Football Edged by Richmond, 17-14

Richmond, Va. – On this date in 1970, the first NFL regular season New York Giants-Jets game was held, with the Giants winning 22-10. Today the first Patriot League football game between Fordham and Richmond was held and, unfortunately for the Rams, Fordham faced the same fate as the Jets, falling to the Spiders, 17-14, at Robins Stadium.
 
With the loss, Fordham falls to 1-8 overall, 1-4 in the Patriot League, while Richmond improves to 5-4 overall, 2-3 in the League.
 
Grad student linebacker James Conway led the Fordham defense, recording a game-high 12 tackles, while junior defensive back Nate Lindsay-Gill added nine stops for the Rams.
 
How it Happened
• Richmond took a 7-0 lead early in the first quarter before the Rams took advantage of a Spider turnover to tie the game at seven.
 
• Chris Tuck II recovered a fumbled Richmond punt return on the Richmond four and three plays later, Smith connected with Jack Freeburg for the score.
 
• Early in the second, Richmond used a 36-yard field goal to take a 10-7 lead and the Spiders had a chance to extend the lead to 13-7 on the final play of the half but the Rams blocked a field goal attempt.
 
• The Spiders used an interception to take a 17-7 lead late in the third before the Rams pulled within three, 17-14, on a four-yard Jack Kaiser touchdown midway through the fourth.
 
Notes
• James Conway has recorded double digits in tackle for the eight times in nine games this year, the fifth straight.
 
• Fordham quarterback Gunnar Smith had a string of five straight 200-yard passing games snapped.
 
• The Rams blocked two field goal attempts today.
 
• Fordham held the Spiders to 4-for-14 on third down conversions.
 
• Richmond entered the game leading the Patriot League in passing defense (167.8) and held Fordham to a season-low 91 yards today.
 
• Richmond was Fordham's second straight opponent coming off an open week with Bucknell (next week's opponent) having the off week this week.
 
By the Numbers
6 – Pass breakups by the Rams.
 
62 – Kickoff return by Troy Worrell in the second quarter, Fordham's longest kickoff return of the year.
 
130 – Rushing yards for Richmond, 22.5 yards behind the Spider's season average.
 
40.1 – Punting average for sophomore Dominic Sansone, including a long punt of 56 yards, with two landing inside the Richmond 20.
 
567 - Career tackles for James Conway, ten shy of the NCAA Division I career record of 577 set by Troy's Carlton Martial.
 
What's Next?
• The Rams close out the home portion of their 2025 schedule buy hosting the Bucknell University Bison in a Patriot League matchup on Saturday, November 8, at 1:00 p.m. at Muglia Stadium.
 
• It will be the 41st meeting between Fordham and Bucknell on the gridiron.
 
• Fordham leads the all-time series, which started in 1929, 21-19.
 
• The Bison took last year's meeting in Lewisburg, 28-27, on November 9, scoring on a 15-yard touchdown pass with 2:15 remaining in the game.
 
• The Bucknell win last year snapped an eleven-game Fordham winning streak in the series, including a 27-21 victory on November 4, 2023 at Moglia Stadium as CJ Montes completed 18
of 33 passes for 328 yards and four touchdowns with MJ Wright catching seven passes for 145 yards and one score.
 
Portions of this story created through content automation technology from Data Skrive.