CHAMPIONS! Spiders Put Emphatic Cap on Undefeated Conference Season With 27-0 Capital Cup Victory Over William & Mary

Saturday, November 23

Richmond, Va.

Noon

University of Richmond

10-2 , 8-0

William & Mary

7-5 , 4-4

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

William & Mary

Richmond

CHAMPIONS! Spiders Put Emphatic Cap on Undefeated Conference Season With 27-0 Capital Cup Victory Over William & Mary

11/23/2024 | Football

Box Score Photo Gallery

Richmond, Va. – The University of Richmond football team claimed the inaugural Coastal Athletic Association championship in 2007. Seventeen years later, the Spiders exit the league as champions once again.

The Spiders, who earned a share of the CAA title for the second consecutive year and secured the conference's automatic bid to the postseason last week, defeated rival William & Mary 27-0 at Robins Stadium on Saturday. With the win, Richmond retained the Capital Cup Presented by C&F Bank and improved its record in the "Oldest Rivalry in the South" to 66-64-5. The meeting marked the final time the two teams would face off as conference rivals.

The victory also gave Richmond its first 10-win regular season since 2009, matching the program's best-ever regular-season record, and the undefeated conference season is just the second ever for the Spiders, who went a perfect 6-0 in the Southern Conference in 1968. The Spiders became just the seventh team in CAA history to post an undefeated record in conference play, and the shutout victory over the Tribe was the first since 1973 when Richmond won 31-0 in Williamsburg.

"Unbelievable. It was incredible. An unbelievable day," said Head Coach Russ Huesman.

"We got great kids, I love every one of them. They are fun to coach and every day I go to practice or meetings, they are fun to be around, it's just unbelievable. Their parents did an unbelievable job with them and our coaching staff has done a great job. We've got some really good coaches and to beat William & Mary 27-0 today says a lot about our coaches and our players."

Richmond got on the board early when Wayne Galloway intercepted a pass on William & Mary's opening possession. The Spiders capitalized on the turnover, with Sean O'Haire connecting on a career-long 50-yard field goal at the 8:43 mark of the first quarter. The kick tied for the seventh-longest field goal in program history.

Richmond's second score came at 2:01 in the first quarter when quarterback Camden Coleman ran for a three-yard touchdown. Running back Zach Palmer-Smith had a key role in the drive, rushing four times for 34 yards to set up the touchdown.

In the second quarter, Coleman scored again, this time with a one-yard rush at 2:14. The drive was set up by a bad snap on a William & Mary punt, which gave Richmond the ball at the Tribe's 31-yard line. The Tribe's punter failed to convert a fourth-down pass attempt, turning the ball over on downs.

From there, the Spiders moved down the field where O'Haire was successful on a 20-yard field goal attempt but was hit by a Tribe defender during the kick to bring up a a roughing-the-kicker penalty on the Tribe. The penalty gave Richmond a fresh set of downs at first-and-goal, and Coleman found the end zone on the next play to give the Spiders a 17-0 lead at halftime.

The Spiders added to their lead in the fourth quarter. At 14:56, a long drive that consumed 9:58 of clock time ended with another successful O'Haire kick, this one from 30 yards out.

Palmer-Smith found the end zone for Richmond's final score of the day at 5:54 in the fourth on a one-yard rush to finish a 13-play, 78-yard drive that erased 7:05 from the clock. With his 13^th rushing touchdown of the year, Palmer-Smith is now tied for fourth all-time in program history in rushing touchdowns in a season and brought his season total rushing yards to 1,275, good enough for sixth all-time at UR. Palmer-Smith finished the day with 25 carries for 129 yards, marking his fifth game this season with over 100 rushing yards.

"We do the same things each and every week," said Palmer-Smith. "We come out to practice, we prepare and our preparation has to meet our execution week in, and week out."

Richmond dominated time of possession, holding the ball for 35:56 compared to just 24:04 for William & Mary.

The Spiders offense out-gained the Tribe 307-164, and Richmond's defense held the William & Mary ground attack to just 64 yards all game. Prior to Saturday's game, the Tribe averaged 248.09 yards a contest rushing.

Quantraill Morris-Walker led the Spiders defense with a career-high 11 tackles including a sack and two tackles for loss and Wayne Galloway followed with six, the interception, and three quarterback hurries.

Jeremiah Grant came up big with three tackles for loss, a sack and a quarterback hurry. His sack brings his season total to 12.5 and now needs just one 1.5 more to tie and 2.0 to break Richmond's all-time single-season sack record.

Richmond will now head to the FCS Playoffs for the third consecutive year. The last time the Spiders made three straight playoff appearances was from 2014 to 2016. Prior to that, they achieved the feat in the 2007, 2008, and 2009 seasons. Richmond has now won back-to-back conference titles for just the second time in program history, also doing so in the Southern Conference in 1968 and 1969.

The team will host a watch party for the FCS selection show to learn where Richmond will land in the postseason on Sunday, Nov. 24, at the Jepson Alumni Center. The program begins at 12:30 p.m., with fans invited to arrive starting at noon. Coaches and players will be in attendance to celebrate as the Spiders learn their FCS playoff opponent. Light refreshments will be provided, and all Spider fans are encouraged to join in the excitement.

For those unable to attend, the selection show will be broadcast on ESPNU and ESPN+.