Unprecedented territory is nearly upon the University of Rhode Island football team, as its 24-14 win on Saturday over the University of Maine placed it one win away from tying its best start to a season in program history.
The Rams last started a season 8-1 in 1984, and the year after in 1985 is when they last won an outright conference championship. Many things have changed in the last 38 years: the Rams now play in the Coastal Athletic Association as opposed to the Yankee Conference, and Meade Stadium is now synthetic turf as opposed to grass. URI Head Coach Jim Fleming still uses that stretch of Rhody football as a goal to strive for in 2024.
“[Winning a conference championship] is something that these guys work extremely hard for,” Fleming said. “Motivation to win a championship, c’mon man, it’s sitting on the banner in front of us in the north endzone, [that’s] been there forever since 1985… I don’t think motivation is a problem.”
Rhode Island’s win over the Black Bears was the latest addition to their motivated run, as another positive second half in point differential helped to secure their sixth-straight win.
The Rams have won the second half in each of the last six games, avenging a poor offensive start in week nine’s matchup against Maine. The Rams were held scoreless in the first quarter by the Black Bears, as fifth-year quarterback Carter Peevy’s touchdown pass to sixth-year tight end Cooper Heisey with under a minute left in the quarter represented the lone score.
The Rams were unable to score on their first three offensive drives, punting all three. However, Rhody found the endzone on their final two, with third-year quarterback Devin Farrell using his legs on both to put the Rams up 14-7 inside the two-minute timeout before halftime.
“I think every game we’ve started slow, but the guys just keep working through it and I’m so grateful to have them on my side, because it happens,” Farrell said. “It happens, we have a new team, younger team, younger quarterback, it’s gonna happen. So I’m just grateful that we have the right guys on this team in order to keep going.”
The Rams went on to outscore the Black Bears 10-7 in the second half, with a 35-yard field goal from second-year Ty Groff serving as the difference when it went through the uprights with just over six minutes left on the clock.
The win signified more than just another tally in the left column of the standings – it also represents the first time Rhode Island has gone undefeated in the month of October, a month in which they have seen their season be derailed in years past, losing half their games in the tenth month in 2023.
“[We’ve] been through September and October, and October has always been that month where we have taken a dip, and we haven’t [this year],” Fleming said. “We’re going into November with a very challenging schedule, but tremendous belief and a good football team.”
The Rams take on the first opponent this month in Monmouth University this weekend, who possesses the best offense in the CAA, averaging 40.6 points per game. The Rams host the Hawks on Saturday at 1 p.m, and the game can be streamed on FloSports, with radio broadcasts on Varsity Network and WRIU 90.3 FM.