# 2015 Richmond Spiders football team

The 2015 Richmond Spiders football team represented the University of Richmond in the 2015 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by fourth-year head coach Danny Rocco and played their home games at E. Claiborne Robins Stadium. The Spiders were a member of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). The Spiders finished as a CAA co-champion along with James Madison and William & Mary, who all finished with identical 6–2 conference records. The Spiders received the CAA's automatic bid to the FCS playoffs by virtue of a head-to-head tiebreaker, having defeated both James Madison and William & Mary during the regular season. After receiving a first-round bye and defeating William & Mary in the second round and Illinois State in the quarterfinals, the Spiders lost to North Dakota State in the semifinals, 33–7.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 5 | noon | at Maryland* | No. 18 | Byrd StadiumCollege Park, MD | ESPNU | L 21–50 | 38,117 |
| September 12 | noon | at Hampton* | No. 22 | Armstrong StadiumHampton, VA | | W 31–28 | 3,515 |
| September 19 | 6:00 pm | VMI* | No. 22 | Robins StadiumRichmond, VA (rivalry) | CSN MA+ | W 42–10 | 8,700 |
| October 3 | 3:30 pm | Maine | No. 19 | Robins StadiumRichmond, VA | CSN MA+ | W 48–17 | 7,228 |
| October 10 | 3:30 pm | Elon | No. 16 | Robins StadiumRichmond, VA | STV | W 27–14 | 8,216 |
| October 17 | noon | at Rhode Island | No. 13 | Meade StadiumKingston, RI | | W 37–12 | 6,143 |
| October 24 | 3:30 pm | at No. 4 James Madison | No. 11 | Bridgeforth StadiumHarrisonburg, VA (College GameDay, rivalry) | CSN | W 59–49 | 26,069 |
| October 31 | 3:30 pm | Albany | No. 6 | Robins StadiumRichmond, VA | STV | W 38–31 | 8,475 |
| November 7 | 7:00 pm | at New Hampshire | No. 5 | Cowell StadiumDurham, NH | NBCSN | L 25–30 | 4,992 |
| November 14 | 3:30 pm | at Villanova | No. 9 | Villanova StadiumVillanova, PA | | L 20–21 | 6,211 |
| November 21 | noon | No. 7 William & Mary | No. 14 | Robins StadiumRichmond, VA (Capital Cup) | CSN | W 20–9 | 8,700 |
| December 5 | noon | No. 13 William & Mary* | No. 12 | Robins StadiumRichmond, VA (FCS Playoffs Second Round) | ESPN3 | W 48–13 | 7,277 |
| December 11 | 7:30 pm | at No. 4 Illinois State* | No. 12 | Hancock StadiumNormal, IL (FCS Playoffs Quarterfinals) | ESPN3 | W 39–27 | 5,356 |
| December 18 | 8:00 pm | at No. 2 North Dakota State* | No. 12 | FargodomeFargo, ND (FCS Playoffs Semifinals) | ESPN2 | L 7–33 | 18,105 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time ||||||||

## Game summaries
### At Maryland

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #18 Spiders | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 21 |
| Terrapins | 10 | 12 | 7 | 21 | 50 |

### At Hampton

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #22 Spiders | 7 | 3 | 6 | 15 | 31 |
| Pirates | 14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 28 |

### VMI

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Keydets | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| #22 Spiders | 7 | 14 | 14 | 7 | 42 |

### Maine

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Black Bears | 7 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 17 |
| #19 Spiders | 14 | 6 | 14 | 14 | 48 |

### Elon

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Phoenix | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 14 |
| #16 Spiders | 7 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 27 |

### At Rhode Island

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #13 Spiders | 13 | 7 | 3 | 14 | 37 |
| Rams | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 12 |

### At James Madison

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #11 Spiders | 7 | 21 | 14 | 17 | 59 |
| #4 Dukes | 14 | 14 | 7 | 14 | 49 |

### Albany

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Great Danes | 0 | 10 | 14 | 7 | 31 |
| #6 Spiders | 17 | 7 | 14 | 0 | 38 |

### At New Hampshire

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #5 Spiders | 7 | 0 | 15 | 3 | 25 |
| Wildcats | 14 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 30 |

### At Villanova

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #9 Spiders | 0 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 20 |
| Wildcats | 0 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 |

### William & Mary

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #7 Tribe | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 9 |
| #14 Spiders | 0 | 7 | 13 | 0 | 20 |

## FCS Playoffs
### Second Round – William & Mary

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #13 Tribe | 3 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 13 |
| #12 Spiders | 14 | 14 | 7 | 13 | 48 |

### Quarterfinals – Illinois State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #12 Spiders | 10 | 9 | 6 | 14 | 39 |
| #4 Redbirds | 0 | 7 | 7 | 13 | 27 |

### Semifinals – North Dakota State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #12 Spiders | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| #2 Bison | 13 | 13 | 0 | 7 | 33 |

## Ranking movements

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Final |
| STATS FCS | 18 | 22 | 22 | 19 | 19 | 16 | 13 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 12 | 4 |
| Coaches | 18 | 22 | 23 | 20 | 20 | 18 | 13 | 12 | 8 | 7 | 12 | 16 | 11 | 3 |