Richmond runs down UMass 30-15

Shaky special teams play has been the bane of the 2008 UMass team and it proved fatal today. The Minutemen missed an extra point, a field goal and had a game changing punt blocked.

That and short kickoffs and a routine 20 yard return by the Spiders made every (it seemed) Richmond possession start on the 45-yard line. Those short fields kept the run-heavy Spiders in their comfort zone. The Spiders kept the ball almost the entire first quarter.

They also kept the UMass offense bottled up as we only had 13 first downs and 236 yards of total offense. Still, it was anyone's game until the blocked punt.

Another big crowd and the fans gave a warm welcome to the 98 National Championship team. It was great to see them.

UMass writeup here .

Richmond's write-up here .

Jeff Thomas has a story about the loss here .

I'll be back tomorrow with more stuff and a web album.

As I've said before, win or lose, Go UMass!