The University of Rhode Island football team found its fourth straight win on Saturday, taking down Elon University on the road, 34-20.
Rhode Island scored 24 unanswered points in the first half, building a 21-point lead and coasting from there.
“I was really pleased with the way we performed in all three phases,” Rhode Island Head Coach Jim Fleming said. “If you take away some of the glaring errors, it was a pretty clean victory.”
After allowing an opening field goal from Elon, Rhode Island responded with a 16-play drive that traveled 97 yards, capped off by fourth-year quarterback Devin Farrell finding the end zone with a 10-yard keeper on a read option.
Farrell was forced to juke his way free of a defender, which was not the only time in the game that he had to use his legs to keep a play alive.
“I think our guys up front did a good job keeping our quarterback clean for the most part,” Fleming said. “There were a couple of things that you could call Devin ‘Houdini’ when he jumped out of a couple of bad situations.”
Rhody rolled over their next drive from the first quarter, finishing in the second quarter with a 52-yard field goal from fifth-year Garth White. After his 54-yarder on Oct. 25 became the longest in program history, White is now the only URI kicker with multiple 50-yard makes in his career.
The Rams piled on with two quick scoring drives. Farrell connected with fourth-year Aboraa Kwarteng for a 41-yard completion and found fourth-year Greg Gaines III for a 19-yard touchdown.
Kwarteng added on to a career day with a 70-yard touchdown on the first play of the next drive, finishing with a season-high 124 receiving yards.
“There are a lot of people that people have to defend,” Fleming said. “You’ve got multiple receivers that if one gets too much attention, there can be other guys that can make things happen.”
In the third quarter, White added another long field goal from 43 yards out as URI put two scoring drives together in the second half.
Elon responded with a 70-yard punt return touchdown, as third-year DJ James-Hamilton went untouched for the Phoenix’s only trip to the end zone in the second half.
URI second-year quarterback Alex McClelland subbed in to start the fourth with a six-yard keeper for a touchdown after Farrell led a drive to the goal line to end the third quarter.
With four straight wins and four straight 30+ point performances on offense, Rhode Island now ranks as the third-highest scoring team in the Coastal Athletic Association while boasting the conference’s best defense.
“Our offense has things cranking in a very rhythmic way,” Fleming said. “We’re going to need it as we go down the stretch.”
Two games remain in the regular season, and Rhode Island now controls its own destiny for the playoffs after Monmouth University took its first conference loss on Saturday. A first-round bye has become a strong possibility, with the Rams having a chance to stand alone at the top of the CAA.
Looking to stay undefeated in conference play, URI will remain on the road to face the University of Maine at 1 p.m. on Saturday before finishing the season at home against Hampton University. The matchup against Maine will stream on FloCollege, with a radio broadcast available on The Varsity Network.
