University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
Virginia
Spiders Fall to Cavaliers
09/06/2008 | Football
Sept. 6, 2008
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) - Virginia's Chase Minnifield stopped a late Richmond threat with an interception, and Vic Hall returned an interception 60 yards for a touchdown to seal the Cavaliers' 16-0 victory Saturday.
Richmond kept it close until Mikell Simpson's 1-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter finally gave Virginia (1-1) a little breathing room at 10-0 and the defense did the rest.
Until late, it was a frustrating afternoon for the Cavaliers, coming off a 52-7 season-opening loss to top-ranked Southern California. However, they were able to sack Ward at key times to keep the Spiders (1-1) out of the end zone and Nick Jenkins blocked a 29-yard field goal attempt by Andrew Howard, who also missed a 29-yarder.
The worst of Virginia's fourth-quarter miscues came just before the half when Richmond's Jordan Shoop intercepted Peter Lalich's pass and returned it 63 yards before being caught from behind at the Virginia 24. But Howard's miss left Virginia with a 3-0 lead.
Virginia also failed on an earlier fourth-down pass from Richmond's 31 and Lalich was stopped for no gain on a quarterback sneak on fourth-and-1 from the Virginia 29 early in the third quarter. A third-down sack of Ward pushed the Spiders out of field goal range and, moments later, Howard's field goal attempt was blocked.
The Cavaliers' only first-half points came on Yannick Reyering's 26-yard field goal.
Ward was 16-of-33 for 175 yards and two interceptions. Kevin Grayson caught eight passes for 111 yards.
