# 2022 Richmond Spiders football team

The 2022 Richmond Spiders football team represented the University of Richmond as a member of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) in the 2022 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Spiders, led by sixth-year head coach Russ Huesman, played their home games at E. Claiborne Robins Stadium.

## Preseason

Following the graduation of four-year starting quarterback Joe Mancuso, the Spiders brought in graduate transfer Reece Udinski from Maryland to lead the team in 2022. Udinski, who formerly played at VMI, reunites with his former teammate Jakob Herres at wide receiver.

### CAA poll

In the CAA preseason poll released on July 28, 2022, the Spiders were predicted to finish in fourth place out of 13 teams following the departure of James Madison and the addition of Monmouth and Hampton for the 2022 season.
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Villanova | 270 (16) |
| 2 | Delaware | 235 (7) |
| 3 | Rhode Island | 224 |
| 4 | Richmond | 219 |
| 5 | William & Mary | 206 (2) |
| 6 | Elon | 191 (1) |
| 7 | Stony Brook | 151 |
| 8 | Maine | 134 |
| 9 | New Hampshire | 117 |
| 10 | Monmouth | 105 |
| 11 | Towson | 81 |
| 12 | Albany | 64 |
| 13 | Hampton | 31 |

### Preseason All-CAA team

Junior linebacker Tristan Wheeler and senior kick returner Aaron Dykes were named to the CAA preseason all-conference team.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 3 | 12:30 p.m. | at Virginia* | No. 24 | Scott StadiumCharlotteville, VA | ACCRSN | L 17–34 | 41,122 |
| September 10 | 5:30 p.m. | Saint Francis* | | E. Claiborne Robins StadiumRichmond, VA | FloSports/NBCS WA | W 31–21 | 6,388 |
| September 17 | noon | at Lehigh* | | Goodman StadiumBethlehem, PA | ESPN+ | W 30–6 | 6,178 |
| September 24 | 2:00 p.m. | Stony Brook | No. 22 | E. Claiborne Robins StadiumRichmond, VA | FloSports/NBCS WA | W 51–7 | 7,618 |
| October 1 | 2:00 p.m. | at No. 23 Elon | No. 17 | Rhodes StadiumElon, NC | FloSports | L 27–30 $^{2OT}$ | 9,243 |
| October 15 | 3:30 p.m. | No. 17 Villanova | No. 21 | E. Claiborne Robins StadiumRichmond, VA | FloSports/MASN | W 20–10 | 7,830 |
| October 22 | 2:00 p.m. | at Hampton | No. 19 | Armstrong StadiumHampton, VA | FloSports | W 41–10 | |
| October 29 | 1:00 p.m. | at Maine | No. 17 | Alfond StadiumOrono, ME | FloSports | W 31–21 | 4,278 |
| November 5 | 3:30 p.m. | No. 17 New Hampshire | No. 14 | E. Claiborne Robins StadiumRichmond, VA | FloSports/MASN | W 40–34 | 6,329 |
| November 12 | 1:00 p.m. | at No. 17 Delaware | No. 12 | Delaware StadiumNewark, DE | FloSports | W 21–13 | 16,534 |
| November 19 | noon | No. 8 William & Mary | No. 11 | E. Claiborne Robins StadiumRichmond, VA (Capital Cup) | FloSports/NBCS WA | L 26–37 | 8,200 |
| November 26 | 2:00 p.m. | Davidson* | No. 13 | E. Claiborne Robins StadiumRichmond, VA (NCAA Division I First Round) | ESPN+ | W 41–0 | 3,000 |
| December 3 | 5:00 p.m. | at No. 2 Sacramento State* | No. 13 | Hornet StadiumSacramento, CA (NCAA Division I Second Round) | ESPN+ | L 31–38 | 9,136 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time ||||||||

## Game summaries
### At Virginia

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 24 Spiders | 7 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 17 |
| Cavaliers | 14 | 14 | 0 | 6 | 34 |

### Saint Francis

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Red Flash | 6 | 7 | 0 | 8 | 21 |
| Spiders | 0 | 14 | 3 | 14 | 31 |

### At Lehigh

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Spiders | 7 | 13 | 7 | 3 | 30 |
| Mountain Hawks | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 6 |

### Stony Brook

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Seawolves | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| No. 22 Spiders | 7 | 28 | 14 | 2 | 51 |

### At No. 23 Elon

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | 2OT | Total |
| No. 17 Spiders | 7 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 27 |
| No. 23 Phoenix | 14 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 30 |

### No. 17 Villanova

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 17 Wildcats | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| No. 21 Spiders | 0 | 14 | 0 | 6 | 20 |

### At Hampton

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 19 Spiders | 10 | 14 | 7 | 10 | 41 |
| Pirates | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 |

### At Maine

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 17 Spiders | 21 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 31 |
| Black Bears | 0 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 21 |

### No. 17 New Hampshire

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 17 Wildcats | 0 | 7 | 20 | 7 | 34 |
| No. 14 Spiders | 7 | 17 | 13 | 3 | 40 |

### At No. 17 Delaware

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 12 Spiders | 3 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 21 |
| No. 17 Fightin' Blue Hens | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 13 |

### No. 8 William & Mary

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 8 Tribe | 7 | 10 | 14 | 6 | 37 |
| No. 11 Spiders | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 26 |

## FCS Playoffs
### Davidson - First Round

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Wildcats | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| No. 13 Spiders | 10 | 17 | 7 | 7 | 41 |

### At No. 2 Sacramento State - Second Round

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 13 Spiders | 14 | 7 | 10 | 0 | 31 |
| No. 2 Hornets | 7 | 10 | 7 | 14 | 38 |

## Ranking movements

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking RV = Received votes т = Tied with team above or below :
| | 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 | 24 | RV | RV | 22 | 17 | 23 | 21 | 19 | 17 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 13 | 11 |
| Coaches | 24T | RV | RV | 24T | 22 | RV | 25 | 21 | 20 | 14 | 13 | 11 | 14 | 12 |