University of Richmond Athletics
Historic 2015 Football Season Comes To A Close At NDSU
FARGO, N.D. – The University of Richmond football team (10-4, 6-2 CAA) was unable to continue its historic season on Friday night, as the four-time defending National Champion North Dakota State Bison (12-2, 7-1 MVC) brought the Spiders’ campaign to a close in the form of a 33-7 result at the Fargodome.
The Richmond offense was stymied into just 209 yards of total offense while the Bison were able to collect 282 yards on the ground to control the pace throughout in an effort that advanced the program to a fifth-consecutive national title game appearance.
Richmond’s third appearance in the FCS semifinal came in a season at the beginning of which the program was picked to finish fifth in the CAA preseason poll. The Spiders rolled out a seven-game win streak, claimed a fourth CAA title and had multiple individuals set single-season records, some that had stood for nearly a decade.
The Spiders won the toss and elected to defer possession to the second half, giving North Dakota State the ball to get this one started. A pair of rushes gained eight yards and Easton Stick completed his first pass attempt for nine yards to give the Bison their first 1st down of the night. King Frazier then took a hand off and scampered for a gain of 18 to move the ball up to the Richmond 33. Stick then completed passes of 15 and eight before Frazier punched it into the end zone two plays later to give NDSU a 6-0 lead. The snap on the extra-point was botched and David Jones intercepted the subsequent errant pass.
The Spiders lost a total of 10 yards on their first two plays from scrimmage, beginning with a two-yard loss by Jacobi Green and followed by Kyle Lauletta taking an eight-yard sack. On 3rd and 20 Lauletta hit Green for a gain of 10 and Richmond would be forced to punt. The Bison returned the punt 53 yards to the Richmond 29.
North Dakota State only ran three plays on offense and the drive came to a close when the kicker went wide-left on a 44-yard field goal try. The Spiders took over from their own 27 and picked up their first 1st down on 23-yard pass to Brian Brown but that would be all and Richmond was forced to punt once again.
The rushing attack of the Bison continued to thrive, gaining seven then six before Stick completed a three-yard pass. Stick then completed a pass for 11 yards before Frazier gained four and Bruce Anderson galloped for 21. That long run set up a 27-yard pass from Stick to Chase Morlock for a touchdown that put the Bison up 13-0 as the first quarter clock expired.
The Spiders rolled the dice on the first drive of the second quarter. Green picked up his first big gain of the afternoon with a nine-yard rush on 1st down but a penalty on the next play brought up 2nd and 6. Tyler Wilkins caught a pass for a gain of five and Seth Fisher was stopped at the line on the next play to bring up 4th and one. Coach Rocco elected to go for it from the 37 but David Broadus was stood up at the line for no gain and a turnover on downs.
The Richmond defense stood tall on the next NDSU drive on the forced another field goal attempt that flew wide to the right this time to keep the score at 13-0. The offense continued to struggle however as deep ball to a wide-open Brown fell in front of his diving arms. Another punt from D.J. Helkowski came later and NDSU started its drive from its own 44 with 8:56 to play in the half.
Six plays later the Bison had another touchdown. This time it was a pass from Stick to Zach Vraa to push the Bison ahead 20-0. Richmond ran just two plays on its next drive with Lauletta throwing a pick on a deep ball down the left side. Three plays later it was Richmond LB Trevor Jones coming with an interception on a tipped pass to turn it back over to the Spiders.
Richmond receivers struggled with drops on the next Spider drive and Helkowski’s punt went 50-yards out to the NDSU 12. Eric Perkins fielded it and took off up-field, avoiding tacklers and finding the open field for an 88-yard return for a touchdown to make it 26-0 after a failed extra-point.
The first half came to a close with the Spiders trailing by that tally. Richmond was held to just 67 yards of total offense in the first half while NDSU rattled off 247. Jacobi Green was held to 15 yards on the ground and Lauletta was sacked twice.
The second half began with Richmond in possession of the football and the team immediately went to work trying to re-establish Green. The senior ran for six to get things started then caught a pass for three more before picking up a four-yard gain on the ground for a quick 1st down. Broadus picked up five on the ground then it was Fisher picking up two before Lauletta hit Garrett Hudson on the flat. The TE tiptoed the sideline, picked up the first and much more, running for a 55-yard score to make it 26-7.
The two teams would trade punts down the stretch in the third quarter and North Dakota State would maintain possession as the fourth quarter got underway. On the first play of the fourth, Stick carried on his own and picked up a first down at the NDSU 41-yard line. The Bison drove down the field, taking over 10 minutes off the clock with an 18-play drive that resulted in a touchdown and gave the home team a 33-7 lead.
That would be it for the Spiders who were unable put any more points on the board as the historic 2015 campaign came to a close on the Fargodome turf. The Spiders reached the FCS Semifinal for the first time since the 2008 season and will have a number of top, record-breaking players returning to the roster next season.