Football Welcomes No. 10/10 New Hampshire on Saturday

Sept. 10, 2008

Darren Rizzi UNH Video Preview

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KINGSTON, R.I. - The Rhode Island football team (1-1) returns home Saturday and will welcome the New Hampshire Wildcats on Saturday to open its CAA Football schedule. Kickoff is set for Noon at Meade Stadium.

Rhode Island comes into the game with the hopes of rebounding from a 16-0 road loss to Fordham this past Sunday. The Rams were originally scheduled to play at 6 p.m. on Saturday night, but the game was moved to Sunday because of Tropical Storm Hanna.

"I had never been through anything quite like that to say the least, but each of us players wear a wrist band that says "No Excuses" and we didn't make any excuses for what happened over the weekend," said Rhode Island head coach Darren Rizzi on the CAA Football weekly teleconference.

Senior quarterback Derek Cassidy threw for 200 yards completing 25-of-41 of his passes, marking the second straight game he had throw for 200-or-more yards in a game this season.

The special teams unit also continued its strong play, blocking a field goal and a punt. Freshman punter Tim Edger highlighted the afternoon for the special teams, placing five punts inside the 20-yard line and two inside the five.

"Our defense played hard and we were able to move the ball a little bit, but the bottom line is that we just did not execute when we needed to," Rizzi said.

This season, Rhode Island is 1-0 at home. In URI's first home game of the season back on August 30, the Rams defeated Monmouth, 27-24.

New Hampshire is ranked No. 10 in both the Sports Network and Coaches Polls. The Wildcats enter Saturday's contest after defeating Army 28-10 on Sept. 7.

"We have a great team in New Hampshire coming in this week and we have one less day to prepare, so we have a big challenge ahead of us," Rizzi said. "There is certainly a lot of excitement on campus for Saturday's game and I think the guys are starting to buy into what we are doing here."

The game will be televised locally on Cox Sports Television, beginning at Noon. A live video stream will be available on the internet, by visiting cn8.tv. Steve McDonald and Terry Lynch will provide the radio call live on the Rams Radio Network - WHJJ 920 AM and WJZS 99.3 FM.