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Football
Rams Head to Richmond to Face Spiders on Saturday
Oct. 18, 2007
Rhode Island-Richmond Game Notes
KINGSTON, R.I.- The University of Rhode Island football team travels to Richmond, Va. this weekend to face No. 18 Richmond on Saturday, Oct. 20 at 3:30 p.m. in Colonial Athletic Association action at Richmond Stadium. The Rams (1-5, 0-3 CAA) are looking to pick up their first-ever CAA win while the Spiders (4-2, 2-1 CAA) continue to fight for first-place in the conference. URI fell to 0-3 in conference play with a 44-27 setback at the hands of No. 9 James Madison last Saturday. Senior Jerell Jones (Yonkers, N.Y.) led the Ram offense 117 yards on the ground and another 51 yards on four receptions while junior signal caller Derek Cassidy (Winter Haven, Fla.) passed for a career-high 184 yards and one touchdown. Jones opened the scoring for the Rams with an 84-yard touchdown run on their first play from scrimmage - the seventh-longest run in school history. The contest was played before the largest homecoming crowd at Meade Stadium since 1998. "We had a really fine football team come into our house and take it to us. We haven't had a team rush for 334 yards against us in a long time," said URI head coach Tim Stowers. "Our defense has improved as far as stopping the run, but (JMU quarterback Rodney) Landers really did a number on us running the football. Regardless of the opponent, it's an outstanding accomplishment anytime you can go on the road in the conference and win a football game. They look like a playoff team to me, and they might be the best team we've played so far."
Landers finished with 415 of the Dukes' 576 yards of total offense as he passed for 242 yards and three touchdowns and also rushed for a team-high 173 yards. Rhode Island tallied 406 yards of total offense, in part because Stowers opened up his playbook and pulled out some plays URI fans had not seen all season. "We took three chances in the game. One was a surprise on-sides kick, which worked, and then we faked a field-goal and ran an option," Stowers explained. "Our holder decided to keep the ball and run with it because he thought he could get it in, and he barely did. One of the three that did not work was a fake punt. We felt it had a chance to work, but I felt really good about the fake field goal. It was a drive right before the half that kept us in the game. It was big for us." The defense was helped by the return of senior Raji El-Amin (Rochester, N.Y.), who returned against the Dukes after missing the last four games due to injury. His impact was immediately felt as he finished the contest with seven tackles (five solo), one pass breakup and one forced fumble. The Spiders, meanwhile, are averaging 43.5 ppg at home this season and are riding high following a 42-0 shutout of the Seawolves of Stony Brook last Saturday. Richmond is led on offense by Walter Payton Finalist Tim Hightower, who is averaging 167.2 ypg on the ground. Last week, Hightower posted his fifth-consecutive 100-yard game of the season and broke the school's single-season touchdown record. The Spiders also boast one of the best special teams units in the nation as reigning CAA Special Teams Player of the Week Derek Hatcher leads the nation in punt return yards (19.6 ypr) while freshman Just Rogers leads the NCAA in kick return yards (39.1 ypr). "They have a very balanced offensive attack. They can throw the football as well as run it, so we need to score more points on offense and play better on defense than we have the past two games," said Stowers. "Their quarterback (sophomore Eric Ward) is a year older and operating the offense much better, and they are keeping their turnovers to a minimum. They're still playing good defense despite losing many of their starters from last season. They're not giving up many yards rushing or passing, and they do a good job on scoring defense." The game features a matchup of the top two rushing offenses in the conference. The Rams average 255.3 rushing yards per contest while the Spiders are a close second with 254.2 ypg. Junior running back Joe Casey (Syracuse, N.Y.) leads the Rams with 583 yards (4.7 ypc) while Jones (8.3 ypc) and sophomore Jimmy Hughes (Westport, Conn.) (9.8 ypc) offer Stowers a number of different options in the backfield. The Rams will depart `The Ocean State' on Friday morning, touch down in Baltimore, Md. about an hour later, and bus down to Richmond for the game on Saturday, which begins at 3:30 p.m. The team will return to RI on Sunday morning. The game can be heard live on WHJJ 920 AM as Steve McDonald and Terry Lynch bring you the play-by-play from Richmond. |
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