Perkins, UVA Explode For 42 Points In Rout Of Richmond

Virginia fans had to wait 40 minutes for the season opener against Richmond, but Bryce Perkins made the delay worth the wait as his running and passing sparked an offensive explosion in the Wahoos 42-13 rout of the visiting Richmond Spiders.

The Cavalier running game – led by Perkins – was the star of the show. Last year in each of its 13 games, the most yards running the team produced was 182 yards against Duke. Against Richmond, UVA had 196 yards rushing in the FIRST HALF and finished the game with just over 300 yards. The margin of victory was the biggest for Virginia in a football game since 2014, when the Cavaliers beat both Richmond and Kent State 45-13.

Most of the success was due to Perkins, whose quickness and running ability produced the first two Cavalier touchdowns, then opened up running lanes for Jordan Ellis, as the Spider defense hesitated out of fear of Perkins running the ball. Ellis made the most of those opportunities and scored two touchdowns himself and gained 146 yards rushing.

For the crowd of 40,524 who had to endure a 40-minute weather delay due to lightning and thunderstorms in the area, the game did not start off on a high note. After Perkins moved the Cavaliers down the field on their first drive, the young UVA QB made a rather large mistake by throwing a ball right into the hands of Richmond linebacker Dale Matthews, who returned the gift 72 yards for a pick-6 that gave Richmond an early 7-0 lead.

But Perkins didn’t seem bothered by the pick at all, marching Virginia down the field on the next possession. When all receivers were covered on one play, he calmly took off up the middle for 36 yards and a touchdown to tie the score.

A 42-yard field goal by Richmond’s Griffin Trau gave the Spiders their last lead of the night, then Perkins drove his team 68 yards in 10 plays for the go-ahead score. Perkins scored the touchdown himself on a 22-yard run, as the crowd was buzzing about the running abilities of their new quarterback. The score jumped to 21-10 when Perkins tossed a 38-yard scoring pass to lightning quick Olamide Zaccheaus, then Ellis went to work.

Ellis hammered the middle and off-tackle lanes on an 80-yard 10-play drive that culminated in his 10-yard scoring run that made the halftime score 28-10. The second half started much the same way, as this time it was a 65-yard drive that ended in Ellis running off tackle and heading down the far sideline for a 22-yard touchdown to make it 35-10.

From that point on, it was only a matter of what the final margin would be. Trau added another field goal for Richmond, and Perkins tossed his second TD pass of the night, this one from 20 yards out to Hasis Dubois to make it 42-13. Perkins would finish the night with 185 yards passing and 108 yards rushing. Zaccheaus had six catches for 101 yards, meaning UVA had a quarterback who threw for over 100 yards, a QB and running back (Ellis) run for over 100 yards, and a receiver catches passes for over 100 yards.

Virginia will now prepare for a road game next Saturday at Indiana.

Game Stats
	RICHMOND	VIRGINIA
First Downs	9	25
Rushing Yards	16	333
Rushing A-Y-Avg	20-16-0.8	47-333-7.1
Receiving Yards	187	187
Receiving R-Y-Avg	13-187-14.4	13-187-14.4
Passing Yards	187	187
Pass C-A-I	13-29-2	13-26-1
Plays-Yards	49-203	73-520
Yards/Play	4.14	7.12
Kick Return yards	1-24	2-31
Punt Return Yards	0-0	3–1
Interception-Yards	1-72	2-3
Fumbles-Yards	0-0	0-0
Fumbles-Lost	1-0	1-0
Penalties	5-69	4-24
Punts	4-36.3	5-23.4
Possession	25:12	34:48
3rd Eff	2-10	8-14
4th Eff	0-1	1-1

Richmond	10	0	3	0	13
Virginia	14	14	7	7	42

			UR	VA
1st	08:50	UR – Dale Matthews interception returned 72 yards (Griffin Trau kick)	7	0
1st	08:30	VA – Bryce Perkins 36 run (A.J. Mejia kick)	7	7
1st	06:26	UR – Griffin Trau 42 FG	10	7
1st	01:38	VA – Bryce Perkins 22 run (A.J. Mejia kick)	10	14
2nd	12:20	VA – Olamide Zaccheaus 38 pass from Bryce Perkins (A.J. Mejia kick)	10	21
2nd	05:49	VA – Jordan Ellis 10 run (A.J. Mejia kick)	10	28
3rd	10:45	VA – Jordan Ellis 21 run (A.J. Mejia kick)	10	35
3rd	02:52	UR – Griffin Trau 42 FG	13	35
4th	14:11	VA – Hasise Dubois 20 pass from Bryce Perkins (A.J. Mejia kick)	13	42

Virginia Offensive Statistics

Rushing	No	Gain	Loss	Net	TD	Lg	Avg
Jordan Ellis	18	142	1	141	2	21	7.8
Bryce Perkins	12	119	15	104	2	36	8.7
PK Kier	6	27	0	27	0	9	4.5
Brennan Armstrong	3	13	2	11	0	8	3.7
Joe Reed	1	9	0	9	0	9	9
Lamont Atkins	1	5	0	5	0	5	5
Tavares Kelly	1	4	0	4	0	4	4
Jamari Peacock	1	2	0	2	0	2	2
Olamide Zaccheaus	2	0	11	-11	0	0	-5.5
Totals	47	370	37	333	4	49	7.1

Passing	Cmp-Att-Int	Yds	TD	Long	Sack
Bryce Perkins	12-23-1	181	2	38	3
Brennan Armstrong	1-2-0	6	0	6	0
Totals	13-26-1	187	2	38	3

Receiving	No.	Yds	TD	Long
Olamide Zaccheaus	5	97	1	38
Hasise Dubois	3	36	1	20
Joe Reed	2	34	0	19
Evan Butts	2	10	0	6
Terrell Jana	1	10	0	10
Totals	13	187	2	38

Virginia Defensive Statistics

No.	Player	Solo	Ast	Tot	TFL/Yds	FF	Intc	BrUp	Sack/Yds
34	Bryce Hall	4	1	5	1.0/6	1	.	.	1.0/6
28	Brenton Nelson	3	1	4	.	.	1-3	1	.
11	Charles Snowden	2	2	4	0.5/1	.	.	.	.
17	Malcolm Cook	1	3	4	.	.	.	.	.
37	Jordan Mack	2	1	3	1.0/2	.	.	.	.
29	Joey Blount	2	.	2	2.0/7	.	1-0	.	.
5	Tim Harris	1	1	2	.	.	.	1	.
13	Chris Peace	1	1	2	1.0/2	.	.	.	.
16	Richard Burney	1	1	2	1.0/2	.	.	.	.
91	Mandy Alonso	1	.	1	1.0/9	.	.	.	1.0/9
33	Zane Zandier	1	.	1	.	.	.	.	.
22	Robert Snyder	1	.	1	1.0/3	.	.	.	.
12	12	1	.	1	1.0/4	.	.	.	.
9	Dominic Sheppard	1	.	1	1.0/2	.	.	.	.
50	Tommy Christ	1	.	1	.	.	.	.	.
2	Joe Reed	.	1	1	.	.	.	.	.
94	Aaron Faumui	.	1	1	.	.	.	.	.
43	Elliott Brown	.	1	1	.	.	.	.	.
58	Eli Hanback	.	1	1	0.5/0	.	.	.	.
20	Nick Grant	.	1	1	.	.	.	.	.
32	Darrius Bratton	.	.	.	.	.	.	2	.
21	Juan Thornhill	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	.