The No. 19/20 William and Mary football team closed out the season with a 31-20 loss at Richmond on Saturday afternoon.
Although W&M (7-5, 4-4) led 10-7 after the first quarter, Richmond (6-6, 4-4) outscored the Tribe 17-3 in the second quarter and added a touchdown on its opening drive of the second half to earn the win.
Richmond outgained the Tribe, 382-306, and controlled the time of possession, 34:00-26:00. Additionally, the Spiders converted on all five of their trips into the red zone (four touchdowns).
Senior quarterback Brent Caprio completed 22-of-37 passes for a career-high 250 yards, while junior wide receiver Tre McBride totaled 282 all-purpose yards – which ranks 10th in school history.
Junior linebacker Airek Green led the Tribe defensively and recorded a career-high 13 tackles and returned a fumble that he forced 40 yards for a touchdown. He also posted a sack and two tackles for a loss. Senior Jerome Couplin III and sophomore linebacker Luke Rhodes registered 12 tackles apiece.
UR got on the scoreboard first with a 4-yard touchdown run by quarterback David Broadus with8:57 remaining in the opening quarter.
W&M answered with 22-yard field goal by junior place kicker John Carpenter to cut the margin to 7-3 with 4:52 left in the first quarter. The 10-play, 63-yard drive was highlighted by a 32-yard screen pass from Caprio to junior running back Jarrell Cooper that moved W&M into the red zone.
The Tribe took its first lead of the contest when Green stripped Richmond running back Seth Fisher and returned the fumble 40 yards for a touchdown with 2:49 left in the first quarter. It was W&M’s fifth defensive touchdown of the season.
Richmond reclaimed the lead, 14-10, with a 1-yard touchdown run by Fisher early in the second quarter. En route to finding the end zone, the Spiders converted a fourth-and-3 from W&M’s 28-yard line when quarterback Michael Strauss connected with wide receiver Steven Barnette on a 24-yard strike.
After a 26-yard field goal by Carpenter cut UR’s lead to 14-13 midway through the second quarter, Richmond responded with an 11-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that culminated with a 5-yard scoring strike from Strauss to wideout Brian Brown to give the Spiders a 21-13 lead.
UR added to its advantage when place kicker Brandon Jordi kicked a 22-yard field goal as the first half clock expired. The six-play drive covered just 15 yards and began after David Herlocker blocked W&M’s punt with 0:31 showing on the clock.
Richmond outgained W&M, 236-138, in the opening half and converted all four of its trips into the red zone.
The Spiders increased the lead to 31-13 on the opening drive of the second half when Fisher scored his second touchdown of the contest with a 2-yard run.
W&M’s lone score of the second half came on a 1-yard touchdown run by Caprio with just 0:30remaining in the fourth quarter.
The Tribe’s seven wins this season represents a five-game improvement in the win column from a year ago and ties for the second-best turnaround in school history.
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