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Football
Rhode Island Spring Practice Roundup - Issue 5
April 11, 2008
The University of Rhode Island football team wrapped up its eighth practice of the spring Friday afternoon. In what first-year head coach Darren Rizzi called `the best practice of the spring,' the Rams finished up the afternoon with an offense vs. defense scrimmage. While the defense made a handful of solid plays and stops, the URI wide receivers made several great catches both over the middle and in the endzone. The individual most responsible for the growth and development of the wide receivers in offensive coordinator Chris Pincince's spread offense is Mark Fabish, who came to URI after spending the previous 10 years at Monmouth University - the last six as offensive coordinator. Pincince has spent a good chunk of spring practice transitioning the URI offense from the triple-option system it ran in previous years to this more wide-open attack, and perhaps no other position will benefit more individually than the wide receivers. The Rams leading receiver last season, junior Shawn Leonard, caught 34 passes for 440 yards and two touchdowns while junior Tolbert Evans hauled in 12 passes for 203 yards and one touchdown. "The new system is awesome from a wide-receiver standpoint," said Leonard. "We get to come out and make a lot more plays than last season, so a lot of guys have to step up. It's just a great opportunity for everyone to come out and play a true wide receiver position."
"They have done a pretty good job. It's a whole new system for them, but some of the older guys like Tolbert Evans and Shawn Leonard have really stepped up," added Rizzi. "In the offense that we're going to be running, they're going to have opportunities across the board at the skill positions to get the ball, and that wasn't always the case in the last system. There's definitely some excitement. Those two guys have played here and seen the ball 3-4 times a game, whereas now they may see double-digits, and it gets them excited. At the same time, they're learning they have to do all of the other things to be great. They have to be great blockers and be good with the ball after the catch. It's not just one-dimensional catching the ball. I think coach Fabish is doing a great job drilling them on that." Senior back Jimmy Hughes (19 receptions, 300 yards, two TD's) finished second in receptions in 2007 and remains a threat out of the backfield, but it's another former RB - junior Joe Bellini - who has been moved out of the backfield and will play WR this season. Another key to the offense this season is Ty Bynum, a transfer from Milford Academy who established Lancaster-Lebanon League records for career receiving yards with 2,327 at Conestoga Valley High School. He enrolled at URI this spring and has opened some eyes during practice. "Joe Bellini played running back in the last system, but we've moved him to wide receiver and is working really hard," continued Rizzi. "Ty Bynum has really impressed for a guy who just got here. It's going to take time, but we're going to develop some depth there. We're excited for the new guys like Brandon Johnson-Farrelll, who caught a ton of passes in high school, and Ty is also a newcomer who was very productive in high school. Like everyone else, they're learning a whole new system, and for them it's been a little bit of a whirlwind, but they're playing hard." Johnson-Farrell is one of three incoming freshman wide receivers, joining Devon Dace and Joe Migliarese. Johnson-Farrell established Maryland State records for career receptions (174) and touchdowns (40) at Arundel High School while Dace was a St. Louis American All-Metro selection at the Salisbury School who caught 31 passes for 239 yards and three touchdowns as a senior. Miglairese - who will also play tight end - ended his career at La Salle with 91 receptions for 1,063 yards and 17 touchdowns. "Our offense is based on the receivers getting each other open," said Fabish. "We can't say on this play, this receiver is going to get the ball. It's a matter of running routes in the right spots and being in the place you need to be in order to get other guys open. If we can do those things and play hard all the time and give that outstanding individual effort, I think they're moving in the right direction." Leonard added, "The terminology is a lot different than any of us are use to, so it takes both the young guys and the veterans a little more time to pick it up. That's been the hardest adjustment. You hear everything going on, but you don't have a lot of time to think. You just have to go out and react." Other players who could play key roles at wide receiver for the Rams this season include redshirt sophomore Sean Scott, who appeared in five games last season (3 rec., 26 yards), sophomore Evan Shields, freshman Patrick Keenan, and redshirt junior Nick Del Grosso, who was on the receiving end of one of Cassidy's touchdown passes Friday afternoon. Keenan practiced with the team last fall but did not see any game action while Del Grosso was a member of the 2005 and 2006 teams before sitting out last season. "I think they're doing a great job. We're preaching effort and controlling what they can control, meaning when the ball comes to them, catch it," said Fabish. "They don't need to do anything extraordinary. We just want them to focus on executing their assignment, give outstanding effort on every play, and understand that they can have an impact without the ball with the ball in their hands. If we can do those things and all of them can come away from the spring with a solid understanding of the offense, we'll be able to say it was a success." Due to anticipated bad weather, the Rams have pushed Saturday's scrimmage to Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m. at Meade Stadium. |
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