University of Richmond Athletics
No. 18/21 Spiders Cruise Past Pirates, 42-17
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. – The Richmond Spiders football team cruised past the Hampton Pirates, 42-17, Saturday evening in front of a crowd of 7,802 at Robins Stadium. With the win, the Spiders improved to 2-1 on the season, while the Pirates (0-3) still search for their first victory of the season.
With the help of the Spider defense holding the Pirates (0-3) to under 300 yards, Richmond outgained Hampton, 525-281. QB Michael Strauss had another stellar game, throwing for 217 yards on 17-of-26 passes and three touchdowns. RB Jacobi Green collected his second-career 100-yard game as he led the offense with 133 yards on 15 attempts and two touchdowns.
"Today was a complete team victory, a good team win,” Richmond head coach Danny Rocco said following the game. “It was important for me and the staff to be calm, show some poise this week and show some confidence in our players. Our depth shows that we can play a number of different ways and I think in the long run that will benefit us. I think we are in a good spot heading into week four."
The Spiders had five receivers over 30 yards each, including a game-high 67 yards from WR Rashad Ponder.
The strong defense was led by LB Aaron Roane, who picked up 12 tackles, including six solo and a career-high 2.5 TFL. He also recorded a sack, a pass breakup and a quarterback hurry. LB Omar Howard followed with eight tackles, 1.0 TFL and one forced fumble, while five other Spiders picked up five or more tackles for Richmond.
The Spiders got on to a quick start as they found the end zone in less than three minutes into the game. Green helped put seven points on the board with a four-yard run that capped off a nine-play, 63-yard scoring drive.
With three minutes left in the first quarter, Richmond increased its lead to 14-0 when Strauss found an open RB T.J. Moon in the end zone for eight yards on another 63-yard scoring drive for the Spiders.
Hampton’s lone first-half TD came 30 seconds into the second quarter, but the Spiders responded five minutes later with TE Hunter Westfall’s first touchdown reception of the season, a six-yard pass from Strauss to give Richmond the 21-7 lead.
At the end of the first half with Richmond up 21-10, the Spiders outgained Hampton 259-117 in total yards, including 177-65 in passing. Strauss threw for 177 yards and two touchdowns on 13-of-20 passes, while Ponder collected 65 yards on just four catches in the first 30 minutes of play.
The Spider defense held strong in the second half as it held the Pirates to just seven points in the final two quarters. In the final 30 minutes, Richmond picked up two quarterback hurries, two sacks and forced and recovered a fumble.
Richmond scored twice in the third quarter, which included a 50-yard TD run from Green and a five-yard touchdown pass from Strauss to TE Sean Fitzpatrick. And followed by a nine-yard touchdown run by QB Michael Rocco at the end of the fourth quarter.
The Spiders will be back in action next Saturday, Sept. 21 when they host New Hampshire at 4 p.m. for their conference opener.