2021 Richmond Spiders football team

2021 Colonial Athletic Association football standings
	+ – Conference co-champions; ^ – FCS playoff participant; Rankings from STATS Poll

2021 Richmond Spiders football
2021 Richmond Spiders football
Conference	Colonial Athletic Association
2021 record	6–5 (4–4 CAA)
Head coach	Russ Huesman (5th season);
Offensive coordinator	Jeff Durden (4th season)
Defensive coordinator	Justin Wood (2nd season)
Home stadium	E. Claiborne Robins Stadium; (capacity: 8,217)
	Seasons ← 2020 2022 →

The 2021 Richmond Spiders football team represented the University of Richmond as a member of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) in the 2021 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Spiders, led by fifth-year head coach Russ Huesman, played their home games at E. Claiborne Robins Stadium.

Previous season[]

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the CAA delayed the fall 2020 season and played an abbreviated schedule in the spring of 2021. The Spiders finished the season with a record of 3–1 in CAA play to finish second in the CAA's South Division. The Spiders were ranked No. 15 in the final STATS FCS poll and No. 14 in the final Coaches Poll.

Preseason[]

CAA poll[]

In the CAA preseason poll released on July 27, 2021, the Spiders were predicted to finish in fourth place and received two first-place votes.^[1]

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	James Madison	231 (15)
2	Delaware	222 (7)
3	Villanova	194
4	Richmond	169 (2)
5	New Hampshire	135
6	Rhode Island	121
7	Towson	115
8	Albany	114
9	Maine	99
10	Stony Brook	73
11	William & Mary	61
12	Elon	50

Preseason All-CAA team[]

Graduate student tight end John Fitzgerald, senior offensive lineman Clayton McConnell, senior defensive lineman Kobie Turner, graduate student linebacker Tyler Dressler, and sophomore linebacker Tristan Wheeler were named to the CAA preseason all-conference team. Junior kick returner Aaron Dykes was named honorable mention for the all-conference team.^[1]

Schedule[]

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 4	2:00 p.m.	Howard*		E. Claiborne Robins Stadium Richmond, VA	FloSports/NBCS WA	W 38–14	7,048
September 11	2:00 p.m.	Lehigh*	No. 25	E. Claiborne Robins Stadium Richmond, VA	FloSports/NBCS WA	W 31–3	6,003
September 18	3:30 p.m.	at No. 12 Villanova	No. 21	Villanova Stadium Villanova, PA	FloSports	L 27–34	12,001
September 25	12:00 p.m.	at Virginia Tech*	No. 24	Lane Stadium Blacksburg, VA	ACCN	L 10–21	53,174
October 2	2:00 p.m.	Elon	No. 22	E. Claiborne Robins Stadium Richmond, VA	FloSports/NBCS WA	L 7–20	8,217
October 16	2:00 p.m.	No. 8 James Madison		E. Claiborne Robins Stadium Richmond, VA	FloSports/NBCS WA	L 3–19	7,809
October 23	3:30 p.m.	at Stony Brook		Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium Stony Brook, NY	FloSports	L 14–27	10,250
October 30	1:00 p.m.	at New Hampshire		Wildcat Stadium Durham, NH	FloSports	W 35–21	6,341
November 6	2:00 p.m.	Towson		E. Claiborne Robins Stadium Richmond, VA	FloSports/NBCS WA	W 28–17	6,457
November 13	2:00 p.m.	Delaware		E. Claiborne Robins Stadium Richmond, VA	FloSports/NBCS WA	W 51–27	6,104
November 20	3:30 p.m.	at William & Mary		Zable Stadium Williamsburg, VA (Capital Cup)	FloSports	W 20–17	7,125
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

^[2]

Ranking movements[]

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	RV	25	21	24	22	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	RV
Coaches	22	22	18	21	21	RV	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR

References[]

^ ^a ^b Washburn, Rob (July 27, 2021). "James Madison Favored to Win CAA Football Championship in 2021". Colonial Athletic Association. Retrieved September 6, 2021.
^ "2021 Richmond Spiders Football Schedule". richmondspiders.com. Retrieved September 4, 2021.

This college football 2020s season article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .

[preseason-1] Washburn, Rob (July 27, 2021). "James Madison Favored to Win CAA Football Championship in 2021". Colonial Athletic Association. Retrieved September 6, 2021.

[2] "2021 Richmond Spiders Football Schedule". richmondspiders.com. Retrieved September 4, 2021.

[1]

[2]

v t Richmond Spiders football
Venues	Tate Field (1891–1893, 1925–1928) (1894) Broad Street Park (1897–1916) (1917–1920) (1921–1924) City Stadium (1929–2009) E. Claiborne Robins Stadium (2010–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Capital Cup (William & Mary) James Madison VMI
People	Head coaches NFL draftees
Seasons	1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1934 1941 1947 1951 1955 1961 1965 1968 1969 1970 1971 1973 1975 1979 1980 1981 1982 1996 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
National championship seasons in bold

2021 Colonial Athletic Association football standings
v t	Conf				Overall
Team		W		L		W		L
No. 2 James Madison +^		7	–	1		12	–	2
No. 6 Villanova +^		7	–	1		10	–	3
Elon		5	–	3		6	–	5
Rhode Island		4	–	4		7	–	4
Maine		4	–	4		6	–	5
Richmond		4	–	4		6	–	5
William & Mary		4	–	4		6	–	5
Stony Brook		4	–	4		5	–	6
Delaware		3	–	5		5	–	6
Towson		3	–	5		4	–	7
New Hampshire		2	–	6		3	–	8
Albany		1	–	7		2	–	9

+ – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll