In a season of dramatic comebacks, the University of Rhode Island football team pulled off one of its most improbable yet on Saturday, storming back from a 17-point halftime deficit for a 20-17 victory over the University at Albany.
By moving to 9-2 on the season, the magnitude of the win can’t be overstated for the Rams for its chances at the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs, as no team in program history has ever missed the playoffs with nine or more wins. The win also marks the first time URI has gone undefeated at home in the regular season since 1985, which was its last postseason berth, and keeps its hopes alive of winning a Coastal Athletic Association title.
“The way this season has gone has been part destiny, but part absolute heart and perseverance,” URI Head Coach Jim Fleming said. “The heart of our team is so strong and so hard to fracture.”
Before play got underway at Meade Stadium on Saturday, Rhode Island honored its 21 seniors as part of the Senior Day festivities. Albany came out looking to spoil the party, jumping out to a 10-0 lead in the opening quarter.
The Great Danes stretched their lead to 17-0 in the final minute of the first half when first-year quarterback Van Weber rolled out of the pocket to find fourth-year wide receiver Seven McGee in the endzone. All of a sudden, the Rams entered halftime with the biggest deficit it faced against an FCS opponent all season.
“The kids were probably a little more shook up than we’ve ever been,” Fleming said. “I told them, ‘Hey, we dug a bigger hole than we normally have, we got the ball in the second half, make sure the offense can come out and get a score, and we’ll dig our way back out of it.”
With fifth-year quarterback Hunter Helms struggling with two interceptions in the first half, the Rams came out of the locker room looking to rely on the run game. The first drive of the half was a sign of things to come when fourth-year running back Malik Grant broke free for a 42-yard touchdown.
“Mentally, [the touchdown] just showed us this is who we are,” Grant said. “We run that ball, that’s what we’re always going to do, that’s our identity.”
On the ensuing Albany drive, the Rams got the key takeaway on defense it had been searching for throughout the first half. McGee appeared he was going to cruise into the endzone for his second touchdown of the day, but fifth-year linebacker Sean Pelkisson forced a fumble at the one-yard line and the ball went through the back of the endzone for a touchback.
Rhode Island took its first lead of the game with 9:36 left on a seven-yard touchdown run by Grant – his third of the day – to go up 20-17. Grant’s 100-yard, three-touchdown performance on Saturday gave him 1,000 yards on the season and moved him to 10th place for single-season rushing touchdowns in program history.
“All the kudos, all the props goes to the offensive line,” Grant said. “Those five guys in front, it’s all [credit] to them, they are the reason why I got 1,000 yards.”
Albany wouldn’t go down without a fight, however, and had a chance to send the game to overtime on a last-second 36-yard field goal attempt. Fittingly on Senior Day, fourth-year Westley Neal Jr. rose above the line to block the attempt and secure the 20-17 win for URI, completing its comeback with 20 unanswered points.
“Just continuing to find a way to win a game is representative of a lot of hard work from a lot of people,” Fleming said. “We made stops on defense, we did what we needed to do and we won the football game.”
The win is the sixth time this season where the Rams have made a comeback after trailing in the fourth quarter. URI will now head into the final week of the regular season with an opportunity to claim a share of the CAA title and further solidify its position for the FCS playoffs.
“This game was for the playoffs, next week is for the championship and possible bye,” Fleming said. “There’s all kinds of good stuff out there, but we got to go play another 60 minutes of football and play it better than we did today.”
Rhode Island will travel to take on in-state rival, Bryant University, in its regular-season finale at 1 p.m. on Saturday. The game can be streamed on FloSports.
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