The University of Rhode Island men’s football team took down Long Island University by a score of 28-7 on Saturday night in its Homecoming contest, marking the first time since 2021 that the Rams have started 4-0 and the fifth time in program history.
URI, heading into the game ranked as high as sixth nationally in the Football Championship Subdivision, continued to come up big defensively, notching three sacks and getting stops on 10 of the 12 third-down attempts from the Sharks.
Following a week where they scored no touchdowns, the Rams’ offense saw fourth-year quarterback Devin Farrell post a modest 36 passing yards in the first quarter, going 3-9. Fortunately for Rhody, third-string quarterback Chris Howell for the Sharks did not throw a complete pass on eight attempts in the quarter.
On top of the incomplete passes, Howell was intercepted twice in the quarter, both times by fourth-year defensive back Justin Carcel, who was named CAA Defensive Player of the Week for his performance.
“It’s just plays that need to be made,” Carcel said. “If we need to pick up the offense, I know we’ll be able to [do so] on defense. And if we’re struggling on defense, I know the offense has our back as well.”
After the second Carcel interception, Rhody began a drive that resulted in getting on the scoreboard with 1:09 left in the first quarter, as Farrell found fourth-year wide receiver Aboraa Kwarteng in the end zone for a five-yard touchdown.
Setting the tone in the first five minutes of the second quarter, Farrell completed a 35-yard touchdown pass to third-year wide receiver Marquis Buchanan, the team’s second touchdown in a third-down scenario.
On the following LIU drive, which started at its own 25-yard line, Howell and the Sharks got to the URI 20-yard line before fourth-year linebacker A.J. Pena sacked Howell on third down. Pena, who finished the game with 1.5 sacks, forced a 37-yard field goal attempt by LIU, which went wide right.
“That’s our culture on defense: bend-don’t-break mentality,” Pena said. “It doesn’t matter if there’s a 60-yard run. There’s 40 more yards to cover. We can’t get caught in the past play; we have to go to the next play.”
LIU’s lone touchdown of the evening came with 0:16 remaining in the first half, as Howell scrambled to cross the goal line for a six-yard touchdown.
Despite the fact that URI held a lead at halftime, the Sharks gained 209 yards compared to the Rams’ 186 in the first half. LIU was led by fourth-year running back O’Shawn Ross, who finished the game with 138 total yards.
“I sensed frustration on offense,” URI Head Coach Jim Fleming said of his team at halftime. “Our guys found a way; they concentrated, they stayed in the game and played to the final second and had no real issue. I don’t think there was any doubt that we were going to be able to come out because we knew we had the ball in the third quarter.”
While URI didn’t get anything out of the opening drive of the second half, the Rams’ punting squad made a play on the ball that put LIU’s line of scrimmage on the one-yard line.
Rhody’s defense was “hungry” for a safety, according to Fleming, but settled for the three-and-out with no yards gained.
LIU’s 35-yard punt was returned by Buchanan for 31 yards, putting the Rams within four yards of the end zone.
”I was going to let it bounce, and then it got a perfect bounce into my hands,” Buchanan said. “The [URI players] up there made great blocks, so that’s credit to them.”
After a two-yard gain by fifth-year running back Antwain Littleton Jr., Farrell carried the ball into the end zone to give the Rams their third touchdown of the game with 10:43 left in the third quarter.
The final touchdown of the contest saw the Rams take advantage of a pass interference call on Buchanan, setting URI up on the two-yard line for first-and-goal. Littleton Jr. rushed for one yard before fighting his way across the goal line on second down.
After holding the College of Holy Cross to seven points the week prior, Saturday’s win marked the first time since 1990 that the Rams have kept their opponents in the single digits in back-to-back weeks.
URI will look to remain undefeated this Saturday as it travels to Western Michigan University for a matchup with the Broncos at 6:30 p.m. The game will be available to stream on ESPN+.
