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Football
Rams Host No. 15 Hofstra on Saturday
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Sept. 20, 2007
KINGSTON, R.I. - The University of Rhode Island football team looks to win its first game of the season this Saturday when it hosts CAA-rival Hofstra University this Saturday, Sept., at Meade Stadium at 1 p.m. The contest marks the inaugural CAA home game for the Rams (0-3, 0-1 CAA), who are looking to rebound from a 38-9 loss at No. 1 Delaware last Saturday. The Pride, meanwhile, enter the contest off the heels of a pair of non-conference wins over Furman and Albany. Ranked No. 15 in this week's Sports Network Poll, Hofstra makes its CAA debut on Saturday. The Rams bolster the league's No. 3 rushing attack, averaging just over 221 yards per contest, while the Pride possess the CAA's No. 2 rushing defense. Hofstra allows an average of 75.5 yards on the ground, meaning Rhode Island junior backs Joe Casey (Syracuse, N.Y.) and Jimmy Hughes (Westport, Conn.) will have to work for every yard they gain. Junior quarterback Derek Cassidy (Winter Haven, Fla.) gets the start at quarterback for the Rams after splitting time with sophomore D.J. Stefkovich (Westport, Conn.) at Delaware Stadium last week. "The reality of things is that we're 0-3," said Rhode Island head coach Tim Stowers. "You can look back and say that with a few plays, we could be 2-1. We need to go back to the basics of our offense, especially in the red zone. We need to do a better job down there." Rhode Island enters this weekend's game against Hofstra leading the conference in time of possession at 34:01, but sits in 11th place in scoring offense at 15.0 ppg. On defense, the Rams have defended the run well; Last weekend, the nation's leading scorer (33.0), Delaware's Omar Cuff, enter the contest against the Rams averaging 168.5 yards per game, but was held to just 56 yards and kept out of the endzone.
"We've improved on defense as far as stopping the run, and that's a positive for us. I also think we're executing some of the shotgun plays that we've been looking to put in, but we only had 79 passing yards (against Delaware), which is unacceptable. The option plays out of the shotgun are improving, and it's going to help us when we're better able to move back and forth out of the shotgun and underneath the center." The Pride average over 30 points per game on offense and are led by senior wire receiver Charles Sullivan, who leads the CAA in receiving with 272 yards and two touchdowns. Behind center, junior Bryan Savage calls the plays and sits fourth in the conference with 273.5 yards per game and two touchdowns. The Rams will also have to contend with senior running back Kareem Huggins, whose 94.5 ypg places his right behind Casey in seventh place in the CAA, has two rushing touchdowns this season. For ticket information, please contact the Ryan Center Box Office at (401) 788-3200. |
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