Image courtesy of Alex Goss

By Charlie Adams
NEFJ Correspondent

PAWTUCKET – Rhode Island debuted new uniforms, but saw similar struggles on offense despite squeaking out a 14-13 overtime win over Maine on Saturday.

The Rams moved to 5-4 overall and 2-3 in the CAA. Maine lost its eighth straight game, dropping to 1-8 (1-5 CAA).

Here are five observations from what was also a record-setting day for Rhode Island star receiver Marquis Buchanan:

Buchanan breaks program receiving yards record

After 82 receiving yards in regulation, Buchanan needed just one yard to surpass Brian Forster’s long-standing program record. He did so in style, scoring the game-winning touchdown on a contested 25-yard catch.

“It was an ugly victory when you start looking at offensive production, but all it takes is one,” Rhode Island head coach Jim Fleming said. “To be able to see it finish up with an appropriate throw to Marquis for the victory is huge.”

The Providence native immediately tossed the ball to his family in the Centreville Bank Stadium stands as Ty Groff’s extra point secured the victory.

“It means a whole lot,” Buchanan said. “It’s part of the reason why I decided to come back. It hasn’t been easy, these last couple years trying to get that, but it’s just a great honor.”

Rams remain bought in

After last week’s loss to UAlbany, the Rams remain committed to closing the season strong and pushing for a playoff berth despite three conference losses.

“It just feels a hell of a lot better than it did last week at this time,” Fleming said. “We’ll relish that, and we’ll correct our mistakes and go to work from there.”

Richardson shows promise as lead back

One of those mistakes belonged to freshman running back Brayden Richardson in the third quarter. Serving as the lead back with injuries to BJ Barrow and Terrence Campbell last week, Richardson had 88 rushing yards in the first half, including a 50-yard gain.

“We’re down some people, but we had some people step up early,”
Fleming said. You saw Brayden Richardson do a really good job early, but they got a bead on that late.”

Clock management questions continue

Fleming received some flak from fans in the fourth quarter when he punted on fourth-and-one on the Rams’ own 44-yard line while still tied 7-7, and more noise at the end of the quarter when Rhode Island took a knee to push overtime with 25 seconds left and three timeouts.

“I really could care less what the fans think, truthfully,” Fleming said. “I think if you look at our overtime record over the years, I think we’ve been pretty good.”

Defense overdelivers in long day

Randy Leavitt finished with 10 punts for Rhode Island, resulting in Maine’s offense building up an over 11-minute lead in time of possession.

“It’s not lost on me that the defense played 90 snaps tonight,” Fleming said. “It was a long game out there for those guys, and I’m sure they’ll be feeling it tomorrow.”

Tyson Grimm delivered Rhode Island’s only touchdown in regulation, intercepting Caden Drezek and returning it 84 yards.

“It started in practice, just reading quarterbacks, taking reps of that,” Grimm said. “I think that’s just what happened out there, just practice paying off.”

Patrick Conserve picked up the big play in overtime, blocking Samuel Tremblay’s extra point to leave the window open for Groff to walk it off.

“That’s kind of what we pride ourselves on on defense,” Grimm said.
”We got to be the energy and just wait for the offense because we know they’re eventually going to explode.”

URI returns to action on Saturday to face a struggling New Hampshire team coming off a bye week as the Wildcats look to break a three-game losing streak. Maine visits Albany.

Images courtesy of Alex Goss