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Football
Rams Conclude 2007 Season Against Northeastern Saturday in Kingston
Northeastern-Rhode Island Game Notes
Nov. 15, 2007
KINGSTON, R.I. - The University of Rhode Island football team hosts Northeastern University this Saturday, Nov. 17, at noon at Meade Stadium in the final game for both teams this season. The Rams (2-8, 1-6 CAA) are looking to rebound from a disappointing 35-0 loss at Maine last weekend while the Huskies (3-7, 2-5 CAA) have won two straight following a 35-31 win over No. 18 Hofstra in Brookline last Saturday. The Rams managed just 91 yards of total offense against the Black Bears and were shutout for the first time since Oct. 26, 2002, when it dropped a 26-0 decision at Richmond. Junior Jimmy Hughes (Westport, Conn.) led the Ram offense with 46 yards rushing and senior back Jerell Jones (Yonkers, N.Y.) tallied 85 kick return yards. "I've always said that Maine is one of the toughest places to play in our league, and maybe in the country," said URI head coach Tim Stowers. "Coach Cosgrove had his team ready to play. They set the tone of the game on their 20-play opening drive and converted numerous third downs. We couldn't stop them, and we couldn't muster much on offense, either. Not having (junior fullback) Joe Casey hurt us, and while (junior back) Jimmy Hughes stepped in and played fairly well, he did not play quite as well against Maine. Maine is a very physical team on defense, especially up front. We haven't been turning the football over, but we did quite a bit. We got soundly whooped in all phases of the game, except for a few nice kickoff returns. It was very disappointing." The Huskies, meanwhile, put together a late fourth-quarter rally to earn their second-consecutive CAA Football win. Tied at 21 at halftime, Maurice Murray broke off a 31-yard touchdown run in the third to grab a 28-21. The Pride booted a field goal early in the fourth to climb to within three, and quarterback Bryan Savage plunged in from a yard out with 2:16 remaining to give the Pride a 31-28 lead. Northeastern answered with a 12-play, 92-yard drive that Alex Broomfield capped off with a nine-yard touchdown pass to Brian Manderville with 17 seconds remaining to propel the Huskies to victory. "Northeastern has won two football games in a row and is playing their best football of the season," said Stowers. "I know coach (Rocky) Hager very well. He's a great football coach who won several national championships at North Dakota State and I use to coach with him at Temple. He will have his football team ready to play. Maurice Murray is one of the best backs in the country, and is very similar to (Richmond) Tim Hightower. They're both very hard to stop. Their offensive line is solid, and they're improving at throwing the football. They play a different defense than anyone else. We use to see their type of defense when I was at Georgia Southern, but not much since I've been here at Rhode Island." Despite the Rams struggles on offense last week, they still boast the third-ranked rushing attack in the conference and 15th nationally. While Northeastern is ranked sixth in rushing (160.6 ypg) and 9th in passing (161.5 ypg), they sit second in third-down conversions, converting nearly 50 percent of the time (48.9) The contest marks the final home contest for Rhode Island seniors Jerell Jones, L.T. Brantley, Ki'Ameer Johnson, Bryan Giannecchini, Adrian Owen, Raji El-Amin, Ashley Pierre, Nick Levy, Steve Marrella, Mark Stolte, Damien Gresko, and Steve Moll.
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