The Collegian
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Cavaliers gallop over Spiders in season opener

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Former Richmond football head coach Mike London won his debut as the University of Virginia head coach, beating Richmond 34-13 Saturday night at Scott Stadium in Charlottesville.

The UVa. running game proved to be too much for Richmond to stop. Virginia running back Keith Payne had four rushing touchdowns to complement his 114 yards on 16 carries.

The Cavaliers scored early in the first quarter, but Richmond answered on sophomore running back Kendall Gaskins' 70-yard run to the end zone.

Virginia notched another touchdown when quarterback Marc Verica threw a two-yard pass to wide receiver Kris Burd during the second quarter.

While UVa. kicker Robert Randolph's two field goal attempts were missed, Richmond kicker Wil Kamin ended the first half with a 36-yard field goal, making the score 14-10.

Kamin kicked off the third quarter scoring with a 41-yard field goal, bringing the Spiders within one point of the Cavaliers at 14-13. But that would be Richmond's last scoring drive of the game.

Payne proceeded to move the chains for UVa., scoring on another two-yard touchdown midway through the third quarter, and then again to open up the fourth quarter on an eight-yard run.

With Richmond down 28-13 in the fourth quarter, quarterback Aaron Corp began a drive that included his 32-yard rush, bringing the Spiders to the UVa. 42-yard-line. After making it to the UVa. 29-yard-line, the scoring drive and momentum halted after cornerback Chase Minnifield made contact with wide receiver Kevin Grayson and intercepted Corp's pass at the UVa. 2-yard-line.

Minnifield returned the ball 65 yards to the Richmond 33-yard-line, but a UVa. illegal block brought the Cavaliers back to the Richmond 43-yard-line.

Corp said that throwing the interception was frustrating.

"It was a momentum killer," he said. "When I let it go, I thought there was some contact [on the receiver], but obviously that's not my call."

A few plays later, Payne scored his fourth and UVa.'s final touchdown of the game. The two-point conversion pass attempt failed, leaving the score at 34-13 for the remainder of the game.

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Defensive lineman Martin Parker said that the difficulty with stopping the Cavaliers' run was give-and-take.

"We came out there with a game plan to stop the run -- sometimes we stopped it and sometimes we didn't," he said.

Richmond head coach Latrell Scott said that the Spiders were still learning and that the team needs to get ready for their next game, the home opener on Sept. 18 against Elon University.

"I think Virginia started to wear us down a little bit in the second half, but we were still in the game," he said.

London said that though he had spent many years at Richmond as a player and as a coach, he was part of the Charlottesville community now.

"That's a team that has won championships with all-star caliber players," he said. "I'm pleased that we were able to play an elite team and win the game."

The Spiders have a bye week this coming weekend, but are back in action at Robins Stadium Sept. 18 against Elon. The Spiders announced Saturday morning that Elon was officially a sold-out game.

Contact staff writer Amelia Vogler at amelia.vogler@richmond.edu

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