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Football Welcomes Richmond Saturday on Retro Day
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Virginia (0-1, 0-0 ACC) vs. Richmond (1-0, 0-0 CAA)
Game 2 Saturday, Sept. 6 3:45 p.m.
Carl Smith Center, Home of David A. Harrison III Field at Scott Stadium (61,500) Charlottesville, Va.
Surface: Prescription Athletic Turf
Series vs. Richmond: Virginia leads 24-2-2
Last Meeting: 2001 (UVa 17, UR 16)
Television: ESPNU
Radio: Virginia Sports Network
Satellite Radio: XM Radio Ch. 191
School Websites: VirginiaSports.com, RichmondSpiders.com
TV Coverage
ESPNU is televising the game.
Doug Bell (play-by-play), Charles Arbuckle (analyst) and Melissa Knowles (sidelines) have the call.
The game is Richmond’s first-ever regular-season contest on a national cable network.
Radio Coverage
All Virginia games are broadcast on the Virginia Sports Network, originating at WINA/WWWV in Charlottesville.
Dave Koehn (play-by-play), Frank Quayle (analyst) and Tim Sherman (sidelines) have the call.
Things You Need to Know
Richmond and Virginia are playing for the first time since 2001, a 17-16 UVa win in Al Groh’s first home game as UVa head coach.
The UVa-Richmond game is “Retro Day” at Scott Stadium, and the 1989 ACC Championship team will be honored at halftime.
UVa’s 12 opponents combined to go 10-2 during the season’s first week of play.
Richmond is ranked No. 3 in the FCS national rankings.
Spiders head coach Mike London is a former Virginia assistant coach; he also has three former UVa assistants on his coaching staff.
Retro Day at the Stadium
Saturday is a “Retro Game”.
The 1989 ACC championship team will be honored as UVa celebrates the era from 1984-93.
Ticket prices are $16, reflective of the cost from that era tickets are still available.
Virginia-Richmond Series
Virginia is 24-2-2 all-time against Richmond. This includes a 22-1-1 mark in Charlottesville.
The Cavaliers have won six straight in the series which first started in 1893.
The teams last played in 2001, a 17-16 Virginia win in Al Groh’s first home game as UVa head coach.
The programs met for seven-consecutive years from 1941-47 but have played just five times in the 60 years since.
UVa has out-scored Richmond 848-87 all-time.
UVa After Season-Opening Loss
Virginia has suffered 10 season-opening losses in the last 20 years; UVa rebounded to win in all but one of the next games.
The only time during this span that UVa lost back-to-back to start the season was 2002, a 40-19 defeat at No. 5 Florida State after a 35-29 opening loss to Colorado State.
Similar Circumstances
In each of the last three meetings, Virginia has defeated Richmond at home in the second game of the season following an opening loss.
| 1997 | at Auburn | L, 28-17 |
| Richmond | W, 26-7 | |
| 2000 | BYU | L, 38-35 (OT) |
| Richmond | W, 34-6 | |
| 2001 | at Wisconsin | L, 26-17 |
| Richmond | W, 17-16 |
Low Scores Have Been The Norm in Virginia-Richmond Series
Virginia has shut out Richmond in 19 of 28 meetings all-time. Only VMI (23 times) has been shut out more by Virginia. The Cavaliers have also blanked Virginia Tech 19 times.
Richmond has scored just four touchdowns against UVa since 1946, with two coming in the last meeting.
The Spiders have never scored more than 19 points against Virginia and have reached double figures just three times (16 in 1943 and 2001, 19 in 1946).
Cavaliers Make First Appearance vs. FCS School Since 2001
This is UVa’s first game against a Football Championship Series (formerly I-AA) team since the 2001 game vs. Richmond.
The Cavaliers are 18-3 against FCS opponents since the advent of I-AA in 1978.
UVa’s win over Richmond in 1979 was the Cavaliers’ first win against an FCS opponent.
UVa has won 11 straight games over FCS opponents dating back to a loss to William and Mary in 1986.
Cavaliers vs. In-State Foes
Virginia is 194-91-17 all-time vs. intrastate opponents.
| Hampden-Sydney | 17-1-2 |
| Hampton A.C. | 0-0-2 |
| James Madison | 2-1-0 |
| Lynchburg | 1-0-0 |
| Miller School | 2-0-0 |
| Norfolk Blues | 1-0-0 |
| Pantops | 2-0-0 |
| Richmond | 24-2-2 |
| Richmond A.B. | 0-0-1 |
| Roanoke | 6-0-0 |
| VMI | 55-23-3 |
| Virginia Tech | 37-46-5 |
| Washington & Lee | 21-13-1 |
| William and Mary | 26-5-1 |
UVa vs. Teams From CAA
Virginia has played just three members of the current Colonial Athletic Association.
UVa is 52-8-3 vs. these teams (24-2-2 vs. Richmond, 2-1 vs. James Madison, 26-5-1 vs. William and Mary).
CAA football also consists of Delaware, Hofstra, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Northeastern, Rhode Island, Towson and Villanova.
2001: UVa 17, Richmond 16
Virgina squeaked out a 17-16 win over Richmond on Sept. 1, 2001, in the teams’ last meeting. It was the first UVa win for Al Groh.
A missed extra point ultimately cost the Spiders the chance for the win.
Claude Diggs’ five-yard TD run made the score 17-16 with 8:50 remaining, but Doug Kirchner’s extra-point attempt sailed wide left.
Billy McMullen caught two one-yard touchdown passes for Virginia, which jumped out to a 17-0 lead and then had to hold on.
Arlen Harris rushed for 99 yards for UVa, while QB Bryson Spinner tossed for 178 yards on 20 of 29 passing.
Switching Sidelines: London Returns to Face Virginia
After coaching at Virginia for six seasons, Mike London returns to the other sideline this weekend as head coach.
Going back to 1930, London is believed to be just the third former UVa assistant to then serve as a head coach facing the Cavaliers.
Tom O’Brien was the last, doing it at NC State last season and Boston College in 2005 he was an assistant at Virginia for 15 seasons from 1982-96.
Prior to O’Brien, the only other known instance is current UVa head coach Al Groh, who coached Wake Forest against the Cavaliers each year from 1981-86.
| Year | Coach | School | Result |
| 1981 | Groh | Wake | Wake, 24-21 |
| 1982 | Groh | Wake | UVa, 34-27 |
| 1983 | Groh | at Wake | Wake, 38-34 |
| 1984 | Groh | Wake | UVa, 28-9 |
| 1985 | Groh | at Wake | UVa, 20-18 |
| 1986 | Groh | Wake | UVa, 30-28 |
| 2005 | O’Brien | at BC | BC, 28-17 |
| 2006 | O’Brien | at NCSU | NCSU, 29-24 |
| 2008 | London | Richmond |
UVa-UR Coaching Tree
In addition to London, who also was UVa’s defensive line coach in the Cavaliers’ last meeting with Richmond, the Spiders have three former UVa staff members on their current coaching staff.
Linebackers coach Vincent Brown served as a graduate assistant last year.
Defensive tackles coach Byron Thweatt was a UVa graduate assistant in 2006 and also was a two-year captain on the UVa football team.
Offensive line coach Bill Polin was a UVa graduate assistant from 2004-05.
On the flip side, UVa wide receivers coach Wayne Lineburg was the offensive coordinator and running backs coach at Richmond from 2004-06.
Richmond Connections to Virginia’s Past
Richmond punter Brett Weigand is the brother of former Virginia punter Ryan Weigand, who was a second-team All-ACC selection in 2007.
Richmond tight end William Bischoff is the son of Bob Bischoff, who played split end at UVa from 1967-70; Bob had 78 receptions for 1,109 yards and six touchdowns in his Virginia career.
UR defensive back Darryl Hamilton is the brother of former UVa CB Marcus Hamilton, who currently plays for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Non-Conference Home Games
Virginia has won 11 of its last 13 non-conference home games since 2002 and 36 of 46 since 1987.
Under Al Groh Virginia is 13-4 at home in non-league games and 34-11 overall.
UVa opened with a non-league loss to Southern California and also has a home game with East Carolina this year.
UVa has three non-conference games vs. 2007 bowl teams only Arkansas State (four) plays more.
Nearly Half of Starting Lineup Makes First Career Start
Ten Cavaliers made the first start of their career vs. Southern California.
On Offense: RG B.J. Cabbell, WR Dontrelle Inman, WR Cary Koch, QB Peter Lalich, C Jack Shields.
On Defense: LB Aaron Clark, DE Matt Conrath, DE Alex Field, CB Chase Minnifield, S Brandon Woods.
For Conrath and Minnifield, it was the first appearance of their careers.
Two True Frosh See Time vs. USC
P Jimmy Howell and OL Austin Pasztor were the lone true freshmen to play for Virginia against Southern California.
Pasztor appeared on the kick-scoring unit.
Howell averaged 38.2 yards on eight punts and had a long punt of 49 yards.
More First-Timers
In addition to Conrath, Howell, Minnifield and Pasztor, 11 other Cavaliers made the first appearance of their careers.
On Offense: WR Kris Burd, TE Andrew Devlin, WR Jared Green, C Anthony Mihota, QB Marc Verica.
On Defense: DL John-Kevin Dolce, NT Nick Jenkins, CB Dom Joseph, S Corey Mosley, DE Zane Parr.
On Special Teams: PK Yannick Reyering.
Bring The A’ Game Early
UVa’s first three opponents (USC, Richmond, UConn) combined to win 31 games last year.
USC is the FBS preseason No. 2 team (USA Today), while Richmond is the FCS preseason No. 4 squad.
UConn is receiving votes in both polls
UVa’s four non-conference opponents this year were 4-0 after week one
Overall Schedule Also Strong
UVa’s opponents combined to go 91-64 (.587) last year.
UVa’s opponents’ 2007 winning percentage ranks 19th nationally.
Eight of the 12 opponents had .500-plus records and played in bowls in 2007.
UVa’s schedule was ranked 10th toughest in the country last week by ESPN.com.
Post-Game Radio Show
UVa’s post-game radio show format has changed. Instead of having a call-in option, fans will be able to text message or e-mail their questions. Text Dave, followed by the question, to 88398 or e-mail askdave@virginiasports.com. Standard messaging rates apply.