Published: September 06, 2008 11:05 pm      

Cavs stomp Spiders; Badgers dominate Marshall

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Virginia’s Chase Minnifield stopped a late Richmond threat with an interception, and Vic Hall returned an interception 60 yards for a touchdown to seal the Cavaliers’ 16-0 victory Saturday.

Richmond kept it close until Mikell Simpson’s 1-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter finally gave Virginia (1-1) a little breathing room at 10-0, and the defense did the rest.

Minnifield intercepted Eric Ward’s pass at the goal line and returned it to the Virginia 28 with 4:10 left, one of several big defensive plays that allowed the Cavaliers to overcome poor field position and three unsuccessful fourth-down gambles.

Two minutes later, Hall picked off another Ward pass and broke one tackle en route to the clinching score.

Until late, it was a frustrating afternoon for the Cavaliers, coming off a 52-7 season-opening loss to top-ranked Southern California. However, they were able to sack Ward at key times to keep the Spiders (1-1) out of the end zone, and Nick Jenkins blocked a 29-yard field goal attempt by Andrew Howard, who also missed a 29-yarder.

The worst of Virginia’s fourth-quarter miscues came just before the half when Richmond’s Jordan Shoop intercepted Peter Lalich’s pass and returned it 63 yards before being caught from behind at the Virginia 24. But Howard’s miss left Virginia with a 3-0 lead.

Virginia also failed on an earlier fourth-down pass from Richmond’s 31, and Lalich was stopped for no gain on a quarterback sneak on fourth-and-1 from the Virginia 29 early in the third quarter. A third-down sack of Ward pushed the Spiders out of field goal range and, moments later, Howard’s field goal attempt was blocked.

The Cavaliers’ only first-half points came on Yannick Reyering’s 26-yard field goal.

Lalich was 21-of-29 for 204 yards and two interceptions for Virginia, which improved to 19-3 against Football Championship Series opponents, including 12 consecutive victories. Kevin Ogletree had eight receptions for 103 yards.

Ward was 16-of-33 for 175 yards and two interceptions. Kevin Grayson caught eight passes for 111 yards.

*****

Richmond.......................0 0 0 0 — 0

Virginia...........................3 0 0 13 — 16

First Quarter

UVa—FG Reyering 26, 6:27.

Fourth Quarter

UVa—Simpson 1 run (Reyering kick), 7:25.

UVa—Hall 60 interception return (kick failed), 2:08.

A—51,007.

———

Rich UVa

First downs 17 18

Rushes-yards 27-19 38-91

Passing 175 204

Comp-Att-Int 16-34-2 21-39-2

Return Yards 67 88

Punts-Avg. 8-32.3 5-40.2

Fumbles-Lost 2-1 1-0

Penalties-Yards 7-50 9-103

Time of Possession 28:20 31:40

———

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—Richmond, Vaughan 13-52, Forte 3-3, Ward 11-(minus 36). Virginia, Peerman 10-60, Simpson 23-36, Jackson 1-3, Lalich 2-(minus 4), Team 2-(minus 4).

PASSING—Richmond, Ward 16-33-2-175, Healy 0-1-0-0. Virginia, Lalich 21-39-2-204.

RECEIVING—Richmond, Grayson 8-111, Gray 3-27, Vaughan 2-2, Forte 1-28, Monteverde 1-7, Crone 1-0. Virginia, Ogletree 8-103, Covington 4-41, Koch 3-22, J.Phillips 2-23, Jackson 2-10, Peerman 2-5.

*****

Badgers dominate Marshall

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — No. 11 Wisconsin had to rally from an early two-touchdown deficit to Marshall, reeling off 51 straight points to turn a potential upset into a 51-14 walkover Saturday.

A loss would have snapped the second-longest home winning streak in major college football and cost the Badgers (2-0) momentum heading into a tough test at Fresno State.

But after watching Marshall (1-1) shut down its highly regarded running game, Wisconsin got big plays out of new starting quarterback Allan Evridge and the defense to pull out its 16th straight win at Camp Randall Stadium.

Evridge, a transfer from Kansas State who backed up Tyler Donovan last year, was 17-for-26 for 308 yards and a touchdown after throwing only 10 passes in Wisconsin’s victory over Akron last week.

Wisconsin led 17-14 at halftime, but ended Marshall’s first three possessions of the second half with interceptions that led to a pair of touchdowns.

Facing third-and-11 in the first series of the third quarter, Badgers cornerback Niles Brinkley intercepted Marshall quarterback Mark Cann and ran the ball back to the 22-yard line.

Evridge then connected with tight end Garrett Graham on a 21-yard pass, and P.J. Hill plunged into the end zone on first-and-goal to put Wisconsin ahead 24-14.

Safety Shane Carter intercepted Cann on Marshall’s next possession, returning the ball to the Marshall 26. Evridge hit Graham for a touchdown on the next play, and Wisconsin took a 31-14 lead.

Brian Anderson replaced Cann at quarterback for Marshall, but Brinkley picked his second pass of the afternoon. The Thundering Herd forced a fumble by Evridge to fend off another scoring drive, but any thoughts of an upset had evaporated.

Marshall held Wisconsin to 25 yards of total offense and a single first down in the first quarter, taking a 7-0 lead on a 1-yard touchdown run by Chubb Small.

After a three-and-out by the Badgers, Marshall continued to execute its no-huddle offense. Marshall’s 10-play drive ended with a 1-yard touchdown run by Darius Marshall to go ahead 14-0.

A 3-yard touchdown run by Zach Brown put the Badgers ahead 17-14 at halftime.

Wisconsin’s home winning streak trails only Oklahoma (19) among major college football teams.

*****

Marshall........................7 7 0 0 — 14

Wisconsin....................0 17 21 13 — 51

First Quarter

Mar—Small 1 run (Ratanamorn kick), 4:08.

Second Quarter

Mar—Marshall 1 run (Ratanamorn kick), 13:34.

Wis—Hill 2 run (Welch kick), 10:16.

Wis—FG Welch 45, 4:54.

Wis—Brown 3 run (Welch kick), :36.

Third Quarter

Wis—Hill 1 run (Welch kick), 13:02.

Wis—Graham 26 pass from Evridge (Welch kick), 9:45.

Wis—Clay 4 run (Welch kick), 1:04.

Fourth Quarter

Wis—Ewing 1 run (kick blocked), 7:57.

Wis—Clay 5 run (Welch kick), 4:49.

A—80,396.

___

Mar Wis

First downs 18 26

Rushes-yards 29-75 40-158

Passing 239 329

Comp-Att-Int 24-46-3 18-27-0

Return Yards 9 60

Punts-Avg. 6-41.3 3-47.7

Fumbles-Lost 0-0 4-1

Penalties-Yards 5-50 6-40

Time of Possession 31:31 28:29

———

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—Marshall, Marshall 15-50, Edwards 8-11, Cann 3-8, Small 3-6. Wisconsin, Hill 18-57, Clay 11-54, Brown 7-36, Gilreath 1-11, Ewing 2-3, Evridge 1-(minus 3).

PASSING—Marshall, Cann 20-39-2-211, Anderson 4-6-1-28, Team 0-1-0-0. Wisconsin, Evridge 17-26-0-308, Sherer 1-1-0-21.

RECEIVING—Marshall, Passmore 7-95, L.Smith 6-53, Milligan 4-34, Spann 2-7, Marshall 1-16, Wynn 1-14, Edmonson 1-13, T.Thompson 1-8, Small 1-(minus 1). Wisconsin, Graham 4-73, Kendricks 3-94, Jefferson 3-66, Gilreath 3-47, M.Moore 3-37, Anderson 1-6, Turner 1-6.