Like a villain in a horror movie, senior linebacker Eric McBride was lurking, waiting for his moment. That moment came during the first quarter with Elon at Richmond's 25 and looking to add on to its 7-0 lead.
The Richmond secondary forced Elon quarterback Scott Riddle to check down to his running back Brandon Newsome. But as soon as Newsome touched the ball, McBride leveled him with a hit that sent the ball flying to defensive lineman Corey Jackson who dove to intercept the ball.
"The quarterback, he just held it extra long," McBride said. "I could see him staring down his running back and [I] was getting a good break on the ball. I just tried to run through the guy."
That interception sent the announced sellout crowd at the new E. Claiborne Robins Stadium into a frenzy. More importantly, it also seemed to instill confidence in the whole team as the offense drove 75 yards on 10 plays to score its first-ever touchdown at the stadium after going three-and-out on its previous two drives.
The defense seemed to lose its swagger on the next series as Elon drove 67 yards on nine plays to go up 14-7. But after that, the Richmond defense did not give up points again until the final drive of the game.
"I think what happened initially, we weren't playing very good defense underneath," Richmond coach Latrell Scott said. "I think our secondary was playing well. We just had to make some adjustments in the second level with the linebackers just to try to shut down those curls and hitches."
The Richmond defense that played after those adjustments was in stark contrast to the one that showed up to play the University of Virginia on Sept. 4. Gone were the missed tackles and the piles of four or five defenders being dragged by the ball carrier for three or four additional yards.
Even after costly turnovers, the defense kept Richmond in the game.
Backup quarterback John Laub was intercepted twice during the third quarter but the Richmond defense allowed only a total of 27 yards on eight plays with both possessions ending in punts. All told that quarter, Elon ran only seven plays during the third quarter and held the ball for 4:20.
The defense showed resiliency once again in overtime after Riddle had dissected the defense on his 12-play, 80-yard drive to tie the game with a touchdown pass as time expired.
In the overtime, a false start penalty sent the Phoenix to a first-and-15 situation. The 10 yards that the offense got was not enough to get the first down and Adam Schreiner came on to attempt the field goal.
"We wanted to play defense, as a kind of redemption," McBride said. "We wanted to go out there and prove yourself again cause it shouldn't have been overtime, we all knew that.We just wanted to get out there and shut them out real quick."
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And it was another defensive player who made the crucial block of Schreiner's overtime field goal attempt. Defensive lineman Casey Cooley got his hand on the attempt and blocked it to set off a wild celebration on the sideline.
The final passing numbers may not be pretty for the Richmond defense (319 yards and three touchdowns) but Riddle threw the ball 56 times and averaged less than six yards per passing attempt. Most of his yards came after the receiver caught the ball.
The run defense also improved after allowing 205 yards to Virginia. Elon only ran for 73 yards on 17 attempts as the defensive line did a better job of getting off of the Elon blocks.
Fans at the game may remember the Kirchoff run as the play that won the game, but it was the defense -- and McBride's hit -- that turned the game in Richmond's favor.
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