A week after playing one of the best teams in the country, Virginia stood toe-to-toe with a team Saturday that wasn’t even in its division. Nevertheless, Richmond coach and former Virginia defensive coordinator Mike London’s squad hung tough for three-plus quarters with the Cavaliers, before Virginia cornerback Vic Hall’s game-clinching interception return for a touchdown to a 16-0 victory.
“That’s a BCS [Bowl Championship Series] school; we’re an FCS [Football Championship Subdivision] school,” London said. “Everyone thought we were going to get clobbered.”
Actually, coach Al Groh noted, not everyone shared that line of thinking.
“Apparently, there were quite a few people in the country who saw us as being the underdog in the game,” Groh said. “Players seemed to respond to that challenge pretty well.”
Though the opportunities were numerous for both sides throughout the contest, the score stood at 3-0 in the Cavaliers’ favor until Virginia junior running back Mikell Simpson finally lowered his shoulder and punched through Richmond’s defensive line on a 3rd-and-goal at the 1-yard line with 7:25 remaining in the fourth quarter.
“That was the kind of drive we needed,” sophomore quarterback Peter Lalich said. “The offensive line played great in that drive and really knocked them back.”
Lalich, who started despite charges brought against him last week for violating his probation following a July 13 underage drinking arrest, had an up-and-down afternoon. He was on target for the most part in the first half, completing 16 of 27 passes for 158 yards, but was off in the second half, as he found his mark just five times in 12 tries. Lalich also threw two interceptions on the day.
Groh had this to say about last week’s reports about Lalich and the decision to start him Saturday:
“Why would there be any hesitation to play him?” he said. “He’s our starting quarterback. We’re here to talk about football. It’s unfortunate that some people have chosen to misrepresent the player without having all of the facts, and those people should examine themselves.”
Lalich was not the only player on the field Saturday who missed the mark on several plays. Richmond found itself deep in Virginia territory on many occasions, but came up empty time and again. Junior kicker Andrew Howard had two field goal attempts, both from 29 yards, but was blocked on both occasions; the first was tipped by freshman Matt Conrath before it sailed wide right, and the second was batted to the ground by freshman Nick Jenkins.
One of those blocked field goals came as the result of a failed fourth down conversion attempts by Virginia. On a fourth-and-two at the Spiders’ 15 yard-line with 49 seconds remaining in the first half, Lalich targeted senior wide receiver Cary Koch in the flat. Richmond sophomore linebacker Jordan Shoop, however, read the play and snatched an interception before the ball reached Koch. Between Shoop and the Virginia end zone there was nothing but open field, but Shoop ran out of gas and was caught by Koch after a 63-yard return.
“At first, I thought I was good,” Shoop said. “I took off good, and then after about 20 yards I don’t know what happened. My legs were just – that was about it for them.”
Groh also elected to keep his offense on the field for a risky 4th-and-1 from his own 29 yard-line. Though this attempt also backfired – Lalich’s quarterback sneak was snuffed for no gain — the Spiders once again couldn’t capitalize, as a 5-yard tackle for a loss and a 14-yard sack forced Richmond to punt.
Richmond, however, did not entirely shut itself out; Virginia’s defense and special teams played its part in keeping the Spiders scoreless while playing in many short-field situations.
“We have a saying that is vital to being a good defensive team: it’s not just stopping plays, but to win the battle for the ball,” Groh said. “We probably knocked four or five down at the line of scrimmage, had a couple interceptions and pretty good pressure on the quarterback, so that part of the game was positive for us.”
The shutout was the first for Virginia since last year’s 48-0 blowout against Miami Nov. 10. Though Richmond’s FCS team is no ACC opponent, Groh said his defense was forced to make a number of in-game adjustments to battle its old defensive coordinator’s offensive scheme.
“Coach London knew a lot of how we like to play on defense, so obviously that was to his advantage,” senior linebacker Clint Sintim said. “We made some different changes and adjusted a little bit as far as getting ourselves in the best position to make plays, and it showed out there on the field today.”
Sintim and the rest of the linebacker corps looked particularly energized after giving up 52 points a week ago, as they accounted for 11 tackles, two sacks and two blocked passes on the day.
The coaching staff “emphasized during the course of the week just get back to reading your keys and get to the right places and play run-and-hit ball, and the plays will find you,” Groh said. “I spoke to all three of them after the game and congratulated them on the fact that they looked like they were back on their game today.”
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