The Coastal Athletic Conference has been one of the strongest in the Football Championship Subdivision over the last few years, having at least four representatives in the FCS Playoffs each of the past two seasons.
Over the past week, we’ve had our first taste of conference play within the CAA as the first four conference games of the year took place. Just three weeks into the season, the landscape of the conference is beginning to take shape with teams starting to make statements as true contenders.
Every week, the Good Five Cent Cigar Sports Staff will evaluate all 16 teams in the conference and come up with a ranking. Here are the results for where the University of Rhode Island football team and the rest of the CAA stand as we head into week four of the season.
16th Place: Bryant University Bulldogs (1-2, 0-0)
Making their debut as a member of the conference this season, Bryant has had an ugly start to the year. The only silver lining of their season-opening loss to the University of Delaware was that despite both being members of the CAA, it technically didn’t count as a conference game.
After squeaking out a 21-17 win over Division II opponent, Franklin Pierce University, Bryant was unable to maintain that momentum this past week when they suffered a 43-22 loss at home to the College of the Holy Cross.
15th Place: University of Maine Black Bears (1-2, 0-1)
To say that Maine has had defensive struggles the past two weeks would be an understatement, as they have now lost two straight after their season-opening win over Colgate University. The Black Bears have given up a combined 92 points over the past two weeks with the latest loss being a 51-22 bludgeoning in their conference opener against Monmouth University.
Ranking middle of the pack on the offensive side at just 21.8 points scored per game, Maine is going to have to figure out their problems on defense if they want a chance to make their upcoming games competitive.
14th Place: North Carolina A&T University Aggies (1-2, 0-1)
NC A&T had a rough conference opener as they welcomed in Delaware and were dominated from start to finish in a 42-13 loss. The Aggies are another team having plenty of issues on defense, currently ranking 14th in the conference in points allowed per game.
To go along with this, their lone win on the season was a hard fought 27-20 overtime win over a Division II opponent, Winston-Salem State University.
13th Place: #20 University at Albany Great Danes (1-2, 0-0)
Albany is the first team in our rankings that has really fallen short of expectations early in the season. The bottom three in the rankings were all picked to finish 13th or worse in the CAA Preseason Poll, but Albany was picked to finish third after coming off a share of the CAA Championship last season.
The Great Danes have lost two straight that haven’t been particularly close, losing by a combined score of 90-27. The big concern comes from their 41-13 loss to the University of Idaho. Although Idaho is currently ranked top five in the FCS, Albany was certainly hoping to stay more competitive in this one.
12th Place: Elon University Phoenix (1-2, 0-0)
Elon is another team that came into the season with high expectations and finds themselves towards the bottom of our first rankings. After dominating North Carolina Central University 41-19 in their FCS opener, the Phoenix got outscored 14-3 in the fourth quarter on their home turf in a disappointing 24-17 loss to Western Carolina University.
The good news for Elon is that they still have one more week to regroup before they begin conference play as they get a final non-conference game at home against Eastern Tennessee State University this weekend.
11th Place: Campbell University Camels (1-2, 0-1)
Campbell has had no favors with their early season schedule, having to play each of their first three games on the road and winning just one of the three. This past week, they were unable to get the offense going as they were held to just nine points in their conference opener against URI.
The Camels finally get their home opener this weekend when they will welcome in Stony Brook University and they’ll be hoping that the home energy can provide a spark for their struggling offense.
10th Place: Towson University Tigers (1-2, 0-1)
Speaking of struggling offenses, that has been the story of Towson’s season to this point as they were held to 14 points or less in their past two games. Despite this, their defense has held strong to give them a 14-9 win over Morgan State University and just a one point loss against preseason CAA favorite, Villanova University.
If the Tigers can start finding just a little bit more offense, they might be able to string together some low-scoring victories and put this tough start to the season behind them quickly.
9th Place: Hampton University Pirates (2-1, 0-0)
Hampton is riding high right now as they have won their past two games, the latest being a dominant 37-7 effort on the road over Norfolk State University. The offense has looked dangerous for the Pirates early on in this season, currently ranking third in the CAA in points per game.
Despite being picked to finish 12th in the preseason poll, Hampton is showing early that they might be able to surprise some people and make noise this season.
8th Place: Stony Brook University Seawolves (2-1, 0-0)
Staying on the topic of early season surprises, no one is exceeding their expectations more in the CAA than Stony Brook. After a winless year last season and being picked to finish last in the conference this season, a 2-1 start is pretty shocking to see for the Seawolves.
Winners of their past two games, Stony Brook is now going to have a chance to win more games already this season (three) than they had in the past two years combined. They’ll have the opportunity to accomplish this in their CAA opener on the road this weekend against Campbell.
7th Place: Monmouth University Hawks (1-2, 1-0)
On the surface, it looks like it’s been a tough start to the season for Monmouth as they currently sit under .500. However, the Hawks have looked dangerous on offense with 27 or more points in all three of their games, the latest being a statement 51-22 victory over Maine on the road.
They’ll have to figure out how to make some stops on defense, but Monmouth appears capable of scoring with anyone and will look to build off their conference opener win.
6th Place: University of Richmond Spiders (1-2, 0-0)
Like Monmouth, Richmond finds themselves in the top half of our rankings largely aided by their showing this past weekend. After dropping their first two, the Spiders were dominant in a 38-0 win over Charleston Southern University on Saturday.
The reigning CAA co-champions currently rank top five in the conference in both points scored per game and points allowed per game, so their under .500 record certainly doesn’t tell the full story.
5th Place: University of New Hampshire Wildcats (2-1, 0-0)
The Wildcats got off to a tough start this year when they traveled down to play the University of Central Florida and came away with a season-opening 57-3 loss. They responded very nicely, though, as they went on the road to get a thrilling 21-20 road win over Holy Cross and then cruised to a 45-6 win in their home opener against Stonehill College.
New Hampshire now prepares for their CAA opener where they will look to extend their winning streak to three against one of the weaker teams in the conference, Bryant.
4th Place: University of Rhode Island Rams (2-1, 1-0)
The Rams came into this season with a lot of uncertainty, specifically at the quarterback position as they debated whether to start third-year Devin Farrell or fourth-year Hunter Helms. Farrell has been given majority of the playing time and is making the most of it, receiving CAA Offensive Player of the Week honors in their 20-17 win over Holy Cross and leading the Rams to an undefeated start in FCS play.
Though most of the attention has been centered around the questions with the offense, it’s been the defense that has been most impressive for Rhode Island early on. Their overall numbers are skewed by a 48-0 loss to the University of Minnesota, but aside from that they haven’t allowed more than 17 points in their other two contests.
3rd Place: #12 College of William and Mary Tribe (2-1, 0-0)
William and Mary has done exactly what they’ve needed to do early in this season as they are currently undefeated in FCS play. The Tribe dominated in week one with a 41-7 victory and quickly responded from their loss to Coastal Carolina University with a hard fought 28-21 win on the road against Wofford University on Saturday.
William and Mary ranks top five in points scored and points allowed per game and looks like a team that could make some noise for the CAA title, although they won’t open conference play until Sept. 28 against Hampton.
2nd Place: #5 Villanova University Wildcats (3-0, 1-0)
We now arrive at the two remaining unbeatens in the conference with the Wildcats just missing out on the top spot. Villanova has lived up to being picked as the CAA favorite heading into the year as they’ve rattled off three consecutive wins to begin their season.
Villanova’s defense has been impenetrable so far as they have yet to allow more than 17 points in a game. They struggled to get things going offensively this past weekend, but they will take a conference win any way they can get it as they held off Towson in a 14-13 victory.
1st Place: University of Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens (2-0, 1-0)
The one difference between Delaware and Villanova that earned the Blue Hens our top spot in the rankings is the fashion they’ve been winning their games in. Both of their wins have been convincing with neither contest being within three possessions, a 48-17 win over Bryant in week one and a 42-13 victory against NC A&T this past weekend.
Not only have they been embarrassing their opponents, but both have been against members of the CAA, although their season-opener against Bryant didn’t count as a conference game. Still, this shows they will be a force to be reckoned with as conference play continues to progress.