The University of Richmond scored twice in its first five snaps on Saturday afternoon and the University of Maine never found any consistent defensive answers.
Quarterback Kyle Lauletta threw for 311 yards and four touchdowns on as the 19th-ranked Spiders amassed 484 yards to post a 48-17 Colonial Athletic Association victory at Robins Stadium in Richmond, Virginia.
Richmond (3-1, 1-0 CAA) scored twice in the first three minutes and exploited UMaine’s inexperienced secondary.
“It was tough,” said UMaine senior linebacker John McCabe of Winslow, who made six tackles.
“We just needed to execute a little bit better and that’s what we’ll have to fix this week,” he added.
Coach Jack Cosgrove’s Black Bears (1-3 overall, 1-1 CAA) gave up numerous big plays through the air. Lauletta finished the day 16-for-26 passing, and was not intercepted or sacked.
“Their linemen are very stout,” McCabe said.
“We started bringing a lot more pressure, blitzes, but their receivers and their running backs made some big plays,” he added.
Linebackers Randy Samuels and Cabrinni Goncalves paced the Bears with nine and eight tackles, respectively.
The Bears enjoyed sporadic success on offense (344 total yards). Quarterback Dan Collins went 16-for-34 with 151 yards a TD and an interception, with wideout Micah Wright among three players with five catches.
Tailback Nigel Beckford picked up 75 yards on 17 carries but appeared to be injured and played sparingly in the second half.
Despite its struggles, UMaine was within 27-17 after an 85-yard drive that culminated in Sacoy Malone’s 3-yard run, his first career TD, with 4:40 left in the third quarter.
Richmond scored on its next three possessions.
The Spiders needed eight plays to answer as two long passes set up Lauletta’s 4-yard keeper for a TD that pushed it to 34-17.
Then a low snap led punter James DeMartini to put his knee down at the UM 25.
Two plays later, Lauletta found Reggie Diggs (6 receptions, 96 yds., 2 TDs) on a 24-yard scoring pass to make it 41-17.
Richmond iced it two plays after UMaine came up short on a fake punt and Lauletta hit Brian Brown (7 rec., 177 yds., 2 TDs) on a 29-yard strike.
UR’s Jacobi Green had raced 48 yards on the second play of the game to set up a 27-yard scoring toss from Lauletta to Diggs.
The Spiders forced a quick punt and scored immediately when Brown got behind the secondary for a 75-yard TD pass from Lauletta. Pete Yoder’s PAT made it 14-0 only 2:53 into the game.
UMaine responded, marching 81 yards on 16 plays. The Bears converted four third downs, including Collins’ 3-yard scoring pass to Wright.
Richmond extended the lead on Yoder’s 30-yard field goal at 9:19 of the second quarter and scored again when Justin Rubin intercepted Collins and returned it 28 yards to the UMaine 16.
That set up a 25-yard Yoder field goal.
Jeffery DeVaughn’s 35-yard kickoff return sparked the Bears, but they settled for a 30-yard Decloux field goal to get within 27-17 at halftime.