How A Sixth-Stringer Won The Day For Richmond

Richmond used the most improbable of players to score a major upset against UMass
By Chuck Burton
College Sporting News
Associate Editor

PHILADELPHIA — The signs were there earlier in the week for anyone who was following Richmond football. Come Wednesday before its likely do-or-die game at Massachusetts, Spider head coach Latrell Scott still hadn't selected a starting quarterback.

Highly regarded USC QB transfer Aaron Corp was out for the year after injuring his knee against New Hampshire the previous weekend. Corp's backup, John Laub, had a wrist injury, and third-string QB, sophomore Nick Hicks, suffered a concussion against the Wildcats and could not make the trip to Amherst.

"It's tough to prepare for the unknown," Scott said of the challenge faced by the Minutemen. "[But] it's not by design on our part."

In swirling, high winds, Scott penciled in true freshman Montel White as the starting quarterback, but instead played a game largely consisting of the Wildcat formation, with direct snaps to running backs Jovan Smith and Garret Wilkins to play a majority-Wildcat formation against the No. 8 team in the country.

"We wanted Montel to relax and let the older guys make plays for him," Scott said.

If you count the three QBs and the two running backs lining up in the Wildcat, you could honestly say that White was the sixth-string guy back there.

But the sixth-stringer picked a good time to get his first Division I completions — on a final drive that would give Richmond the most improbable of victories.

New Englanders thought they had seen the last of baseball scores once the Red Sox were eliminated from playoff contention in baseball. Yet at the end of the third quarter, thanks to a snap above the head of punter Caleb Violette and a turnover deep in their own territory that resulted in a 33-yard field goal by the Spiders' Wil Kaimin, the Minutemen were instead clinging to a 7-5 lead going into the final stanza.

Only one sustained drive from UMass, thanks to the running of RB Jonathan Hernandez and a seven-yard TD toss from Kyle Havens to tight end Aaron Krevins had the Minutemen leading in this game.

Going into the wind, UMass knew this wouldn't be easy. Only the strength of the UMass defense combined with the ineptitude of Richmond's offense — which had only five first downs on the afternoon going into the final quarter — was keeping the game in the Minutemen's favor.

UMass powered through Richmond's defense to get to the Richmond one-yard line, using its top-rated rushing attack to devastating effect. But then, on four straight plays, involving four different Spiders, Richmond stood up the Minutemen, and forced them to turn over the ball on downs.

"We looked at each other, and we knew what we had to do," Richmond defensive tackle Martin Parker said. "We put four terrific plays together."

"They stoned one of the best rushing attacks in the country the entire game," Scott said. "We told the defense coming into today, 'Guys, give us the opportunity to hang around.' " We said, 'There may not be a lot of points scored today.'"

Three rushes and a punt later, it still didn't seem like it was going to be Richmond's day as it punted with the wind back to UMass a couple minutes later. A sustained drive later would end within the Richmond 10, which allowed Violette to nail a 25-yard field goal to make it UMass 10, Richmond 5.

"We thought we could get the touchdown," UMass head coach Kevin Morris said. "We were on fourth-and-goal inside the one, and they made a play to stop us from getting in. In the second set, it was a matter of take the three points. They hadnít done anything all day in terms of threatening to score against our defense, so we made [White] make the plays."

Up until that point, the freshman had attempted only one pass. Now, getting the ball back with 1:51 to play, Richmond's shot of achieving any of its goals — CAA title or an appearance in the FCS playoffs — rode on the completely untested arm of White.

A 10-yard scramble started off the improbable comeback. Then came White's first college completion, a four-yard pass to running back Tyler Kirchoff.

From there, White would find one of Richmond's best athletes, wide receiver Tre Gray, who had been kept completely off the score sheet until the final two offensive plays of the game. With 14 seconds left, Gray hauled in a 17-yard reception from White.

Timeout, Richmond.

"We wanted another chance to drive and show what we were made of," Gray said. "Nobody was down. Everybody was ready to do their assignments. We wanted to try not to be Superman, be superheroes out there. We were just doing what we were coached to do."

White then found Gray over the middle for the TD with nine seconds left. Richmond 11, UMass 10. It took four completions in six pass attempts by the Spiders' sixth-string QB.

"My team told me they were going to rally around me," White said. "I just tried to do my job. I guess I did it right. We won the game."

It was a devastating loss for the Minutemen.

"Richmond hung in there, and that's to their credit, but we made a million mistakes," Morris said. "It's a bad loss. We let them stay in the ballgame."

"We kept shooting ourselves in the foot with penalties and turnovers," said running back John Griffin, who had 81 yards rushing. "It's hard to get a rhythm when you make big runs and big passes and they get called back or we turn the ball over."

Before the game, Richmond LB Patrick Weldon said, "The season is not over by a long shot. I don't think that anyone on the team has the mind-set that we're out of it.
Many things can happen. There are still six games left in the season."

While what he said was true, not even Weldon, and the remnants of the "Stonewall Defense" of a couple years ago, could have predicted the way that Richmond would win this past weekend.

Chuckles

Bonus Picks
Stony Brook 38, Coastal Carolina 21 - Seawolves find their mojo around the Beach Chickens.

Columbia 28, Dartmouth 24 - Two huge surprises in the Ivy League, fighting for contention. The Lions, the better time by a tiny bit, prevail at home.

Duquesne 27, Wagner 24 - The mercurial Dukes find a way to win against the Seahawks.

Colgate 31, Holy Cross 21 - The Crusaders, last year's Patriot League champs, are not the same team after losing QB Dominic Randolph to graduation.

Jacksonville 38, Marist 16 - My fearless prediction is that the Red Foxes will do just a wee bit better than Valparaiso did last weekend - who lost 86-7 last weekend to the Dolphins. Not by much, though.

Prairie View 28, Southern 21 - Panthers need this one to stay relevant in the SWAC West title hunt, and get it.

Picking the Sports Network Top 25
No. 24 Chattanooga 37, No. 25 Furman 26 - The Mocs are intimidated by nobody, not least the decimated Paladins.

No. 23 Cal Poly 28, North Dakota 21 - The Mustangs are hanging in the Top 25 by the skin of their hooves. They manage to hang in despite a challenge by the Fightin' Sioux.

No. 22 Northern Arizona 31, No. 7 Montana 28 - The Jacks are back. The Griz are on the decline. This will be proven on Saturday.

No. 21 Western Illinois 52, Missouri State 38 - About the only thing that can be accurately predicted in the wacky MVC is that Missouri State will give up a whole lot of points.

No. 20 Penn 35, Yale 3 - A "battle of Ivy League unbeatens"? Really? An Ivy Lague shellacking is more like it.

No. 19 Northern Iowa 26, Illinois State 3 - The Panthers have not forgotten last year's season-ending loss to the Redbirds that denied them a playoff spot.

No. 18 South Carolina State 27, Hampton 24 - Bethune Cookman gave a gameplan on how to beat the Bulldogs last week, but Hampton won't be able to follow it.

No. 16 Richmond 22, Towson 2 - A record cound be set for number of safeties in a game. Advantage: Spiders.

No. 15 Montana State 38, Northern Colorado 14 - The Bobcats will make up for their rough road loss last weekend against the Bears.

No. 14 Bethune-Cookman 38, NC Central 9 - The Wildcats are for real. The Eagles, who just replaced their head coach, are in disarray.

No. 13 Southeast Missouri State 28, Eastern Kentucky 19 - Speaking of teams in disarray, the Colonials define that term.

No. 12 UMass 28, No. 10 New Hampshire 24 - One of two FCS games played this weekend in pro stadiums, this promises to be a real thriller between the surging Wildcats and the desparate Minutemen. The Minutemen will be primed to but last week's disaster behind them, while the Wildcats might run out of steam after an incredible league run. Minutemen.

No. 6 Villanova 35, No. 11 James Madison 6 - This just in: the Dukes can't score. And it won't be any easier against the tough Wildcat defense, either.

Elon 28, No. 9 Wofford 24 - Playing a hunch that talented Elon, whom last I checked had QB Scott Riddle on their side, can pull the upset against run-happy Wofford.

No. 8 Eastern Washington 24, Sacramento State 14 - The Big Sky is the toughest conference in all of FCS, top to bottom, but that's scant comfort for the Hornets.

No. 5 Stephen F. Austin 55, Sam Houston State 28 - This is the second game played at an NFL stadium, Reliant Stadium. It will be less competitive than the first.

No. 3 Jacksonville State 24, Austin Peay 21 - One of these weekends the Gamecocks will be victims of an upset. But not this weekend.

No. 4 William & Mary 16, No 2 Delaware 13 - The Blue Hens have blown folks away with their "O" and "D" lines and worn people down. For the first time this year, that won't work for them.

No. 1 Appalachian State 55 Western Carolina, 6 - Folks tell me that the "Battle for the Old Mountain Jug" used to be a rivalry. It's still not one, anymore, in my eyes.