Richmond at Eastern Washington, Saturday, 4:00
Richmond was down by 17 points at seventh seeded North Dakota. But they rallied on the shoulders of backup quarterback Kevin Johnson and beat UND 27-24. The Spiders, who beat North Carolina A&T in the first round, now travel to Eastern Washington where their stingy pass defense will be seriously tested. The Spiders allow about 150 yards per game through the air, while the Eagles have the most prolific pass offense in the FCS.
Eastern Washington’s potent passing offense was on full display during their 31-14 Second Round win over Central Arkansas. Quarterback Gage Gubrud threw for 449 yards and two touchdowns, both to All-Everything receiver Cooper Kupp. Eastern Washington was unable to establish a ground game against Central Arkansas and eventually that will be a problem during the playoffs. For now though, EWU can still outscore Richmond by just keeping the ball in the air with Gubrud hitting Kupp and fellow wide receivers Kendrick Bourne and Shaq Hill.
If Richmond wants to pull off another upset, they are going to have to find a way to get a few stops and keep up with EWU through the air. Johnson is coming into his own and having Brian Brown at wide receiver has made his job easier, but keeping up with Eastern Washington is not easy and the Eagles should put an end to Richmond’s nice little playoff run.
Projected Score: Eastern Washington 41, Richmond 24
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