Panthers win battle of past, present Rhody coaches
Marques DeShields finished with 82 yards and two touchdowns in the 45-24 loss. PHOTO CREDIT: gorhody.com
The past and present clashed this weekend as Jim Fleming and his Rhode Island Football team traveled to Acrisure Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to take on the FBS #24 Pittsburgh Panthers, led by former Rhody assistant coach Pat Narduzzi.
It was a tall task for the Rams, and they answered the challenge at times, but ultimately, the Panthers walked away with a 45-24 victory.
The Panthers struck first and struck quickly when, after a Rhody three-and-out, Pitt’s M.J. Devonshire would take the ensuing punt 82 yards to the house to give his side the early 7-0 advantage. Fleming was disappointed in the costly mistake but felt his Rams did a solid job bouncing back from the big play.
“It was disappointing, we pride ourselves on our special teams, and if we would’ve been losing by seven late, we would have regretted it,” Fleming said. “But those early explosions should never bury you. I do believe the kids hung in there and battled through.”
The Rams showed their fight when, after Pitt doubled their lead with another touchdown, the Rams added a touchdown of their own via a Marques DeShields 75-yard scamper. That made it 14-7 with five minutes to go in the first quarter, and that’s how things would shake out heading into the second.
The Panthers were, once again, the first team to strike in the quarter as Israel Abanikanda ran the ball in from 12 yards out for his second of four scores on the day. Pitt would add to their 21-7 lead with a field goal two drives later before the Rams would respond.
DeShields once again ran it in from two yards out after a big pass from senior quarterback Kasim Hill found senior receiver Paul Woods to set up the touchdown. That would be the final score of the half, and the two sides headed into the break at 24-14 with the Panthers on top.
The third quarter was relatively quiet as another touchdown from Abanikanda, and a Rhody field goal would send the two teams into the fourth at 31-17 in favor of the Panthers. Fleming felt this was a position that he and his team would’ve been happy with going into the game.
“Our goal was to get it to the fourth quarter with a shot, which I think we did,” Fleming said. “But it was just too little too late.”
As Fleming mentioned, the Rams were not able to cut into the two-score deficit in the fourth as Abanikanda and the Pittsburgh run game would tack on two more touchdowns to cancel out a passing score from Hill to redshirt junior Darius Savedge. The victory in the final quarter sealed the deal and gave the Panthers the 45-24 win.
Coach Narduzzi of Pitt was thoroughly impressed with the effort from the Rams, claiming the program has come a long way since he was there from 1993-99.
“I thought we were good today but not great,” Narduzzi said. “Credit to Rhode Island. That’s a good football team. A lot better than what we looked like in the old days.”
After battling a tough team to the end, Fleming is looking to get back in the win column this Saturday at Meade Stadium when they take on in-state rival Brown University for the Governor’s Cup at 6 p.m.