University of Richmond Athletics
Spiders Jump Ahead Early, Coast To 48-17 Victory
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. – The No. 19 University of Richmond Spiders (3-1, 1-0 CAA) came out firing on Saturday afternoon and never backed off, burying the visiting Maine Black Bears (1-3, 1-1 CAA), 48-17, to begin CAA play with a big victory.
The Spiders needed just five plays and 1:51 on offense to jump ahead 14-0 and led by no less than seven points the rest of the way. QB Kyle Lauletta tossed for a career-high 311 yards, threw four touchdowns and a rushed for a score in his first start opposite a CAA opponent, while his top receiver Brian Brown had a memorable day of his own catching seven balls for 177 yards and a pair of touchdowns. WR Reggie Diggs added two touchdowns to go with six catches and 96 yards.
Richmond has now evened the all-time series with the Black Bears 13-13 and will continue CAA play next week at home against Elon.
Richmond took possession to begin the game after Maine won the toss and deferred. On second down Jacobi Green took the hand off from Lauletta and galloped for a 48-yard gain, his longest rush of the season, to put the Spiders deep in Black Bear territory. Two plays later Lauletta rolled right and found Diggs wide open inside the five and he walked into the end zone to give Richmond the early lead.
The defense forced a three-and-out on the first Maine drive and with the offense back on the field Lauletta dropped back on first down and found Brown deep down field for a 75-yard score. It took Richmond just five plays and 1:51 to make it a 14-0 ball game.
Maine put together a 16-play drive on its next possession resulting in a touchdown pass from Dan Collins to Micah Wright to cut the score in half. The two teams traded punts to close the next two possessions and it was the Spiders that ended the first quarter in possession of the football.
Richmond embarked on a 14-play drive, working the ball inside the 10-yard line but was unable to convert a third touchdown. Spider kicker Peter Yoder converted his second field goal of the season, this time from 29 yards out to make it a 17-7 ball game.
On the next Maine drive, Collins dropped back on third down and threw an interception in the middle of the field to freshman LB Justin Rubin, who returned the ball inside the Maine 20. It was the first interception of Rubin’s career and the sixth of the season for the Spiders. Yoder would add another field goal after a short drive to make it 20-7.
Maine continued to work efficiently and used a 10 play, 34-yard drive late in the second quarter to pick up a field goal to cut the lead to 20-10. Richmond and Maine then traded short drives to end the half.
Lauletta was 9-18 in the first half for 170 yards with Diggs (4 rec, 57 yards) leading the way among receivers. Green collected 49 yards on the ground in the first half while Seth Fisher pushed ahead for 15 yards. Yoder had converted just one field goal in the first three games of the season but nailed two in the second quarter alone.
The defense held Maine to a three-and-out to begin the second half and the offense took the field inside their own 30. On third and long Lauletta found Brown over the middle for a 21-yard gain and a first down. The pair would hook up three plays later for another first down, pushing Brown over the century mark for the ninth time in his career.
Later in the drive it was Brown getting a carry on an end-around and with the help of a monster block by OL Nick Ritcher, the wide out scampered inside the five for a 28-yard gain. Fisher pounded home his fourth TD score of the season two plays later to make it 27-10.
Maine added a rushing score nine plays later to make it 27-17 with 4:40 to go in the quarter. Lauletta hooked up with Brown on the first play of the next drive for another first down and Green picked up nine and five yards on back-to-back carries. Lauletta then let fly another deep ball that found Brown for 27-yards pushing the ball inside the 30.
Richmond continued to move the ball through the air with ease with Lauletta now in a rhythm. He would surpass his career-high with 259 yards through the air when he hit Diggs on the right side for a 16-yard gain and then ran the ball in himself three plays later to make it a 17-point Spider lead once again.
With the fourth quarter underway the Spiders would take over on the Maine 25 after botched punt turned the ball over on downs. On just the second play of the drive Lauletta found Diggs in the middle of the field at about the five yard line and he would break a pair of tackles to fight his way into the end zone for his second TD catch of the afternoon.
Just over two minutes later Brown added to his touchdown total with a 29-yard catch and run from Lauletta to complete the scoring. The Spiders would hold serve the rest of the way to complete the 48-17 victory.
Kick off at Robins Stadium next Saturday against Elon is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. and will be the last home game for the Red and Blue until Oct. 31 when they host UAlbany.