University of Richmond Athletics
Richmond Claims Fourth CAA Championship And The Capital Cup
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. – The 125th edition of the Capital Cup rivalry game between the University of Richmond football team (8-3, 6-2 CAA) and the William & Mary Tribe (8-3, 6-2) lived up to its billing and then some thanks in large-part to another historic performance from Spider running back Jacobi Green in the 20-9 victory.
With the win, Richmond claims its fourth-straight Capital Cup victory and clinches an automatic berth into the 2015 FCS Playoffs with its fourth CAA Championship. The Spiders will find out when and where they will be playing next tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. when the NCAA airs its FCS Playoff selection show on ESPNU and the WATCH ESPN app.
Green, the senior National Player of the Year candidate, galloped for 218 yards, second most in his career behind his 236-yard performance at James Madison earlier this season. He at one point during the second half had outgained the entire William & Mary offense and added his 15th rushing touchdown of the season to complete the regular season with the CAA lead in that category.
Green’s rushing total for the season has now reached 1,285 yards and surpasses William & Mary’s Kendell Anderson for the CAA regular season rushing title. Anderson managed just 47 yards against the Richmond defense on Saturday afternoon. A defense that held the opponent without a touchdown for the first time this season and for the first time since Oct. 18, 2014 opposite Rhode Island.
Richmond receiver Brian Brown (101) went over 100 yards receiving for the sixth time this season and 13th time in his career. He has 1,180 yards this season which already make him the first Spider pass catcher to go over 1,000 yards in a season twice in a career. In addition, Brown is now just nine yards shy of matching the Richmond single-season receiving yardage record of 1,189 set by Stephen Barnette in 2013. The junior currently has 26 fewer receptions than Barnette did that season.
QB Kyle Lauletta finished the regular season with 2,912 yards through the air to go with 17 touchdowns after tossing two more on Saturday afternoon. He is well on his way to joining Michael Strauss as the only Richmond arms to throw for over 3,000 yards in a single season.
The Richmond defense did not lack for career performances either. On senior day, senior David Herlocker eclipsed his career high with nine tackles, broke up three passes and sealed the game with a red-zone interception late in the fourth quarter that he returned deep into Richmond territory. David Jones tied the UR single-season record with his eighth interception, Ayo Ogunniyi collected a career-best eight tackles and Selton Hodge picked off the first pass of his career.
The Spiders kicked to William & Mary to begin this one. Redshirt-Freshman Griffin Trau made his debut for the Spiders handling the kicking duties with All-American boot Peter Yoder sidelined with an ankle injury. The Tribe drove down the field, collecting two first downs before settling for a 45-yard field goal that found its mark to take an early 3-0.
Richmond’s first drive, which has been the best drive for the Spiders in nearly every game they have played this season, ended with a fumble on the 20-yard line by the usually sure-handed Reggie Diggs. The senior caught a pass in the flat, shook a tackler and turned the ball up field but was stripped as he began falling to the turf and William & Mary recovered. The Spiders returned the favor when Hodge picked off Steve Cluley on the next drive.
The Richmond drive following the pick ended with a punt as did the next Tribe drive, bringing the first quarter to an end just two plays later. The two squads traded punts to end the first two drives of the second quarter and the Spiders took over on offense with 9:49 to play in the first half.
Five of the first six plays of the drive for UR were hand offs to Green who collected 40 yards on those carries. Diggs redeemed himself on what looked like nearly the same play he fumbled on when he caught another pass in the flat, shook a tackler, sidestepped another and rolled for a 24-yard gain. A few plays later Lauletta hit Brown in the end zone for the game’s first touchdown. Trau added the extra-point, his first collegiate point, to give Richmond a 7-3 lead.
William & Mary started its drive from its own 33 and would be forced to punt after just three plays. David Jones mishandled the punt and the Tribe was able to recover at the Richmond 20-yard line. On the very next play, Cluley dropped back to pass, looked left and had his pass find the open arms of, none other than David Jones for his eighth interception of the season.
Richmond would not add any more points on its next drive but William & Mary was able to move into field goal range after a short punt and its kicker, Nick Dorka, managed to hit a 51-yard try to send this one to the locker rooms with Richmond leading 7-6.
The Spiders began the second half with the ball and it was a steady dose of Jacobi Green all the way down the field, culminating in his first and only touchdown of the game to push Richmond ahead 14-6. The drive covered 75 yards in just seven plays and took only 3:21 off the cock.
The tribe punched home another field goal on its next drive but Richmond continued to answer by finding the end zone. Green began the drive with a rush for no gain. After an incompletion a critical third down from the Richmond 20 came up. Lauletta dropped back to pass but was unable to find an open receiver. Instead, he tucked the ball away and turned up field, gaining 11-yards and a first down. Green added 18 more yards on the ground and the drive was finished off with Lauletta finding Diggs over the middle for and 18-yard touchdown. The Spiders would go for two but fail when Lauletta over-shot his receiver in the back of the end zone.
The third quarter came to a close with Richmond leading 20-9 and the Tribe in possession of the football. The teams traded punts to start the fourth then William & Mary failed on fourth down after Trevor Jones broke up a pass over the middle that would have gone for a first. Richmond punted on its next drive bringing up a critical possession for both teams with 6:13 left to play.
The drive began with an Andrew Clyde 13-yard sack of Cluley, pushing the Tribe back to their own 22-yard line. Cluley made up for the sack with a 34-yard toss to Kevin Hart that put the ball on the Richmond side of the field. The defense was unable to hold off the William & Mary offense as it moved into the red zone and made it all the way down to the 12-yard line. On first and 10 from the one, Cluley dropped back to pass but Herlocker was there to step in front and intercept the pass. He ran it all the way back to the William & Mary 34-yard line before finally being brought down.
Jacobi Green took two hand-offs and picked up the only first down Richmond would need to lock this one up. The victory formation finished this one out and with the Capital Cup secure for the fourth-straight season Richmond awaited the result of the James Madison/Villanova game in Harrisonburg to find out whether or not it would receive the automatic qualifier to the FCS Playoffs. James Madison came away with a 38-29 win to lock things up for the Spiders.
Richmond will make back-to-back playoff appearances for the first time since 2008-09 and is in very good position to host an early round game at Robins Stadium. The series with William & Mary after 125 meetings now stands at 59-61-5. The selection show on Sunday morning at 11 a.m. will determine when and where the Spiders will play.