The clock had 2:23 remaining; the score read 7-6.
In a game where the University of Rhode Island football team had twice relied on fifth-year kicker Garth White to salvage points from drives that stalled in the red zone, they needed him to deliver one more time from a little further out.
With field goals of 24 and 29 yards already on the afternoon, White needed to hit from 41 yards to stay perfect and give Rhode Island the lead over the College of the Holy Cross late in the game on Sept. 13. Not an easy spot for a player who, just minutes before game time, felt enough pain in his leg to ask URI Head Coach Jim Fleming for some Advil.
“Kicking is definitely a position unlike any other,” White said. “[It’s] similar to pitching; you can’t throw 100 fastballs back-to-back-to-back days.”
So there White stood, pain medication numbing the effects of a busy week leading up to the game, staring down a kick longer than any he had made previously in his collegiate career. His teammates and coaches watched from the sidelines, with his head coach feeling much better about a high-leverage kicking situation than in previous years.
“We’re confident with him now that we know where his range is,” Fleming said. “When he said he needed Advil, I wasn’t overly confident, but once he made the first one, I felt good.”
White drilled the kick to give the Rams a lead they would not relinquish. He turned toward his sideline flexing, the blue No. 98 on the front of his jersey getting blocked out by the mob of his celebrating teammates.
“At the end of the day, making these kicks is what matters,” White said. “The offense gets me down there, puts me in a position to make my kicks, but I can’t do it without my snapper, my holder [and] the line up front.”
White’s tackle of first-year Holy Cross kick returner Joseph Williams earlier in the game earned him some pats on the back from his teammates. But that paled in comparison to his game-winning kick. His 3/3 day in field goal attempts made him 5/7 on the season. Including Saturday’s game against Long Island University, he has yet to miss an extra point try on 12 attempts.
After punting at Ventura Junior College before riding the bench for three seasons at the University of Southern California, White has settled in during his first season as a full-time kicker at URI.
“He’s got a big leg, and obviously he stepped forward for us pretty good against Holy Cross,” Fleming said. “We expect him to continue to get better as we get through the year.”
White’s big day gave Rhode Island a 3-0 start for just the 10th time in program history and its first since 2021. For a team with aspirations to win its first-ever Football Championship Subdivision National Championship, White’s strong start has helped the Rams emerge as one of the last unbeaten teams in the country. Time will tell if that trend continues.
White and the rest of URI will look to stay undefeated this upcoming week as they travel to Kalamazoo, Michigan to face Football Bowl Subdivision opponent Western Michigan, who is coming off a come-from-behind victory over Toledo University over the weekend.
