University of Richmond Athletics
Richmond Quartet Tabbed As AP All-Americans
12/16/2015 | Football
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. – The Associated Press has announced its annual FCS Football All-American selections as of Wednesday afternoon and the University of Richmond Spiders have four players being honored. The same four individuals who were tabbed as STATS All-Americans on Tuesday. OL Nick Ritcher has been named to the First Team, RB Jacobi Green and WR Brian Brown each joined the Second Team while DB David Jones earned Third Team honors.
The selections up the Richmond total to 83 All-Americans in program history and doubles the number of individuals selected last season. Each of these four players were First Team All-CAA choices were named All-Americans for the first time in their respective careers on Tuesday. Only Brian Brown received preseason recognition as an honorable mention.
Nick Ritcher joins the first team as the top blocker on the highly successful offense live for the Spiders. This is the second All-American nod for the redshirt-senior, in as many days, who helped the Richmond running backs gain 2,635 yards so far this season with 39 touchdowns while also providing time for QB Kyle Lauletta who had an All-Conference season in his own right.
Jacobi Green has a senior season for the record books. The Jacksonville, Fla. native has run for 1,563 yards, which rank fourth in a single season in Richmond history and has found the end zone rushing 21 times to set a new single-season program record. His 22 total touchdowns this season rank second all-time behind Tim Hightower's 23 in 2007.
Green burst onto the scene with a 236-yard, five-touchdown performance at James Madison on Oct. 24 and has never looked back. He has rattled off seven-straight performances of 100 or more yards and a second 200-yard outing opposite William & Mary in the regular season finale. He ran for 137 yards last weekend at Illinois State in the quarterfinals of the FCS Playoffs and contributed four touchdowns to guide the Spiders to a 39-27 victory and berth into the semifinals for the first time since the 2008, National Championship season.
David Jones has been the playmaker on the Richmond defense all season long. The junior set a school record for most interceptions in a season with nine with his 100-yard pick-six vs. William & Mary in the second round of the FCS Playoffs. Jones set two records on the play, also breaking the mark for longest interception return by a Spider. Jones earlier in the season set a new career-high, CAA and Richmond record with four interceptions against Albany, Oct. 31.
Not to be forgotten is Jones' ability as a tackler. He ranks second among the Spiders with 90 total tackles, 50 solo with three tackles for loss. He has also three pass breakups, one fumble recovery and one forced fumble to go with his impressive interception total.
Brian Brown has been the clear-cut top target for Richmond QB Kyle Lauletta. The junior has accumulated a program record 1,362 yards through the air this season and became the first WR in the history of the program to have multiple 1,000-yard seasons during his career. With one season left to play he already ranks fifth all-time with 2,630 yards and his 204-yard performance at JMU ranks fifth-most in a single game in program history.
The Spiders will hit the road and visit No. 3 seed and four-time defending National Champion North Dakota State in Fargo, N.D. on Friday, Dec. 18 at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN2. The game will take place in the 19,000-seat Fargodome and it will be the first meeting between these two highly successful programs.
