Fantastic voyage

An hour after the game, Sherman Logan sat in front of his locker, slowly pulling on and tightening the straps of a walking boot.

The boot was to treat an injury Logan suffered weeks ago.

"I've got a stress fracture in the outside bone of my foot," said the University of Richmond defensive end. "I've played the past two weeks with it, three weeks, really, because I think I hurt it before I played in the Appalachian State game.

"Man, I had to play. I had to come out and fight through it. My teammates needed me. It's just a little broken foot. Right now, there's just a little pain."

Richmond won the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision on Friday night. Winning a national title requires skilled players and capable coaches. It requires a group of individuals who are tough, resilient and willing to sacrifice -- suffer even -- for the sake of the team.

To win the national championship, Richmond played 16 games, the same number as an NFL team. After the Spiders fell to 4-3 with their last-second loss to James Madison, they knew they had no margin for error.

To earn an at-large berth in the FCS playoffs, Richmond had to win its five remaining regular-season games.

And they did. The Spiders closed the season with a nine-game winning streak. When they look back on this year, the Spiders players and coaches will remember how they handled the pressure.

"Some people say pressure either busts pipes or makes diamonds," Richmond running back Josh Vaughan said. "We just believed we were a good team and that we were going to execute."

They stuck together. They didn't crack. And a diamond of a season was produced. They can attribute that to many things.

There was the music at practice.

A compilation put together by coach Mike London blared through most of the Spiders workouts. Ostensibly, it was to prepare the offense for hostile environments.

"It also makes practice a little more fun," senior defensive end Lawrence Sidbury said. "He's always trying to find stuff like that to keep things comfortable."

They will remember how they had each other's back. Like Friday night, when linebacker Eric McBride crashed through the Montana offensive line and delivered a punishing blow to quarterback Cole Bergquist.

"I knew if I missed him, somebody was going to be there to get him," McBride said. "That's the kind of defense we play."

They will remember that in the week leading to the championship game and on game day, they expressed themselves. They shared their emotions during a meeting in the team hotel, then relaxed and played.

"The one thing we could control was our mindset going into the game," London said. "The worst thing you can do is try to overemphasize how important the game is. Then, the players start thinking they can't make any mistakes. We wanted to keep them free from that thought process."

Some Spiders will remember this season was about more than just the championship. It was about the journey that led to the title.

Sidbury arrived on campus after a 2-9 season in 2003. He redshirted as a freshman and watched the team go 3-8.

"When I first came in, nobody really knew what a Richmond Spider was," Sidbury said. "I'm happy I've been a part of a group of guys who have been able to turn the program around."

Sidbury and his fellow seniors leave with a four-year record of 39-15 and a national championship.

"Now, when you say 'Richmond Spiders,' people are not going to say, 'Who are those guys?'" Sidbury said. "That is gratifying. That right there is worth something."

That is a season and career worth remembering -- forever.
Contact Paul Woody at (804) 649-6444 or .