always seemed to come from the secondary attributes of a RB. He also seemed to get stuck in the infamous Al Groh doghouse. I, for one, will be rooting very hard for Horne to succeed.

The starters at WR also include a bit of a shock, as senior Dontrelle Inman is listed opposite Kris Burd as the starter. This goes against my belief that Tim Smith would be starting. In a lot of ways, it makes sense, as both Burd and Smith are smaller WR, while Inman provides a different look. Each of Richmond’s projected starting CBs is 5’10” and 180 pounds. At 6’3” and over 200 lbs, Inman makes for an intriguing option on fade routes in particular. He could also force safeties or LBs to pay more attention to him, leaving Kris Burd more space to operate. Regardless, Tim Smith will see the field, as will Matt Snyder and Jared Green (both also bigger WRs).

The Spiders employ a fairly basic 4-3 defense, which will actually look a lot like the one we run. (Of course, since nobody has really seen our 4-3 in action, that isn’t a very helpful description.) I suspect that Richmond’s defense will be very similar to last year’s, and will still have a lot of Mike London’s fingerprints all over it. The defense is designed for the LBs to make a majority of the tackles, while the pass rush comes pretty much entirely from the DL. Last year, the 3 LBs finished 1-2-3 on the team in tackles, and yet combined for just 2.5 (out of a team total of 21) sacks.

One player to watch on the Richmond D is CB Justin Rogers, who was 2nd in I-AA in interceptions two years ago. Last year, teams pretty much just avoided throwing the ball near him, and he still had 3 picks and 8 passes broken up. Considering Verica has shown a propensity for throwing bad interceptions, this is a real concern. Rogers also returns kicks for Richmond, so clearly he is comfortable with the ball in his hands. A big play by the Richmond defense could turn this game. Do not forget, it was a pick-6 by William & Mary that basically ended last years’ opener.

As we have discussed, the UVA OL is very much a work in progress. As a result, Richmond’s defensive line may cause some problems, as they are a talented, veteran group.  In particular, DL Martin Parker is one of the top overall players in I-AA. Parker led the Spiders last year with 15.5 TFL and 6.5 sacks. While he lines up mostly at DT, he will play on the end at times. Even at 300 pounds, Parker will be giving up size and strength on most plays. And he will likely be double-teamed on passing downs.

If the Virginia OL plays well, and opens up some holes for the RBs, we will be successful. Richmond probably isn’t going to blitz much, and the running game should really open some options in play-action. I am, understandably, concerned about Verica making a key mistake, but I think we should be able to run the ball successfully, making Verica’s job that much easier.

Virginia on Defense

As you may have heard, UVA is switching to a 4-3 defense, after 9 years of the 3-4. Furthermore, pretty much the entire defensive scheme has been replaced with an aggressive, instinctual defense, replacing the read-and-react defense of the past regime.

Speedy players, such as Cam Johnson and Laroy Reynolds, have been given prominent roles in this year’s defense, and have been told to be aggressive. If they make a mistake, so be it, but let those mistakes be mistakes of aggression, as opposed to hesitation. The increase in speed should help make up for many of the mistakes, especially against a lower division team (no offense intended to the Spiders).

Like the offense, there were surprises on the depth chart for defense as well. The biggest one, in my opinion, was seeing Trey Womack listed as a starting safety. Apparently, this is largely due to an injury suffered by Rodney McLeod. Still, Womack is a senior who has excelled on special teams but has yet to really make an impact on defense. I am excited for his opportunity. The other notable change on the depth chart is seeing John-Kevin Dolce as a starting DT, with Matt Conrath as a backup. I suspect that this is more of a semantics issue than a real change, as all three (along with Nick Jenkins) figure to see plenty of snaps.

Richmond is likely to rely heavily on the arm of QB Aaron Corp, a transfer from USC. Corp has some experience playing in Scott Stadium, because he saw some time backing up Mark Sanchez 2 years ago. Corp has three potent weapons on the outside, in WRs Kevin Grayson, Tre Gray and Donte Boston. The trio combined for 132 receptions, 1800 yards and 10 TDs a year ago. Virginia fans with a particularly good memory (such as yours truly) may remember that Grayson tore up our secondary 2 years ago, for well over 100 yards. Our secondary this year should be a little bit ahead of where they were at that point, so that helps.

Late edit: It appears as though WRs Grayson and Boston could be out for this game. Grayson will apparently be  a game-time decision.  This is a huge benefit for the Hoos, as those are two of the biggest weapons Richmond has. Replacing them will likely be two freshmen, Jon Thompson and Ben Edwards. This should force the Spiders to run the ball more, which may actually help them, considering our talented secondary and young LB.

Richmond returns just one starter from last year’s OL, but that is senior C Drew Lachenmayer. Lachenmayer is solid, and should eventually play on Sundays. As far as I can tell, the rest of the starting OL isn’t even really set yet. Obviously, for this game it is, but they will be using several players and evaluating their performances to determine the depth charts going forward. I suppose you could make that argument for every team and every position, but the reality is that the Spiders have a lot of depth on the line, but nobody really standing out, apart from Lachenmayer. This puts a lot of pressure on the players to perform, and also bodes well for our revamped front 7.

Unlike at QB or WR, the Spiders have a bunch of options at RB. Either senior Tyler Kirchoff or Sophomore Garrett Wilkins will get the start, after each rushed for about 200 yards last year in backup roles. The Spiders ran the ball a lot under Mike London, but keep in mind they had had a very talented dual threat QB in Eric Ward. While Corp is a very good athlete at QB, he is nowhere near the ground threat that Ward was. Kirchoff is the bigger back, while Wilkins has more speed and elusiveness. Kirchoff will almost definitely get the nod on short yardage plays.

As excited as I am in general, I really am itching to see Mike London’s defense in action. I was very critical, at times, of Al Groh’s slotting decisions and defensive style, and I am happy to see London emphasizing speed. There may be some mistakes especially from young group of LBs, but the talented secondary and the veteran DL should help overcome those. I simply can’t see a young, inexperienced Richmond offense having a whole lot of success against our defense.

Corp will complete some passes - he is too good not to do so - and the WR talent is too talented not to make some catches. But Corp will also get hit a lot, and I think he’ll throw a pick or two. The Spiders’ running game will struggle to find consistent space, but may hit a big play now and then. We need to limit those big plays, and focus on getting 3rd down stops.

Conclusion

Despite the fact that both teams come into this game with a ton of question marks, I don’t think it is quite so difficult to predict the game. The Hoos are hyped for this game, and they will be ready. Last year’s opener was plagued by mistakes (7 turnovers!!!) and some poor coaching decisions (3 different QBs?). That won’t happen this year.

The biggest highlight may well be the pre-game introductions of Mike London and the new coaching staff. I have a feeling the game itself could end up being pretty dull. Part of me is hoping that it is, because exciting games tend to be close. And I don’t think it’ll be close.

Hoos 34, Spiders 10