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.

2015 Richmond Spiders football
CAA co-champion
FCS Playoffs Semifinal, L 7–33 vs. North Dakota State
Conference	Colonial Athletic Association
Ranking
STATS	No. 4
FCS Coaches	No. 3
Record	10–4 (6–2 CAA)
Head coach	Danny Rocco (4th season)
Offensive coordinator	Charlie Fisher (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Bob Trott (6th season)
Home stadium	E. Claiborne Robins Stadium

2015 Colonial Athletic Association football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 4 Richmond +^		6	–	2					10	–	4
No. 11 James Madison +^		6	–	2					9	–	3
No. 12 William & Mary +^		6	–	2					9	–	4
Towson		5	–	3					7	–	4
New Hampshire ^		5	–	3					7	–	5
Villanova		5	–	3					6	–	5
Stony Brook		3	–	5					5	–	5
Delaware		3	–	5					4	–	7
Elon		3	–	5					4	–	7
Maine		3	–	5					3	–	8
Albany		2	–	6					3	–	8
Rhode Island		1	–	7					1	–	10
+ – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

Schedule

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

See also: 2015 Maryland Terrapins football team

At Hampton

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

See also: 2015 Hampton Pirates football team

VMI

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

See also: 2015 VMI Keydets football team and Richmond–VMI football rivalry

Maine

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

See also: 2015 Maine Black Bears football team

Elon

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

See also: 2015 Elon Phoenix football team

At Rhode Island

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

See also: 2015 Rhode Island Rams football team

At James Madison

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

See also: 2015 James Madison Dukes football team

Albany

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

See also: 2015 Albany Great Danes football team

At New Hampshire

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

See also: 2015 New Hampshire Wildcats football team

At Villanova

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

See also: 2015 Villanova Wildcats football team

William & Mary

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

See also: 2015 William & Mary Tribe football team and Capital Cup

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

See also: 2015 Illinois State Redbirds football team

Semifinals – North Dakota State

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

See also: 2015 North Dakota State Bison football team

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking

	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