When No. 17 Richmond travels to No. 23 Elon in a matchup of CAA Football squads with 1-0 conference records and 3-1 overall marks, the quarterback battle will be among the finest in the FCS. Reece Udinski leads the Spiders to challenge Matthew McKay and the Phoenix on Saturday with an inside track in the CAA standings on the line.
Udinski, the grad transfer from FBS Maryland who made his name lighting it up at VMI, looks right at home in UR offensive coordinator Billy Cosh’s scheme. The comfort comes as no surprise given Cosh’s time working with Udinski in the same capacity at VMI. It’s exemplified by Udinski’s nation-leading 78.6 completion percentage. He is one of five CAA quarterbacks in 2022 to surpass 1,000 passing yards in September, joining names like Monmouth’s Tony Muskett and Delaware’s Nolan Henderson.
Elon head coach Tony Trisciani is well-acquainted with Udinski, he said Monday.
“I’m very familiar with Reece. He’s from North Penn High School [PA]; I recruited him when I was at Villanova when he was coming out of high school.”
Trisciani raved about Udinski’s skill set unleashed since those North Penn days.
“He’s just so efficient. He’s a very good decision-maker. They’re gonna spread you out. He’s gonna be able to see the field and make decisions. He’s a smart football player.”
Trisciani will look to match Richmond’s “ability to distribute the ball around the field,” he said of the Spider offense, with a unit of his own headlined by Montana State transfer QB Matthew McKay.
McKay, “a quarterback that can do his job” according to Trisciani, has benefited from Elon’s balance on offense. The Phoenix rank top-five in the CAA in passing and rushing offense per game. Tailback Jalen Hampton has been a workhorse, averaging 107.7 yards per game on the ground via the CAA’s No. 2 workload in season rushing attempts.
“[With] the addition of our ability to run the ball and protect up front on the offensive line,” Trisciani said, “we feel like we’ve got all three pieces going right now, on the perimeter, up front, and in the backfield. We’re a take-what-you-give-us offensive operation. We want to run the ball and throw it. It’s really helped out that our offensive line has developed, we’ve got a running back who can get some ‘dog yards,’ and we’ve got some receivers outside who can make some plays.
“We’re not asking him to do anything spectacular,” Trisciani said of McKay in affirming the quarterback’s strong game management without using that sometimes-dreaded title.
All the while, McKay’s nine touchdowns to one interception on the season, coupled with the CAA’s second-best passing efficiency (167.4), spell more firepower than a blanket game-manager label would suggest.
Richmond head coach Russ Huesman’s observations on Monday were to that effect. Huesman said he doesn’t see any weaknesses in evaluating Elon.
“They can always run the ball. They try creative ways to run the ball. That’s really been the toughest thing to defend with an Elon football team. They always find creative ways to run the football. They’ve done it against us in the past, and they’re still doing it. The [running] back [Hampton] is really, really good; their quarterback is excellent.”
McKay’s start to the 2022 campaign marks a career turnaround after he entered the transfer portal last November before Montana State’s run to the national championship game began. He was supplanted at starting QB by Tommy Mellott, who became a sensation in the postseason.
But with Bozeman in the rearview, McKay’s North Carolina homecoming has been a winner. The Raleigh native, who began his collegiate playing days at FBS NC State, is looking to steer a team to the FCS playoffs for a second straight season. Saturday’s duel with Udinski and Richmond constitutes a key hurdle in that effort as October opens in the CAA’s annually tight mix for bids.
