Second Half Comeback Falls Short Against Delaware On Mancuso’s Career Day

Saturday, October 6

Richmond, Va.

3 PM

University of Richmond

2-4 , 0-3

Delaware

3-2 , 1-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Delaware

Richmond

Photo by: Scott Brown

Second Half Comeback Falls Short Against Delaware On Mancuso’s Career Day

10/06/2018 | Football

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RICHMOND, Va. – The University of Richmond football team scored 18 unanswered points, including 12 in the fourth quarter, but fell short in a 43-28 loss to Delaware Saturday at Robins Stadium. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Joe Mancuso (Blairsville, Ga.) made the most of his first career start, setting a Richmond record for total offense with 560 yards.

Mancuso threw for 489 yards passing on 27-for-37 with three touchdowns and five interceptions. He also ran for 71 yards on 15 carries with a touchdown. His 560 yards of total offense broke the school record set by Michael Strauss on Nov. 16, 2013 against Delaware.

Mancuso's 489 yards passing are the third most in the FCS this season, trailing only Devlin Hodges of Samford (562) and Reece Udinski of VMI (491). His game ranks fourth all-time in Richmond passing history in a single game and is the most since former Spider Kyle Lauletta passed for 546 yards last year against Sam Houston State. He also becomes just the third quarterback in all of FCS or FBS in the last five seasons to have at least 489 passing and 71 yards rushing in a season, matching Patrick Mahomes of Texas Tech (2016) and Quinton Flowers of UCF (2017).

Redshirt junior wide receiver Cortrelle Simpson (Indian Head, Md.) caught a career-high 220 receiving yards, including two touchdowns in the loss. Simpson's 220 yards is third-most all-time for a single game behind former Spider Walker Gillette's 242 and 264 receiving yards. Gillette was in attendance to celebrate the 50^thanniversary of the 1968 Tangerine Bowl victory. Senior wide receiver Tyler Wilkins (Richmond, Va.) added eight catches for 175 yards and a touchdown in the passing attack.

Delaware threw for 331 passing yards with quarterback Pat Kehoe going 11-for-20 for 291 yards and two touchdowns. Joe Walker led UD with 113 yards receiving on just two receptions. The Blue Hens were held to just 90 rushing yards and only averaged 2.4 yards per carry.

Delaware (3-2, 1-1 CAA) scored the first 16 points of the game in the first 5:08. The Blue Hens got a safety on special teams to open the scoring and for the third-straight game, the Spiders allowed an opposing defense to score a touchdown on them as Colby Reeder took a fumble recovery 34-yards for a touchdown for the 16-0 lead before Richmond had more than one drive.

The Spiders would score their first points on the next possession when Mancuso hit Wilkins on an 80-yard touchdown pass. The Blue Hens came and took a 33-10 lead into the halftime break, scoring two touchdowns in the final six minutes of the half to push out their lead.

Delaware would go in 43-10 in the third quarter after a Kani Kane touchdown run before the Spiders' started their comeback attempt. Mancuso connected on a 57-yard touchdown pass with Simpson to make it 43-16 as the two-point conversion was missed by the Spiders.

The Spiders' defense forced a three-and-out, giving the ball back to Mancuso. He connected with Simpson on a 61-yard pass to bring Richmond into the red zone and capped the drive with a seven-yard touchdown run to make it a 43-22 deficit.

Safety Trent Williams (Chester, Va.) intercepted a J.P. Caruso pass in the first play of the next possession to send Mancuso and the offense back on to the field. Mancuso and Simpson connected once again, this time hitting on a 37-yard touchdown pass to make it a two-possession game with 9:00 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. Richmond forced Delaware to punt on its next possession and had a chance to make it a one possession game. Mancuso went for it all, looking to connect with Wilkins on a long strike but Delaware's Nasir Adderley made a diving interception to keep Richmond off the board.

The defense again forced a Delaware punt, giving the Spiders a chance with 4:30 remaining. Mancuso connected with wide receiver Ben Maffe (Ashburn, Va.) on a 32-yard completion to get into Delaware territory. The Spiders pressed for another score before Mancuso was intercepted by Ray Jones at the 29-yard line ending any threat.

The Spiders hit the road for the next two games, beginning next week with a trip to Albany. Game time is set for 7 p.m. next Saturday night.

-- UR --