WILLIAMSBURG — Even by defeating Richmond in the final game of its regular season, William & Mary would have been a longshot for the FCS playoffs. But done in by a brutal third quarter in which everything went wrong, the Tribe will never know.

Leading by two touchdowns at halftime, W&M was dominated the rest of the way in a 28-21 loss Saturday at Zable Stadium. The Tribe (7-5) had only 87 of its 194 total yards and 60 of its 85 penalty yards, after halftime.

Richmond quarterback Ashten Snelsire ran 14 yards for the winning touchdown with 1:56 remaining to seal the Spiders’ third consecutive win in the series. The Spiders (7-5) went 91 yards in 13 plays and took 6:19 off the clock.

“Tough loss, very disappointing,” W&M coach Mike London said. “They did what they needed to do and executed to win the game. We didn’t. It’s a tough locker room down there now.

“When a lot of things happen, you’ve got to respond to it. … There were a lot of different things, but they won. Hat goes off to them. We have to find ways, I have to find ways, to make sure we can stay highly competitive and chase championships.”

Other numbers hurt the Tribe. Quarterback Tyler Hughes threw for a season-low 86 yards, ending his streak of four consecutive 200-yard games. The running game picked up 108 yards, its second-lowest total against a fellow FCS team this season.

The Tribe were 4 of 12 on third downs, 1 of 5 in the second half.

It was the 136th game between the Tribe and the Spiders, but the first with the teams in different conferences. Next season, both will be members of the Patriot League.

The Spiders’ winning drive was aided by two Tribe penalties, both of the 15-yard variety.

The first came after Snelsire threw incomplete on third-and-10 from the Richmond 9- yard line. That would have set up a punt into the wind, which likely would have given the Tribe possession in Spiders territory.

Instead, a late flag was dropped in the end zone and defensive back Latrelle Smith-
Leaks was called for a personal foul. There was no replay shown, and London sidestepped commenting on the call.

“I’m going to leave that alone,” he said. “There were some flags thrown; we have to do a better job. But I’m not going to talk about the officiating.”

The second killer penalty came on second-and-7 from the Spiders’ 27-yard line. Snelsire kept for a short run, and another flag was thrown.

The officials ruled that because of an inadvertent whistle, the play didn’t count. But Justin Krueger was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct, resulting in a first down at the 42.

William & Mary led 14-0 at halftime, at which point none of Richmond’s 21 plays from scrimmage had been on the Tribe’s side of the field. But on their first possession of the third quarter, the Spiders finally got their offense moving.

After three first downs, and a personal foul on W&M, Richmond moved to the 11-yard line. On third down, UR quarterback Kyle Wickersham connected with wideout Ja’Vion Griffin for a touchdown to make it 14-7 with 10:01 left in the quarter.

After the Tribe went three-and-out, Richmond geared it up again. After converting a third-and-9, the Spiders tied the game on Wickersham’s 6-yard touchdown pass to Quanye Veney with 4:57 left in the third quarter.

After totaling 68 yards in the first half, the Spiders had 125 on their first two possessions of the third quarter. Wickersham was 5 of 8 for 36 yards in the first half and 7 of 10 for 92 yards on those two possessions.

But Richmond wasn’t done. After W&M again went three-and-out, the Spiders took over at the Tribe 40-yard line. On the second play of the drive, Wickersham — all 6-foot-4, 260 pounds of him — rambled 15 yards for a touchdown to give UR a 21-14 lead with 2:14 left.

In the third quarter, Richmond had 170 total yards to the Tribe’s 17.

W&M found its offensive rhythm on its first possession of the fourth quarter. A 35-yard run by Tariq Sims set up first-and-goal from the 7, and Hughes ran it in from there to tie the game with 11:11 left.

Taking advantage of a turnover and two dead-ball penalties on Richmond, W&M got on the board first less than four minutes into the game.

After the Tribe punted on the opening possession, the Spiders’ Jaiden Fair fumbled on the catch. W&M’s Harrison Johnson recovered at the Richmond 47-yard line. After horse-collar tackle and unnecessary roughness penalties set up first-and-goal, Hughes scored on a 3-yard touchdown run.

That was it for the first half as the teams combined for 175 total yards and a 3.2 average per snap.

https://www.pilotonline.com/2025/11/22/william-mary-squanders-lead-in-season-finale-vs-richmond/