After setting freshmen rushing records last weekend, Andrew Pierce continued to impress for the Delaware football team. The Blue Hens went to Richmond and handled the Spiders, 34-13, staying undefeated with their fourth win on Saturday.
Pierce was the workhorse once again for Delaware (4-0) on the ground, carrying the ball 26 times for 114 yards and three touchdowns.
Senior quarterback Pat Devlin returned to action after missing the previous week with a fractured wrist on his non-throwing arm and threw for 240 yards in the victory.
Last week’s starting quarterback Trevor Sasek began the scoring in the game, recording the first touchdown with a 7-yard run, with one minute, 40 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
With 6:18 remaining in the third quarter, Richmond answered to tie the score at 13 with a 3-yard run from Tyler Kirchoff.
Less than two minutes later, Pierce gave the Blue Hens the lead with a 13-yard run, capping off a drive that started on their own 22. Pierce’s score would be part of a 21 unanswered-point run to give Delaware the win.
The Blue Hens defense continued to look like a top-tier unit despite allowing their first touchdown of the season. They held Richmond to 234 yards of total offense while forcing two turnovers.
The last time Delaware got off to a 4-0 start to begin a season was in its national champion runner-up season of 2007.
Tribe earns first CAA win
After trailing for the first three quarters of the game, William & Mary narrowly defeated conference foe Maine, 24-21, at Alfond Stadium on Saturday.
The Black Bears scored the first touchdown of the contest late in the first quarter with 1:59 remaining on a 1-yard run from Pushaun Brown.
The Black Bears led until quarterback Warren Smith threw his only interception, which was returned for a score by Dante Cook with 6:46 left in the game to put the Tribe up, 17-14.
A 3-yard pass from Smith to Desmond Randall four minutes later would erase the deficit for Maine with only 2:46 remaining.
Despite allowing the Black Bears to regain the lead, the Tribe went on a 70-yard drive that ended on a 21-yard pass to Chase Hill for a game-clinching score.
Brown led all running backs in the contest with a game-high 104 yards on 30 carries and two touchdowns.
Hill led all receivers with four receptions for 67 yards, including his big score late in the fourth to win the game.
Toman earns honors
New Hampshire quarterback R.J. Toman was named the Colonial Athletic Association Offensive Player of the Week on Monday after leading his team to a 31-10 victory over Lehigh.
Toman came up with a huge performance for the Wildcats, completing 26-of-37 attempts for a career-high 368 yards and four touchdowns.
Stephon Robertson, a linebacker for James Madison, was named the CAA Rookie of the Week after leading the defense in limiting Liberty to three points on Saturday.
Robertson racked up a game-high 13 tackles while helping the defense hold the Flames without a touchdown for the first time since 2006.
James Pitts of Villanova and Anthony Walters of Delaware each earned CAA Defensive Player of the Week awards after strong performances for their respective defenses.
Pitts played strong at defensive back, recording six tackles, breaking up two passes as well as returning an interception for 57 yards against Pennsylvania on Saturday.
Walters anchored the Delaware defense on Saturday, recording a team-high 10 tackles and intercepting an Aaron Corp pass in the fourth quarter.
The CAA Special Teams Player of the Week was JMU defensive back Taveion Cuffee, who blocked a 47-yard field goal attempt, preventing Liberty from pulling within one point in the third quarter.
Robert Hanlon can be reached at [email protected].
