URI’s L.URI’s L.B Mack III, Oneil “Buzz” Robinson and Henry Yianakopolos celebrate a touchdown during Saturday’s upset win vs. Delaware. Photo Credit: Photo By Friday
The University of Rhode Island Football team has surpassed their win total from the last two seasons combined, and they still have six games remaining on their schedule.
The fantastic start of the season continued Saturday after cornerback Jordan Jones intercepted a pass from University of Delaware quarterback Zach Gwynn with 23 seconds left in the game to seal a 22-15 upset victory against No. 9 Delaware.
It was one of two interceptions that Jones had during the game and his fifth of the season, the most in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).
“Coach was talking about making a play for the team, and I just wanted to make a play for the team,” Jones said. “I turned around, saw the ball and went to go get it.”
The win marks the third time that the team has knocked off a ranked opponent in 2021 — an achievement that isn’t far off the mind of Head Coach Jim Fleming.
“It’s important,” Fleming said. “When you look at the national championships that Delaware has, the investment that they have in their program, the facilities, all the things that we are striving to become right now is what Delaware has. We play the guys in this world that are ‘have nots,’ and we have a little chip on our shoulder. You give these guys a peanut butter jelly sandwich instead of a steak, they don’t care. They are going to go out and battle.”
Although Jones made the play that sealed the victory for the Rams, it was a huge special teams play from linebackers A.J. Bibeault and L.B. Mack III that gave the team the go-ahead score with 3:36 remaining in the game. Bibeault blocked a punt and Mack III recovered the football and returned it 28 yards to the house.
“We work on this every day in practice,” Mack III said. “Like our defensive coordinator [Jack Cooper] says ‘you don’t rise to the occasion, you fall back on your training,’ and that’s exactly what we did today.”
The play helped Bibeault earn Colonial Athletic Association Special Teams Player of the Week honors.
“It kind of felt like the snap was slow,” Bibeault said. “Just kind of put my body in there, and I just happened to be the guy with the hand in the way.”
The Rams got off to a strong start to begin the game, scoring 12 unanswered points and holding the Delaware offense to just 57 total yards of offense, four first downs and forcing two turnovers. The first came on just the second play of the game when Gwynn was picked off by Jones and the second came in the second quarter when Gywnn was picked off again, this time by safety Henry Yianakopolos.
Delaware eventually found their rhythm in the start of the second half and brought the game to one score after Gwynn found receiver Thyrick Pitts for a 42-yard touchdown pass.
The Blue Hens eventually took the lead with 10:37 remaining in the game after running back Quincy Watson forced his way into the end zone breaking multiple tackles and getting help from his offensive lineman. The Blue Hens would go to Watson again for the two-point conversion, which they would successfully convert to make it a 15-12 game.
Rhody cut into Delaware’s momentum four minutes later when kicker C.J. Carrick knocked in his third field goal of the afternoon from 32 yards out to tie the game.
On the ensuing possession, the Blue Hens drove into URI territory, but were forced to punt after linebacker Jarrett Martin got his hands on a pass intended to receiver Gene Coleman II. From there, Bibeault blocked the punt and Mack III scooped the ball and returned it for the score.
A quick 10-point swing put the Rams back in the lead and Delaware just couldn’t recover.
The win helped the Rams move up the STATS Perform FCS Poll to No. 12, their highest ranking since 2001.
Up next, the Rams head down to Maryland to take on Towson University on Saturday. It will be the first time that these two teams are meeting since 2017. They were scheduled to meet last year before Towson cancelled their spring season, and the COVID-19 pandemic shuffled scheduling. Kick off is scheduled for 4 p.m. and the game can be streamed on FloFootball.