Box Score Wofford-Richmond Game Stats
Postgame quotes
Spartanburg, S.C. – Wofford College was defeated 21-10 by the University of Richmond on Saturday night at Gibbs Stadium. Richmond is now 11-2 on the season and will advance in the FCS Playoffs. The Terriers end the season at 9-4.
Wofford was led by Kevious Johnson with 89 yards on 16 carries and Andy Strickland with 98 yards on six catches. Wofford’s lone touchdown was by Michael Hobbs. Richmond was led by Tim Hightower with 88 yards on 23 carries with two touchdowns and Kevin Grayson with eight catches for 92 yards.
“To tell you the truth it is exactly what we expected,” said head coach Mike Ayers. “First and foremost Richmond has a quality program. Their kids are just like our guys, they are going to go out, they are going to compete, and do everything they can do to try to get it done. We had concerns with our match-up offensively versus defensively. They did some things that created some problems for us, and then we compounded the problem by making some mistakes; not executing on certain situations. It has been a great year; it has been a great ride. I’m not going to let this one loss take away from what we have accomplished for the long run this season.”
Wofford had the opening kickoff, but turned it over on downs after an unsuccessful fourth-and-six play. Richmond drove into Terrier’s territory, but with 5:31 left in the first quarter Andrew Howard missed a 34-yard field goal wide right.
The Terriers were then able to drive the ball, but Patrick Mugan missed a 42-yard field goal attempt with 19 seconds remaining in the first quarter. On the next drive by the Spiders, Seth Goldwire forced a fumble that was recovered by Brian Kemp. After the turnover, Wofford drove to the one-yard line, but had to settle for a 22-yard field goal by Patrick Mugan to take a 3-0 lead at 7:47 in the second quarter.
On the next drive by Richmond, Erid Ward found Joe Stewart alone in the back of the endzone for a 10-yard touchdown reception. Richmond took a 7-3 lead with 4:19 left in the second quarter. After the touchdown, Wofford’s Josh Collier had a pass intercepted by Michael Ireland and returned to the Terrier’s 46-yard line with under three minutes to go in the half. But the Wofford defense held, and the Spiders missed a 39-yard field goal as time expired in the first half.
The Spiders opened the second half with the ball, and after picking up two first downs, Filmon Dawkins intercepted Eric Ward at the Terrier’s ten-yard line. Wofford returned the turnover when a pitch was fumbled and recovered by the Spiders. But on fourth-and-nine, Richmond turned the ball over on downs.
Wofford took over at their own 29-yard line. After three first downs, Jeremy Marshall converted on a fourth-and-two at the Spider’s 27-yard line. After a key third-down conversion by Kevious Johnson, Michael Hobbs took it in from one-yard out for the touchdown and a 10-7 lead at 3:34 in the third quarter.
On the next drive by Richmond, Tim Hightower ran it in from one yard out to give the Spiders a 14-10 lead at 11:55 in the fourth quarter. With the ball back, Wofford picked up a first down before they were forced to punt. The snap went over the head of Chris Tommie and the ball was recovered at the one-yard line by the Spiders. On the next play, Tim Hightower went in from one-yard out to take a 21-10 lead with 8:40 left in the fourth quarter.
With the ball back, Wofford was forced three-and-out and punted. The Terrier defense came up with a stop as well, and the Spiders punted after a three-and-out. Wofford had the ball back with 5:48 remaining in the game and were able to drive to the Richmond 14 before turning the ball over on downs. The Spiders gained a first down and were able to run out the clock for a 21-10 victory.
Richmond will face Appalachian State, who defeated Eastern Washington 38-35 on Saturday afternoon. In the other semifinal, Southern Illinois will host Delaware.
Wofford vs. Richmond
Post-Game Notes
The match-up was the first ever between Richmond and Wofford.
The game marked the third FCS Playoff game hosted by Wofford at Gibbs Stadium; Wofford is 2-1 in playoff games at home.
Wofford entered the second half behind for the fifth time this season. The Terriers are 1-4 in those five games.
The Terriers did not score in the first quarter for the first time this season.
Michael Hobbs has rushed for a touchdown in each of the last six games.
Kevious Johnson had 89 yards rushing in the game, giving him 5,126 all-purpose yards in his career. The school record is held by Shawn Graves with 5,128 all-purpose yards.
Three of Wofford’s four losses this season were at Gibbs Stadium.
Attendance: 8,500
