Spiders Blow Past Bryant Saturday

Saturday, October 26

Smithfield, R.I.

Noon

University of Richmond

6-2 , 4-0

Bryant

2-6 , 0-4

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Richmond

Bryant

Photo by: McKenzie Yi

10/26/2024 | Football

Box Score

Smithfield, R.I. – The University of Richmond football team secured its sixth consecutive victory and remained undefeated in Coastal Athletic Association play with a 41-14 win over Bryant at a windy Beirne Stadium Saturday. With the win, Head Coach Russ Huesman, who has led the program since the 2017 season, became the third-winningest coach in program history.

Similar to last week's 28-9 victory over Delaware, Richmond (6-2, 4-0), scored all its points in the first half and used long offensive drives in the second to ward off the Bulldogs (2-6, 0-4).

Bryant got on the board first with a touchdown on its opening possession, then Richmond scored on each of its six first-half possessions to pull away early from the CAA's newest team.

Quarterback Camden Coleman went 15-of-16 on the day for 278 yards and four scores before Ashten Snelsire took over in the middle of the third where he went 4-of-4, picking up 23 yards. The Spiders offense outgained the Bulldogs by nearly 300 yards, 527-234.

Bryant's quarterback fumbled on the next drive where Jeremiah Grant was able to recover and give Richmond the ball back at its own 48. From there, Nick DeGennaro caught a 31-yard pass from Coleman, then Zach Palmer-Smith broke off an 18-yard run to put the Spiders in scoring position. Three plays later, and Palmer-Smith punched in a one-yard score at 3:17 in the first to mark his sixth consecutive game with a touchdown.

The beginning of the second quarter saw Richmond take over at their own 28 after a missed Bryant field goal. From there, the Spiders scored again to make it a 20-7 contest after a two-play drive that saw Palmer-Smith gain 12 yards followed by a 60-yard touchdown pass to DeGennaro at 13:44 in the second for his third score of the year.

In total, DeGennaro hauled in seven catches on seven targets for a career-high 162 yards and the score.

"We have the players on both sides of the ball and special teams to control our destiny and beat teams," said DeGennaro.

On Bryant's next drive, Carsen Stocklinski got his hand on a pass, then Quantraill Morris-Walker intercepted the Bryant quarterback for his team-leading third pick of the year, giving the Spiders the ball back at their own 36. Five plays later, and Coleman found Jerry Garcia Jr. on a 36-yard flea-flicker touchdown pass for his first of the year at 9:28 in the second.

"When the opportunities come to make turnovers, we have to capitalize and that's our big thing every week. We're thinking about going to get the ball and giving it back to Cam Coleman to let him do what he does," said Morris-Walker.

Palmer-Smith added a receiving touchdown to his resume on Richmond's next drive, catching a 15-yard pass from Coleman and breaking tackles before finding the end zone at 3:25 for his second of the game.

Just three minutes later with 25 seconds left in the half, Garcia Jr. scored his second touchdown of both the season and game when he caught a 16-yard completion and took it to the end zone for Richmond's final score of the day.

"We're getting really good quarterback play, running backs are going hard, our offensive line is creating new lines of scrimmage and our wideouts are making plays," said Huesman. "They are executing and blocking in the run game too. I'm extremely proud of our guys and it was great to get a bunch of people in the game."

The second half saw an influx of players take the field as Richmond was able to play nearly all of its travel roster. On its opening drive of the third quarter, Richmond orchestrated a 15-play, 60-yard drive that burnt 9:25 from the game clock, while its final drive erased 6:52

Richmond dominated time of possession, holding onto the ball for a staggering 35:25 compared to Bryant's 24:35. Punter Aaron Trusler had a quiet day, as the Spiders ended all but its final two drives in the redzone. Trusler punted just once in the contest.

Richmond's defense stymied the Bulldogs all game as the Spiders were led Camden Byrd who came up with five tackles a sack for a loss on nine Bulldogs yards and a quarterback hurry. Wayne Galloway added six stops and four Spiders in Jordan Allen, Trae Tomlinson, Matthew Traynor and Stocklinski added pass breakups.

Saturday's victory marked Huesman's 48th at the helm of the Spiders, tying him with Jim Reid for the No. 3 spot. Huesman is now just six wins away from surpassing Ed Merrick for second place. Frank Dobson, who coached the Spiders from 1913-1917 and again from 1919-1933, holds the record for the most wins in program history with 79.

"We have a team that loves each other," said Huesman. "They play hard and practice hard and they prepare. When you've got that, you have a chance every week. It's great to be in the driver's seat in the CAA but we got to keep on going."

Richmond, along Rhode Island, are the last two remining undefeated teams in the CAA and sit in first in the conference standings with four games left in the regular season.

The Spiders return home to Robins Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 2 when it faces off with Towson during Richmond's Homecoming. Game time is set for 2:00 p.m. Among other festivities planned for the weekend, fans can enjoy a pregame concert to help celebrate Homecoming when The 502s play outside Robins Stadium.