University of Richmond Athletics
Spider Football Rolls Past Morehead State, 55-10
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. – The No. 20/24 Richmond Spider football team kicked off the 2014 season when it rolled past the Morehead State Eagles, 55-10, Saturday evening at Robins Stadium in front of a red-clad crowd of 7,725 on opening night.
The Spiders continued the momentum from last November as they picked up their fifth-straight win. Richmond collected a total of 643 yards offensively, which ranks second all-time in program history in a single game.
Richmond’s 55 points are the most points scored in a season opener, while sitting tied for eighth in the Spider record book for most points in a game.
Veteran QB Michael Strauss led the offense as the redshirt-senior went 17-of-23 with three touchdowns for 259 yards, while WR Brian Brown had a career day with five receptions for 110 yards with a long of 34.
RB Jeremiah Hamlin was one of 10 true freshman to step on the field as the Fork Union Military Academy product led the running backs with 80 yards on seven carries, two touchdowns and a long of 44 yards. Starting RB Seth Fisher ran for 48 yards on eight carries.
Defensively, the Spiders held the Eagles to just 309 total yards, one touchdown and just six third-down conversions. DB Justin Grant led the way with a game-high 10 tackles, including five solo, and two breakups, while LB Aaron Roane followed with seven total tackles.
The offense did not waste any time putting points on the board as Strauss found WR Stephen Barnette in the end zone on a 16-yard pass four minutes into the contest. Fisher started the scoring drive off with three-straight rushes, including a nine-yard run that was good for a first down. Richmond’s first possession of the game lasted three minutes on seven plays for 52 yards.
After a 27-yard field goal from the Eagles, Brown set the offense up with a 55-yard kickoff return that spotted the ball inside Morehead State’s territory. On the next play, TE Sean Fitzpatrick caught his first-career touchdown, a 41-yarder from Strauss, to increase the Richmond lead to 14-3 with 3:07 left in the first.
After a three-yard touchdown from RB T.J. Moon, the Spiders went for two when Strauss found Stephen Barnette to make it a 22-3 ball game with 11 minutes to go in the first half. The last time Richmond completed a two-point conversion was in the come-from-behind win at No. 21 Delaware last season.
K Peter Yoder ended the first half with a 28-yard field goal for the Spiders. The two teams went into halftime with Richmond up 25-3.
The Spiders outgained the Eagles 304-160 in total yards, including 253-102 yards passing. Defensively, Grant led the Spiders with nine tackles, including four solo, in the first 30 minutes of play.
The momentum kept flowing into the second half for the Spiders. RB Jacobi Green ended a nine-play, 70-yard drive with a 12-yard touchdown diving catch from Strauss on the first possession of the third quarter to give Richmond the 32-3 lead.
After a quick Morehead State three-and-out, QB Michael Rocco recorded his first touchdown pass as a Spider when he found Fisher in the end zone for 11 yards, which ended a five-play, 48-yard drive.
Yoder wrapped up the third quarter with a 33-yard field goal to give the Spiders the 42-3 lead in a drive that lasted 5:03 under Rocco, the longest time of possession for the Spiders on the night.
After Morehead State’s lone TD to begin the fourth quarter, Hamlin responded with a 44-yard rush that found the end zone, the longest rush of the game that put the rookie atop of the rushing corps Saturday night.
It was Hamlin again under the six-minute mark that put the Spiders up 54-10 with a two-yard rushing touchdown that capped off a seven-play, 43-yard scoring drive that lasted 3:36.
Richmond returns to action next Saturday, Sept. 6 when it travels down I-64 to face ACC-foe Virginia at 3:30 p.m.