Getty
Seeking their first-ever FCS playoff victory, Davidson takes on Richmond–who are back in the playoffs for the first time since 2016–in a first-round matchup on Saturday afternoon.
Note: Heavy may earn an affiliate commission if you sign up via a link on this page
The game (2 p.m. ET start time) won’t be on TV, but anyone in the US can watch Davidson vs Richmond live on ESPN+ right here:
ESPN+ includes every first- and second-round FCS playoff game (with the exception of Southeast Missouri vs Montana), dozens of other live sports, every 30-for-30 documentary and additional original content (both video and written) for $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year (or $13.99 per month for a bundle of all three of ESPN+, Disney+ and Hulu).
Once signed up for ESPN+, you can watch Davidson vs Richmond live on the ESPN app or ESPN.com.
Compatible devices for the ESPN app include Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Firestick, Apple TV, Chromecast, PlayStation 4 or 5, Xbox One or Series X/S, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), Samsung Smart TV, Oculus Go, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet.
Davidson vs Richmond Preview
The playoffs have started for the Football Championship Subdivision teams. A field of 24 teams have been slotted into a bracket with the top eight teams getting first-round byes. One of the premiere match-ups of the first round is the 8-3 Davidson Wildcats taking on the 8-3 Richmond Spiders. The two teams haven’t played each other since 1973.
Richmond hasn’t been in the FCS playoffs in six years, and it is head coach Russ Huesman’s first time in the playoffs with this team. He told CAA Sports in a pre-game press conference that they were a little nervous about receiving an at-large bid for the playoffs after losing their conference championship game to William & Mary. They were the last team named to the playoffs field, so it was “pretty nerve-wracking” for the team.
“Obviously [we’re] very excited. We had a good feeling that we deserved to be in, but Richmond was the last name that popped up there and pretty nerve-wracking … obviously, we were thrilled to get in there and we’re excited to play,” said Huesman.
He also said the team has done well bouncing back from the loss to William & Mary, which was a tough one to lose.
“I think they’re refocused. We do a good job of no matter if we win or lose, we kind of stay even keel all the way across the board. The William & Mary game was very disappointing. They played really well and they got us and I told our team at least we don’t have to go through the whole offseason with that taste in our mouth, we get to play again, so I think part of being in the playoffs … hopefully we can regroup and make a run at this thing. We’re in it so you might as well try to win the thing and do everything possible to try to win every game and take it one game at a time … our midnset is to win this one and try to win a national championship,” said Huesman.
He also said that Richmond is going to have to get ready to face Davidson’s triple option style of play, which is going to be a challenge.
“When you play option football teams, the biggest thing is you can’t simulate the speed on thes cout team. You can’t simulate the speed in practice and it’s a littel bit of cold water in your face, the moment when you say, ‘Uh oh,’ he’s running faster than we saw in practice and sometimes it takes a series or two to kind of get acclimated to it,” said Huesman.
The winner of the Davidson/Richmond game advances to play No. 2 seed Sacramento State (11-0) in the second round on December 3.
The Davidson vs Richmond game kicks off on Saturday, November 26 at 2 p.m. Eastern on ESPN Plus.