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Football
No. 3 UMass Travels to Kingston to Face Rams in CAA Football Saturday
KINGSTON, R.I. - The University of Rhode Island football team looks to pull off one of the biggest upsets of the season when it welcomes No. 3 Massachusetts to Meade Stadium this Saturday, Nov. 3 at noon. The Rams (1-7, 0-5 CAA) are looking for their first-ever CAA Football win while the Minutemen bring a perfect 5-0 conference record (7-1 overall) to Kingston. The Rams are looking to rebound from a 49-36 loss at No. 8 New Hampshire last weekend in Durham. Rhode Island jumped out to a 17-7 lead later in the second quarter before losing junior signal caller Derek Cassidy (Winter Haven., Fla.) to an injury. After the Wildcats rallied and took a 35-24 lead in the third quarter, the Rams offense suffered another setback when their leading rusher, junior Joe Casey (Syracuse, N.Y.), left the game after re-aggravating a shoulder injury. Without two key components of the offense, the Rams managed just 12 points in the second half, compared to28 for UNH. "They are scoring 40 points a game, and we didn't slow them down much except early in the first quarter," said Rhode Island head coach Tim Stowers. "It's uncommon to rack up 537 yards of offense and score 36 points and lose, but that's the nature of football. I thought Derek Cassidy was playing his best football on the road against a CAA opponent, and Joe Casey was playing well when he went out. It set us back a little bit." Sophomore QB D.J. Stefkovich (Westport, Conn.) and junior back Jimmy Hughes (Westport, Conn.) - teammates at Staples High School - filled in admirably for the injured starters. Hughes produced his best game as a Ram, rushing for 168 yards and three touchdowns. "I thought Jimmy Hughes had an outstanding game," said Stowers. "He can run outside, he can run inside, he can catch the football. He's a complete football player and I thought he played very well." The lone blemish on the UMass record is a 24-14 loss at the hands of No. 2 Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Mass. UMass has have won nine of the last 10 meetings between the two schools, including a 41-16 win last season in Amherst. The contest also marks the return of Rhode Island native and UMass starting quarterback Liam Coen, who grew up in Newport and attended La Salle Academy. Coen hopes to put on a show for the locals as he stands 88 yards shy of becoming the all-time passing leader at UMass. Last week, the Minutemen posted a 48-34 win at William & Mary. "They held the No. 2 team in the BCS (Bowl Championship Series) and their Heisman Trophy Candidate (QB Matt Ryan) to 24 points. Boston College tried to run the ball on them, and they weren't very successful," said Stowers. "They play great defense. They're always in the right spot, they bring pressure, and they make plays. They're balanced on offense as well. They can run the football and throw the ball, so I really don't see any weaknesses. They look like they're headed to another championship run. We'll have our hands full." Stowers and the Rams bring the No. 9 rushing attack in the nation (266.0) into this weekend's matchup while UMass holds the nation's 18th-ranked rushing defense. In fact, Rhode Island is averaging 27.0 points over its last five contests. "Our style of offense is different, and I think that helps us. Sometimes it takes other teams a while to get adjusted to the speed of it because it's hard to simulate in practice," said Stowers. "If we can execute it well, then we have a pretty good chance of moving the football and putting points on the board early."
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