Image courtesy of Dan Heary
By Rob Gullo
NEFJ Correspondent
SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. — Hosting Central Connecticut in the first round of the FCS Playoff Championship for a second straight year at Meade Stadium on Saturday, No. 9 Rhode Island earned a 27-19 win to punch its ticket to the second round of the playoffs.
The Rams were led by a 14-point first quarter. URI built a 14-0 lead in the first 10 minutes of the game. Down 24-7 at halftime, the Blue Devils held URI to just three second half points, and rallied with three scores to make it a one possession game.
After forcing a quick three-and-out from the CCSU offense, URI used a 10-play 62-yard drive to take a 7-0 lead. Quarterback Devin Farrell found wide receiver Connor Finer for a wide open 28-yard touchdown pass.
Another quick three-and-out from the CCSU offense resulted in a fast score for the Rams. Using a three-play drive, Farrell found wide receiver Aboraa Kwarteng for a 31-yard reception, setting the Rams up at the CCSU 27-yard line. Two plays later, Farrell threw a pass to wide receiver Marquis Buchaan, who broke a tackle and scored on a 25-yard reception, giving the Rams a 14-0 lead.
CCSU finally put together a successful offensive drive on its third possession. The Blue Devils used a 16-play drive, converting three first downs and a fourth down in the process as Howard caught a three-yard touchdown pass from Olson to make it a one-touchdown game with two seconds left in the opening quarter.
On URI’s ensuing possession, a 54-yard reception from Omari Walker put them at the CCSU 18-yard line. Facing 4th-and-goal from the one, Littleton Jr. scored a one-yard touchdown run on a pitch, giving URI a 21-7 lead with 7:49 left in the half.
The Rams tacked on one more score in the first half as kicker Garth White hit a 42-yard field goal as the half expired, giving URI a 24-7 lead.
After a scoreless third quarter, the Blue Devils struck first blood in the second half, as Olson threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Damani Williams early in the fourth. A blocked extra point try made URI’s lead 11 points, with a 24-13 score.
The Blue Devils’ defense came up with a huge turnover on the next drive as Dekavis Preston picked off Farrell and returned the interception to the URI seven-yard line on a 59-yard return. Facing 4th-and-goal from the one-yard line, CCSU chose to get three easy points and make it a one-score game as Hennessey hit an 18-yard field goal. This made it 24-16 with 9:57 left in the game.
URI put together its best offensive drive of the second half on their next turn out. Getting down to the CCSU 16-yard line, White made his second field goal as he hit a 26 yarder to give the Rams a 27-16 lead with 5:03 left in the game.
Three minutes later, Hennessey hit his second field goal of the game as he made a 28-yard field goal to put Central within a score down 27-19 with 2:03 left to play. The Blue Devils forced a URI punt, but ran out of time on the following drive as a last-second Hail Mary pass fell incomplete.
In the win, Farell threw for 365 yards and a pair of touchdown passes in completing 24-of-38 passes. His leading target was wide receiver Marquis Buchanan, who had a team-high 101 receiving yards and a touchdown on seven catches.
A year ago, Farrell was sidelined in URI’s 21-17 win over CCSU in the first round of the 2024 FCS Championship with an injury. There was some concern about his status heading into Saturday’s game with a foot injury suffered in last week’s regular season finale against Hampton.
After leading his team to victory, Farrell spoke about how he reflected pre-game on being able to play in this year’s game and being grateful for the opportunity.
“I was reflecting all pre-game, thanking god for this opportunity, because last year, I was watching from the sidelines, so, it was amazing,” said Farrell.
The Rams’ defense held CCSU to just 71 rushing yards, an area where the team excelled all season including recently, having rushed for over 150+ yards in each of the last three games.
URI senior linebacker and CAA Defensive Player of the Year AJ Pena led a stout defense with seven tackles, a tackle for loss, and pass break up. The defensive unit put a big emphasis on limiting Howard to making big plays on the ground, which led to CCSU throwing the ball over 60 times.
“We made a big emphasis this week especially during our prep with him,” said Pena. “Any offense that wants to come in and wants to run the ball, we’re going to be right here, waiting. That’s our mentality every week, to dominate the run.”
Following URI’s win, they’ll face No. 8 UC Davis on the road on Saturday, Dec. 6 at 10 p.m. in the second round of the FCS Championship. CCSU’s season comes to an end at 8-5.
It will be a different situation next Saturday, as URI will be playing on the west coast.
Fleming and his squad will prepare for this week’s game a little differently, mainly due to the time change.
“The message is the same that it’s been every week,” he said. “We’ll get up tomorrow, get into the training room and take care of our bodies. We got to learn a new opponent, I think travel is a situation that we’ve got to be attentive to.
“Get acclimated to the time change as much and then go out there and play a quality opponent. We don’t know much about them at this point, but they were awarded a bye in the playoffs, so, obviously they’re a good football team.”