Once again, Delaware was good at moving the football on Saturday.
The Blue Hens weren’t quite as adept, however, at scoring points.
That has been a frequent theme this season and the consequences in a 21-13 loss to Richmond at Delaware Stadium could be quite regrettable if it costs Delaware an FCS playoff berth.
Down 9-0 early in the third quarter, Delaware put together a pair of impressive touchdown drives to go up 13-12. The Hens then had the football with a chance to run out the clock and salt the win and, perhaps, an NCAA tourney ticket.
They could not get the necessary first down and Richmond rallied in prolific fashion. Five takeaways from Saturday’s loss:
Kicking themselves
All of Richmond’s points, except for the fumble recovery for a touchdown on the game-ending kickoff, came on field goals.
Andrew Lopez was good from 33 and 29 yards and Jake Larson converted from 46, 48 and 39, the latter with :04 left to win the game.
Reece Udinski’s 45-yard pass to Jerry Garcia Jr. on fourth-and-4 at the UR 30 put the Spiders in position.
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“The bottom line is, we made our field goals and they didn’t make their field goals,” Richmond coach Russ Huesman said. “. . . We went 5-for-5 and that’s why we won the football game.”
But it goes deeper than that. Delaware tried one, a 40-yarder by freshman Garrett Bennion that sailed wide in the third quarter, leaving Delaware 2-for-8 on the season.
Delaware didn’t attempt field goals during several other drives into Richmond territory, most notably when it was fourth-and-1 at the Spiders’ 7 on the Hens’ last possession. Quincy Watson was stopped for no gain with 1:23 left.
Richmond then drove for the winning kick.
Delaware coach Ryan Carty said it was “a tough decision” what to do there, even though the kick would have been very short. If Delaware kicked a field goal to go up four, Richmond would have needed a touchdown to win.
“We were running the ball pretty well at that point,” Carty said, “and we hadn’t been kicking the ball very well.”
Carty said he weighed Richmond having to go about 65 yards to get in field-goal range while not having any timeouts left with “the opportunity to put the game away right there and we came up about a foot short.
“Obviously, I’m not gonna sleep very good for a while, maybe the rest of my life. But I don’t know that I would make a different decision again.”
Frustrating day
Delaware punted just once Saturday yet scored just 13 points, which demonstrates its failure to convert opportunities.
In addition to that last possession, Delaware was stopped on several other forays into Richmond territory by a fourth-down interception, a third-down strip sack, a fourth-down incomplete pass and the missed field goal.
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Also, after Noah Plack’s fumble recovery gave Delaware possession at the UR 44 in the final minute of the first half, two plays lost yardage before the half ended.
A two-point pass that would have put Delaware up 15-12 after its second TD was also incomplete.
Delaware had nine more first downs than Richmond (24-15).
Henderson bounces back again
Delaware quarterback Nolan Henderson was down on the field briefly after being hit on what was called roughing the passer on fourth down at the UR32 on the first series of the second half. Henderson, who had been dealing with an injured left shoulder, returned after one play and Delaware reached the 12. But a holding penalty pushed Delaware back and led to the missed field goal.
On Delaware’s subsequent first scoring drive, Henderson zipped up the middle for a 19-yard gain on fourth-and-6, then ran 2 yards for the touchdown two plays later on the first play of the fourth quarter.
“Everyone’s hurting at this point in the season,” Henderson said, “and I just looked at the guy to my left Noah [Plack] and all my teammates and I owe it to them.’’
Watson had a 26-yard gain to start that first touchdown drive. Marcus Yarns had a 36-yard run for Delaware’s second TD, which is what made it odd Delaware couldn’t get the necessary ground yardage on that last possession. Khory Spruill got one yard on third-and-2 from the 8.
“Up front we were just wearing them down,” Henderson said of those scoring drives.
Numbers game
Thyrick Pitts has caught a pass in 40 straight games for Delaware, a streak topped only by Nihja White’s 42 from 2009-12.
Fellow wideout Jourdan Townsend continues to flourish, as he led Delaware Saturday with seven catches for 79 yards
Safeties Nic Ware and Noah Plack each had nine tackles to lead Delaware.
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Richmond had 11 tackles for lost yardage with three sacks compared to Delaware’s five TFLs with two sacks.
Delaware was 1-for-3 in the red zone to Richmond’s 2-for-2. The Spiders were 8-for-19 on third- and fourth-down conversions to Delaware’s 9-for-21.
Delaware had the ball for 33:29 compared to Richmond’s 26:31.
Playoff worthy?
With a win at Villanova next Saturday, the Blue Hens (7-3 overall, 4-3 CAA) will still finish no higher than fifth in the league standings.
That could be enough to get them in the NCAA FCS 24-team playoff field, considering their three losses are to playoff-bound Richmond, William & Mary and Elon and they have a win over FBS Navy. New Hampshire, which Delaware didn’t play, is a likely CAA entry as well.
The NCAA has only ever taken more than four CAA teams once since the FCS playoff field was expanded to 24 in 2013, that being in 2018 when six were chosen. It also depends on what happens nationally.
Of course, nothing against Villanova can be taken for granted even though the Wildcats are struggling at 5-5, 3-4 after losing 45-12 at William & Mary Saturday.
They have won nine of the last 10 and 14 of the last 16 against Delaware, including a 2017 matchup at Villanova Stadium in which the Blue Hens appeared superior and would have earned an FCS berth with a win.
Delaware lost and did not qualify.
“We just have to stay together and regroup, have a great week of practice and get after it this week for the next biggest game of the year,” Carty said.
Have an idea for a compelling local sports story or is there an issue that needs public scrutiny? Contact Kevin Tresolini at ktresolini@delawareonline.com and follow on Twitter @kevintresolini. Support local journalism by subscribing to delawareonline.com
