University of Richmond Athletics
Richmond To Travel To North Dakota State For FCS Semifinals
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. – The No. 7 seed University of Richmond football team will travel to No. 3 seed and four-time defending National Champion North Dakota State in the semifinals of the 2015 FCS Playoffs next weekend. The game will take place on Friday (Dec. 18) at 8 p.m. ET. It will air on ESPN2 and the Spider IMG Sports Network.
North Dakota State defeated Northern Iowa, 23-13, in Fargo, N.D. on Saturday afternoon to advance to a fifth-consecutive semifinal. The Bison have won 18-straight playoff games and play their home games in the 19,000 seat Fargodome.
Richmond (10-3) will continue its pursuit of a national championship thanks to a 39-27 defeat of No. 2 seed Illinois State (10-3) on the road on Friday night. Jacobi Green rushed for 137 yards and three scores with a receiving score mixed him to give him four for the game as he guided the Spiders to the victory down the stretch. With the win the Spiders snapped a 19-game home winning streak for the Redbirds.
Brian Brown had a banner day with a 141 yards receiving on just five catches, all of which came in the first half, while Kyle Lauletta was 18-30 for 369 yards through the air, his fourth 300+ yard game of the season. Reggie Diggs caught five balls for 80 yards, putting him north of 900 yards for the second-straight season. Peter Yoder was 2-2 on field goal tries, hitting from 19 and 24 yards.
Richmond is the last remaining representative of the CAA after James Madison fell at home to Colgate, 44-38, in the second round. Colgate also defeated New Hampshire on the road in the first round. The Spiders are in search of a second National Championship with their first coming in 2008 in the form of a 24-7 win over Montana. Next Friday will be the first semifinal appearance for the Spiders since that 2008 season, and third all-time.