A second half comeback wasn’t enough as Rhody dropped their third straight game of the season to Maine. PHOTO CREDIT: gorhody.com
It’s been a season of extremes for the University of Rhode Island Football team.
Rhody now finds themselves at a low point, dropping their third straight game of the season by a score of 45-24 against Maine on Saturday.
After yet another loss, URI Head Coach Jim Fleming talked about how frustrating his team’s play has been the last three weeks.
“You’ve got to get sick and tired of being sick and tired at some point in time,” Fleming said. “We’ve been playing kind of gross for the last several weeks.”
Going in, the Rams had lost in two lopsided matchups on the road against Towson and Villanova, where they were defeated by a combined score of 72-7. Looking for a spark on offense, Fleming decided to give the starting nod at quarterback to Brandon “Pop” Robinson over Kasim Hill, who had started every game to that point.
“We felt, when you look back at the Villanova game, he was deserving of a start,” Fleming said. “He moved the team pretty effectively when he was in there versus Villanova.”
After a slow start that showed Robinson only completing one pass, Hill was put back in at quarterback. He immediately found Paul Woods on a 22-yard touchdown reception, getting them in scoring range which eventually led to a CJ Carrick 39-yard field goal.
Despite the switch, not much changed for Rhody in the first half. The Black Bears scored touchdowns on their first three possessions, leading 24-3 after the first 30 minutes of play.
The start of the second half brought about a much different Rams team. Right out of the gate, Hill found Woods on a career-long 68-yard touchdown pass to make it a two-score game.
Just three plays later, Maine quarterback Derek Robertson threw a pass down the sideline that was wrestled away and intercepted by freshman cornerback Frederick Mallay, the first of his career.
On the next drive, Hill completed a third down pass on the run to Ed Lee for 34 yards. Rhody capped the seven-play, 55-yard drive off with a Jalen Smith 3-yard touchdown catch, cutting the lead to 24-17.
After a pair of punts, the Black Bears extended their lead back to two scores when Robertson threw for his third touchdown pass of the game. This set a new career high for the redshirt freshman, finishing the game with four in total.
Rhody quickly bounced back on their next drive. Facing fourth and long to start the fourth quarter, Hill converted on a big pass down the middle to tight end Caleb Warren for 26 yards. The Rams faced another fourth down a few plays later near the goal line. After a drop three plays earlier, Warren redeemed himself with a 5-yard touchdown catch to make it 31-24 Black Bears.
Maine added another touchdown before the wheels completely fell off for URI. On a second-and-10 play from their own 24-yard line, Hill was sacked and lost his helmet, which sparked a heated confrontation between both teams. Rhody was handed two personal fouls when the dust cleared, pushing them back 15 yards before an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Hill pushed them back inside their own 5-yard line.
“That was a weird, weird deal that happened to Kasim,” Fleming said. “They were almost like, mugging him.”
Rhody was unable to overcome their field position, and Maine put away the game with a score with under five minutes remaining in the game to make it 45-24. What once looked like a game that could come down to the wire quickly, became yet another lopsided Rams loss.
“We’ll take another good look at ourselves,” Fleming said. “It’s just disappointing, because I think that was a winnable game.”
Even with their struggles, Fleming still believes that this season could turn out to be a success for a program that has not reached the playoffs for over three decades.
“If we’re able to go ahead and win the next three, then you got eight wins and that’s a phenomenal season for the University of Rhode Island,” he said.
Rhody hopes to get back on track Saturday when they travel to visit the University of Massachusetts Minutemen. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.