Rhode Island wrapped up the 2015 football season with a 21-38 loss to Towson University on Nov. 21 leaving the Rams with a season record of 1-10. Although Rhode Island had its 13th straight losing season, it certainly wasn’t all negative. Here’s a quick look back at the highs and lows of the 2015 Rhode Island football season.
The season didn’t start off well in Week 1 with the Rams suffering a 47-0 loss to Syracuse. Syracuse was able to score 14 points off of four Rhode Island turnovers as the Rams struggled to get the season off on the right foot.
Rhode Island held its home opener in Week 3 as Harvard came to town. Once again the duo of Paul Mroz and Khayri Denny scored a 62-yard touchdown to start the second quarter before Justin Rohrwasser kicked a 33-yard field goal. However, the Rams could not outscore Harvard, losing 41-10.
Week 4 ended in the same manner as the previous three weeks when the Rams lost to Maine, 27-17. Although they suffered another loss, Rhode Island was able to score on all three trips to the red zone for the first time all season.
Week 5 meant the 100th annual Governor’s Cup as Rhode Island visited Brown in possibly one of the most exciting games of the season. After being down by 14 in the first quarter, Rhode Island was ably to rally and take the lead in the fourth quarter on a 13- yard touchdown pass from Mroz to Phadrae White. The Rams could not hold the lead however, as Brown came back to beat the Rams 41-31. Although it was a fifth straight loss, things appeared to be looking up for Rhode Island.
Rhode Island won its first and only of the game of the season in decisive fashion, beating the University of Delaware, 20-0. The defense had three interceptions that lead to 10 points including a pick-six by Tez Wilson. This was the first time in 99 games that Rhode Island had shut out an opponent.
With one win under their belts Rhode Island looked to continue the success over the last five games of the season. In Week 7 it was clear that the rest of the season was going to be like the first five weeks. After the loss of Mroz in the Week 6 victory, the season quickly went downhill and they lost the final five games of the season.
Not all is lost though as the Rams showed potential to be better next season. With the return of Paul Mroz, the combination of Mroz and Denny has potential to do damage to teams that may underestimate this growing Rams team. One sign of this growing potential is the seven players from the Rams made the CAA all conference team for the 2015 season including Harold Cooper who earned two spots on the all conference team.  With the combination of these all conference players and the duo of Mroz and Denny, Rhode Island looks to be a team not to be underestimated in  2016.