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 minutes to 26 minutes. 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 with 8:57 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.
