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URI Rams remain in playoff picture; Pressure is on Bryant after loss

Bill Koch, The Providence Journal
·4 min read

Has the University of Rhode Island football team successfully preserved its slim FCS playoff chances?

A historic victory at Massachusetts on Saturday certainly didn’t hurt. The Rams are still receiving votes in the national polls and boasted a Colonial Athletic Association award winner on Monday morning.

LB Mack III shared Defensive Player of the Week honors after a career day against the Minutemen. The graduate linebacker piled up 3.5 sacks, 4.5 tackles for a loss and six stops in all, powering URI to a 35-22 stunner in Amherst.

The Rams pulled away in the second half behind a 72-yard touchdown run from former Shea High star Jaylen Smith and a defense that held UMass to just 5.2 yards per play. Kasim Hill accounted for four total touchdowns — two passing, two rushing — in the upset.

It was just the second win all-time for URI against an FBS opponent. The Rams upended another former Yankee Conference rival, Connecticut, in a 26-21 surprise during the 2000 season. This result snapped a three-game URI losing streak and pushed the Rams to 6-3 overall.

URI quarterback Kasim Hill drops back to pass during Saturday's game against UMass. Hill accounted for four total touchdowns — two passing, two rushing, in the Rams' 35-22 victory.
URI quarterback Kasim Hill drops back to pass during Saturday's game against UMass. Hill accounted for four total touchdowns — two passing, two rushing, in the Rams' 35-22 victory.

Hill is one of 34 players on the watch list for the CFPA National Performer of the Year Trophy. The dual-threat quarterback has totaled 17 touchdowns through nine games — 11 passing, six rushing — and ranks fifth nationally at 14.5 yards per completion.

No. 2 James Madison, No. 8 Villanova and No. 25 William & Mary remained inside the Stats Perform Top 25 this week. Delaware joined URI in receiving votes. The Dukes and Wildcats both won their games while the Blue Hens stifled the Tribe, 24-3.

The Rams will host New Hampshire in its final regular-season home game of 2021 on Saturday. URI almost certainly needs to tame the Wildcats and win on the road at Elon next week to have any chance of securing a first postseason berth since 1985. Kick-off is at 1 p.m. in Kingston.

Checking the Ivy League

Yale boasted a pair of Ivy League weekly award winners thanks to its 63-38 win at Brown on Saturday.

Yale quarterback Nolan Grooms, in action here against UConn in October, had 330 passing yards and three touchdowns against Brown on Saturday.
Yale quarterback Nolan Grooms, in action here against UConn in October, had 330 passing yards and three touchdowns against Brown on Saturday.

Nolan Grooms improved to 3-0 as a starting quarterback by totaling 330 passing yards and three touchdowns on just 26 attempts. Grooms connected with eight different receivers at Brown Stadium and was named the league’s Offensive Player of the Week.

David Pantelis took home a pair of honors as the league’s Special -Teams Player and Rookie of the Week. He scored a pair of touchdowns and finished with a career-high 202 all-purpose yards. Both Pantelis' scores came within a 5-minute span stretching from the end of the first quarter to the start of the second.

EJ Perry and Christopher Maron claimed spots on the league’s Honor Roll for the Bears. Perry threw three touchdown passes to Wes Rockett and caught another from Michael McGovern. Maron was good on all five of his extra-point attempts and added a 36-yard field goal.

Brown (2-6, 1-4 Ivy) has two games remaining and will record an eighth straight losing season in league play regardless of results. The Bears visit Columbia on Saturday before hosting Dartmouth in their finale on Nov. 20.

Loss put pressure on Bryant

Bryant no longer controls its own destiny in the race for a first Northeast Conference title.

The Bulldogs squandered their inside track to the top spot with a 30-15 loss at Central Connecticut on Saturday. The Blue Devils allowed just 220 yards of total offense while putting the clamps on Bryant in this one.

Zevi Eckhaus threw a pair of touchdown passes to Landon Ruggieri but averaged just 3.5 yards per attempt. The Bulldogs couldn’t get the running game going either, finishing with only 106 yards on the ground. Three turnovers led to 10 fewer minutes of possession than the 35:06 enjoyed by Central Connecticut.

Sacred Heart’s victory over Saint Francis (Pa.) puts the Pioneers in position to claim the automatic FCS playoff berth out of the conference. Bryant (5-4, 3-2 NEC) will now be forced to win out and get some help to reach the postseason. The Bulldogs host Long Island on Saturday for a 1 p.m. kick-off.

bkoch@providencejournal.com

On Twitter: @BillKoch25

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: College football news and notes for the University of Rhode Island, Bryant University and Brown University