Villanova was winner in battle of big plays

Fortune is supposed to favor the bold, and University of Richmond coach Mike London made a bold decision late in yesterday's game against Villanova that should have won the game for the Spiders.

Spiders quarterback Eric Ward is supposed to be the coolest of the cool when the game is on the line, and he was exactly that yesterday.

So, how do you explain Richmond's 21-20 loss at UR Stadium?

Sure, you can point to the kicking game. Two missed extra-point attempts -- both caused by high snaps -- were a problem. The Spiders also gave Villanova a short field on their final kickoff. Then, Spiders kicker Andrew Howard missed a 35-yard field goal attempt with 5 seconds left in the game.

Those are the concrete reasons Richmond lost.

There is more to it than that, though.

"This was two heavyweights slugging it out," said Villanova coach Andy Talley. "Rich mond didn't deserve to lose. I don't think either team did."

But one team did, and it was the Spiders. Their 17-game winning streak ended. Their undefeated season ended. Their hold on the No.1 spot in the Football Championship Subdivision probably will disappear as well.

Unlike a top team losing late in the Football Bowl Subdivision, though, the Spiders remain very much alive in the national championship picture.

No one will be surprised if Richmond and Villanova, members of the Colonial Athletic Association, meet again, perhaps in Chattanooga, Tenn., in the FCS title game.

"I hope we do," London said. "That would be a tribute to the CAA."

It also would be a tribute to the quarterbacks of these teams.

Ward cemented his reputation last year as a quarterback who is at his best when the situation looks worse. His performance was a major reason the Spiders won the FCS championship.

And Ward was outstanding yesterday, using 50 of the final 55 seconds of the game to drive his team 59 yards. That put the Spiders in position to win with a field goal. But Howard's kick sailed wide left.

The Spiders needed those final points because Villanova quarterback Chris Whitney is every bit as cool a customer as Ward.

Whitney took the Wildcats 56 yards for the game-winning touchdown when the odds said his chances of doing so were slim and none.

The Spiders helped, squibbing the kickoff short instead of kicking deep. Villanova began its final drive on its 44.

"That was tough because they only had to go half the field," London said.

Half the field is no big deal to Whitney. Three completions carried the Wildcats to the Richmond 28. Then, two incompletions and a sack put the Wildcats in a fourth-and-11 at the Richmond 29.

A lesser quarterback easily could have been so rattled he would have been lucky to field the shotgun snap, much less get the pass away.

Richmond showed a big blitz, then backed a man out. Whitney recognized what was happening.

He took the snap and stood poised amid the chaos around him, and threw what one way or another would be his final pass of the game toward Brandyn Harvey.

"At first, I thought I overthrew him," Whitney said.

Harvey is 6-4 and has Inspector Gadget-like arms. He made a one-handed catch, stepped through and around several defenders and completed the 29-yard touchdown play.

"His arm kept going up and up and up," London said.

Things had looked down for the Spiders with less than five minutes left in the game. They faced a fourth-and-1at their 47, and logic said "punt and hope for one last chance."

London opted to be bold and go for the first down. Freshman fullback Kendall Gaskins gained 3 yards. Five plays later, Richmond scored a touchdown.

"I'm playing to win the game," London said of that fourth-down decision. "That's the mentality I have. You send the message to the players that we're in this to win it."

That's the precise message a coach should send. Unfortunately for the Spiders, Whitney and the Wildcats received the same message.