In-Game Blog: Richmond vs. William & Mary

4th Quarter, 0:00- The Spiders' season comes to an end, as Corp's Hail Mary pass falls to the ground. Tribe win, 25-23.

4th Quarter, 0:01- One second comes off the clock, as Richmond falls on the ball at its own 46.

4th Quarter, 0:02- Tribe intentionally take a knee on the conversion attempt to avoid any variables that might let the Spiders come away with a miracle victory.

4th Quarter, 0:02- W&M tight end Nolan Kearney catches a two-yard pass from Carpio in the end zone for the go-ahead score. Tribe reclaim the lead, 25-23.

4th Quarter, 0:06- Caprio throws a fade route to his right, but it goes just off his receiver's fingetips, bringing up 4th down.

4th Quarter, 0:10- Richmond calls its second timeout after W&M came out in what looked like a run formation. This has been an exciting game and it all comes down to this.

4th Quarter, 0:10- Tribe take their final timeout after a four-yard run by Grimes. W&M has the option of throwing for two plays or risking it on one run to Grimes.

4th Quarter, 0:17- Caprio finds an open receiver at the 6-yard line. He then spikes the ball to stop the clock, making it 2nd and goal. Richmond takes a timeout to gather its thoughts. W&M only has one timeout remaining.

4th Quarter, 3:40- Receiver Tre McBride makes a couple Spider defenders miss to gain the first down out to ner midfield. Richmond coaching staff can't be happy with that tackling effort.

4th Quarter, 3:49- Tribe hurting themselves, receiving a delay of game penalty to create a 3rd and 12.

4th Quarter, 4:27- Trailing for the second time in the game, William & Mary will begin its next drive at its own 26.

4th Quarter, 4:35- Doesn't take long for the Spiders to capitalize, as Gaskins scores his second rushing touchdown of the quarter from two yards out. Two point conversion attempt fails, but Richmond still takes the lead, 23-19.

4th Quarter, 5:41- Refuse to heed my advice and throw incomplete on 3rd and 6. Hinshaw comes on for the 34-yard field goal attempt and it's blocked, but Richmond catches a break, as a W&M player touches the ball beyond the line of scrimmage and a Richmond player recovers the ball. Richmond gets new life with a first down at the 12-yard line.

4th Quarter, 6:54- Offense continuing to look good. Have the ball out to the W&M 18 faing a 2nd and 8. Need to be careful not to rely on its young field goal kicker though.

4th Quarter, 8:16- Referee looks to be hurt on a Gaskins run, but is now up and looking okay.

4th Quarter, 8:41- Gray makes a tough 11-yard catch in between two defenders to take the ball across midfield to the 41.

4th Quarter, 9:24- On 3rd and 8, Richmond forces Caprio out of the pocket and makes the tackle well before the marker. The Tribe punt it away, and Edwards returns it to the UR 47.

4th Quarter, 10:55- Flags fly on the Tribe return, as W&M is called for holding. The penalty puts the ball at at W&M 18 for the Tribe's next possession.

4th Quarter, 11:02- Appropriately, Gaskins finishes off the drive, rushing for a six-yard touchdown. Trailing by two, Richmond elects to go for the two point conversion. Corp's pass is tipped, negating a pass interference call, and the ball lands incomplete. William & Mary still leads, 19-17.

4th Quarter, 12:04- Spider offense again goes to Gaskins on third and short; this time, he picks up two on 3rd and 1.

4th Quarter, 13:38- On 3rd and 3, Gaskins picks up six more yards, pushing a pile of defenders forward to the 23.

4th Quarter, 14:23- In his final quarter in a Spider uniform, Gray begins the fourth quarter with a nice first down catch. Gaskins follows with a seven-yard rush. Ball out to the W&M 29.

3rd Quarter, 0:00- On 3rd and 1, Turner finds some room around the right side of the line, getting a first down out to near midfield. The clock runs out on the third quarter, and Richmond once again finds itself needing a fourth-quarter comeback to avoid a loss.

3rd Quarter, 2:03- Caprio runs it on consecutive plays, plowing into the end zone from one yard out on the second rush. The Tribe's extra point hits off the right post and bounces out. Despite the miss, W&M extrends its lead to 19-11.

3rd Quarter, 3:08- Grimes pushes the pile forward on a 3rd and 1 play for five yards, giving his team a 1st and goal from the 6-yard line.

3rd Quarter, 7:11- W&M have the ball past midfield to the UR 44 following a facemask penalty called on Reggie Barnette.

3rd Quarter, 8:02- Richmond punts the ball away, and the Tribe will take over at their own 35 following the return.

3rd Quarter, 8:15- Corp comes back into the game and finds tight end Kevin Finney open on 3rd and 4 for 18 yards, but an offensive pass interference is called, pitting the Spiders back to face a 3rd and 19, which goes for an incompletion.

3rd Quarter, 9:47- Gray hobbles off the field first, then Corp slowly walks off as well. Laub has come in to replace Corp for the time being.

3rd Quarter, 9:47- Corp connects with Gray for 18 yards to the UR 39, but the play may prove costly. Both Corp and Gray are down on the field getting attention from the trainers.

3rd Quarter, 10:33- Richmond defensive back Doug Howell makes a nice open field tackle on 3rd down, and W&M tries for the 40-yard field goal, but Richmond lineman Jacob Pierce gets a hand on it, and it falls shirt. Spider offense takes over on its own 23.

3rd Quarter, 13:31- Richmond defensive lineman Brandon Scott is down on the field after making a tackle near the sideline. Scott has been the only one along the D-Line to avoid injuries this season. Tribe facing a 2nd and 10 at the UR 39.

3rd Quarter, 14:53- Opening kickoff bounces around and gets returned to right around midfield by the Tribe to start the half.

Halftime- With the enormous difference in rushing yardage, Richmond is lucky to be in this game. The Tribe hold the advantage, 139-16, with Grimes doing most of the damage, running for 134 yards on 20 carries. Normally, I'll say that the key to the Spiders coming back is to stop the running back in the second half, but I'm feeling more realistic today. They need to go with what works, ride the arm of Corp and hope the defense can come up with another big turnover or two.

2nd Quarter, 0:00- Richmond lets the clock run out and will go into halftime with a slim deficit, 13-11.

2nd Quarter, 0:41- Grimes does get the call, but loses a yard, as Spider defense makes its first big stand of the game, giving the offense the ball back on its own 20 and, more importantly, keeping the Tribe from extending their lead before halftime.

2nd Quarter, 0:45- Richmond calls its first timeout of the half with William & Mary facing a 4th and inches on the UR 19. Can't see the Tribe doing anything but handing off to Grimes here.

2nd Quarter, 2:32- On 3rd and 2, Grimes makes a man miss in the backfield and carries for 14 yards for a Tribe first down at the UR 28.

2nd Quarter, 4:10- Spiders not getting any pressure on Caprio. Tribe have a first down at midfield.

2nd Quarter, 7:16- Edwards catches the ball on 3rd and 10, but only gains five yards. Lineburg shows faith in his young kicker, bringing Hinshaw back out for a 35-yard field goal attempt, and Hinshaw rewards his coach's confidence, nailing this one through the uprights. Spiders cut the W&M lead to 13-11.

2nd Quarter, 8:37- NFL-caliber throw by Corp goes for 29 yards to Edwards down the far sideline. He placed that ball perfectly over the defender and into the hands of Edwards. Ball now on the W&M 23.

2nd Quarter, 10:46- Spider offense takes the field for the first time in the quarter, starting at its own 32.

2nd Quarter, 10:54- Run opens up the play-action and W&M quarterback Brent Caprio finds receiver D.J. Mangas open in the corner of the end zone for the Tribe's second TD of the game. They decide to go for two also, but come up short after the completion. Still, the Tribe retake the lead, 13-8.

2nd Quarter, 11:25- Another 11 yards for Grimes. 1st and 10 from the 17 for the Tribe offense.

2nd Quarter, 12:23- Grimes is averaging over seven yards per carry for the Tribe. No idea why they would look anywhere else. Another first down run by him has his team out the the UR 30.

1st Quarter, 0:00- Tribe go back to what was working, running the ball, and the clock runs out on the first quarter with W&M owning a 1st and 10 on its own 43.

1st Quarter, 0:51- Just announced in the press box that this is Richmond's first lead since it 16-0 on Oct. 22 versus Maine, a game the Spiders went on to lose, 23-22. Been that kind of season for Richmond.

1st Quarter, 1:39- The Tribe now take over on their own 30 following the kickoff.

1st Quarter, 1:44- One play later, Corp finds receiver Ben Edwards open down the left side of the field and Edwards dives into the end zone for the score. Richmond elects to attempt the 2-point conversion and backup quarterback John Laub completes a fade pass to Stephen Barnette. Just like that, Richmond takes the lead, 8-7.

1st Quarter, 1:52- A little bit of reverse deja vu for Spider fans, as William & Mary tries to execute a flea flicker, but the ball is intercepted by Richmond's Reggie Barnette, who returns the ball 28 yards to the W&M 32.

1st Quarter, 2:06- Corp takes consecutive sacks near midfield, forcing Richmond to punt the ball away. W&M calls for a fair catch on its own 17.

1st Quarter, 4:21- On 3rd and 1, Spiders try to pick it up on the ground with Turner, but he goes nowhere. Richmond again decides to go for it on 4th and 1, and pick it up with a dive play to fullback Kendall Gaskins.

1st Quarter, 6:33- Richmond offense retakes the field at its own 38 following a decent return by cornerback Wayne Pettus.

1st Quarter, 6:39- Frustrating start for the Spiders, as has been the case often recently. The offense did its job, got into scoring range, but couldn't get help from its special teams. Then the defense comes out and can't stop anything, allowing the Tribe to move down the field efficiently on the way to gaining the early lead. It should be noted that Richmond's defense only has one normal defensive back starter available--Pehanick.

1st Quarter, 6:39- Tribe tailback Jonathan Grimes goes 20 yards virtually untouched into the end zone for the game's first touchdown. After the extra point, William & Mary leads, 7-0.

1st Quarter, 8:11- Interesting to see what will happen if Richmond has another field goal opportunity later in the game. Interim coach Wayne Lineburg clearly trying to send normal starter Wil Kamin a lesson by putting Hinshaw in, but that kick can't put much of a scare in Kamin's job security.

1st Quarter, 9:14- W&M following Delaware's lead from last week, running the ball early and often. Tribe already out to midfield.

1st Quarter, 10:28- Corp completes to receiver Stephen Barnette, but it comes up five yards short of the first down. Spiders bring out freshman kicker Remington Hinshaw to attempt the 39-yard field goal, but it is an ugly kick and goes wide right, perhaps short also. The Tribe take over on their own 22.

1st Quarter, 11:18- Corp trying to force the ball to Gray despite good coverage by the Tribe backs on consecutive plays. Brings up 3rd and 10.

1st Quarter, 11:47- Meanwhile, Richmond's passing attack moves it down deep into W&M territory. The Spiders decide to go for it on 4th and 1 from the Tribe's 28-yard line. Corp goes for a quarterback sneak and just picks up the first down.

1st Quarter, 14:51- Richmond press box personnel just laughed after overhearing a television announcer say that the Spiders are not a very effective running team. This is common knowledge to all who have paid attention to their season.

1st Quarter, 15:00- This game is on, as W&M kicks the ball out of bounds, giving Richmond the ball on its own 40 to start.

Pregame- I know this may be a little early to think about next season, but as disappointing as this season has been for Richmond, it's still hard to imagine this team recovering easily with losing the likes of Corp, Gray, Graham, and Pehanick. This was a talented team that didn't live up to expectation, with the coaching debacle right before the season started likely having some influence.

Pregame- Today is also the Spiders' Senior Day, and Richmond's 12 graduating seniors and their parents are currently being honored on the field. Those seniors are: FB Ben Bryer, QB Aaron Corp, P Casey Dobyns, OL Ryan Goss, CB Tremayne Graham, WR Tre Gray, FB Frank Howell, DL Corey Jackson, OL Richard Muldrow, DL Shaun Quezada, S Colin Pehanick, and TB Garrett Turner. Kickoff is just over 12 minutes away now.

Pregame- Welcome folks to the last Collegian football blog of the year, as Richmond is playing its playing its final game of the season with no chance at a playoff berth with its 3-7 record. Neither team is playing for the playoffs today, as the Spiders' opponent William & Mary are just barely ahead of Richmond with a record of 4-6. However, this game does have some meaning to each team as it is the "South's Oldest Football Rivalry," and today is the 121st time these two teams have met. The winner will take home the Capital Cup.

Contact staff writer David Weissman at david.weissman@richmond.edu