Richmond at North Dakota, Saturday, 2:00
Richmond did not have much trouble in the first round of the playoffs against North Carolina A&T. A solid, balanced offense and a stifling defense led to an easy 39-10 victory. Richmond now gets to head to North Dakota to take on the Fighting Hawks. North Carolina A&T could not find a way to slow down backup quarterback Kevin Johnson and 1,000 yard receiver Brian Brown. When those two are clicking, the Spiders are very difficult to beat. However, Richmond has struggled at times due to the lack of a consistent ground game. Deontez Thompson rushed for 98 yards against North Carolina A&T, but the ground game will have a lot more trouble against North Dakota.
UND boasts one of the best rush defenses in the FCS and Richmond will have to work very hard to establish an effective ground game. On the other side of the ball, North Dakota will try to establish the run game themselves behind John Santiago. The North Dakota passing attack has been average at best this year and Richmond has one of the best pass defenses around.
This will be a very interesting game that will likely come down to Richmond’s struggling ground game against North Dakota’s dominate run defense and North Dakota’s struggling passing game against Richmond’s potent pass defense. Whichever team can find balance to their offense will have the upper hand in this enticing second round matchup. With quarterback Kyle Lauletta out for the season, Richmond's offense could struggle against a tougher opponent like North Dakota.
Projected Score: North Dakota 34, Richmond 31
