During the 2010s, the University of Rhode Island football team had a combined record of 26-84, with two single-win seasons and a winless campaign in 2012; this season the Rams put together their best season since 1985 and claimed 11 wins for the first time in program history.
There were rumors of a complete shutdown of the program in previous years. Now, it has a first-ever Colonial Athletic Association conference title and a home playoff victory over Central Connecticut State University, 21-17 on Saturday. The playoff win marked URI’s first postseason appearance since 1985.
Since the turn of the decade, the Rams are 33-16, but were never able to capture an elusive playoff bid in past campaigns. In 2024, they proved the critics wrong, earning a share of the CAA title for the first time and securing the 10th seed in the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.
URI was picked to finish eighth in the preseason CAA poll, but used its strong defense and new playmakers on offense to power it to a 10-2 regular-season record, with no losses against true FCS opponents. Their only two losses came against Football Bowl Subdivision opponent University of Minnesota, and the University of Delaware, who are in the middle of a transition to the FBS level.
“It’s a historic deal, it was number 11,” URI Head Coach Jim Fleming said. “I told [the team] ‘out of 129 years of playing college football here on the campus at URI no team has ever won 11 games in one year.’ We obviously have a lot more work to do.”
Rhody never trailed against the Blue Devils, but both teams made crucial mistakes that led to a battle which came down to the final minutes, according to Fleming.
“I thought that was one of our ugliest wins, but [it was] still representative of what kind of team this is in terms of staying in it, just finding a way to get it done,” Fleming said. “There’s a lot of things we need to fix, but we’ll take it. We’re in a ‘do or die’ situation, we know that.”
The Rams jumped in front when fifth-year quarterback Hunter Helms rolled out of the pocket to his right and found fifth-year utility Tommy Smith wide open in the endzone for the 38-yard score with 2:31 remaining in the first quarter. This was the first of two touchdowns on the day – He had the one through the air and one on the ground on a direct snap. Smith’s performance earned him the nickname “Touchdown Tommy” from his teammates.
“It’s good with me, whatever people like [calling me] is good with me,” Smith said. “I do like the wildcat [formation, the way Smith scored his second touchdown], in high school I played quarterback so I’m comfortable back there.”
Rhody struck again when fifth-year defensive back Emmanuel Gomes intercepted the next play from scrimmage and dove into the pylon for a pick-six.
“Going up 14-0 I just knew we had to stay level-headed,” Gomes said. “Everybody was cheering me on, congratulating me but my mindset is just, ‘next play, next play.’ It’s football, anything can happen.”
Just as Gomes feared, CCSU knotted the game at 14 apiece in the third quarter. Rhode Island hung on to win it as Smith’s second touchdown of the game gave the team a 21-14 lead late in the fourth quarter, before a Blue Devil field goal that put the finishing touches on the final score, 21-17.
Rhode Island will now head to Macon, Georgia to take on the seventh-seeded Mercer University Bears in the second round. The two teams will face off for the first time in history, with the winner taking on the victor of the second-seeded North Dakota State University and Abilene Christian University.
Rhody and Mecer kickoff at 2 p.m. on Saturday, and the game is available to be streamed on ESPN+ with an audio broadcast available on The Varsity Network. A watch party will be held at the Ryan Center following the conclusion of Saturday’s men’s basketball game versus Providence College, which is set to tip-off at noon.