Spiders lose first conference game to New Hampshire

Richmond’s attempt at a perfect conference record was thwarted by a narrow, away loss to New Hampshire on Saturday.

The Spiders, winners of seven in a row, had not lost a game in over two months with their last defeat coming in a 50-21 blowout against Maryland, their only FBS opponent this season. The team entered the weekend ranked as the fifth-best FCS team and will likely drop at least a few spots when the new rankings come out this week, following the 30-25 loss to New Hampshire.

The Spiders’ rushing attack was strong once again this week with Jacobi Green picking up 154 yards on 22 carries, and touchdowns on the ground by David Broadus and Gordon Collins, the latter scoring on a 45-yard run on his only carry of the game.

After throwing three interceptions last Saturday against Albany, quarterback Kyle Lauletta threw four more against New Hampshire, completing only 50 percent of his passes and throwing just one touchdown. The interceptions made things easy for the Wildcats, giving them good field position for shorter drives downfield. 

This week also marks the third week in a row that the Spiders have given up at least 30 points to their opponent, though turnovers make it difficult to pin down how much of the blame goes on the defense.

Richmond played from behind for most of the game, but was ultimately unable to pull ahead. The Spiders had one last shot, down five points on their own 23-yard line with 21 seconds left, but New Hampshire closed them out. 

The loss pushes Richmond back into a tie for first place in the Colonial Athletic Association with William & Mary, who the Spiders play in the final game of their regular season.

Richmond travels to Philadelphia next weekend to play Villanova in its second-to-last game, which will have serious playoff implications for the Spiders.