Rhode Island's stingy defense and stellar special teams led the No. 16/17 Rams past No. 19/23 New Hampshire on Saturday, 26-9. It was Rhody's first win at Durham since 1995.
"The character of our football team is extremely solid. I think that you are starting to see an inkling of a championship-level defense," Rams head coach Jim Fleming said.
URI (6-1, 3-0 in CAA) held New Hampshire (4-3, 2-1) without a touchdown until the final minute of play. Rhode Island's punt coverage team had a blocked punt for a safety and a fumble recovery for a touchdown on a day when points were at a premium.
Rhode Island scored first when Moses Meus broke through and blocked a punt on special teams. Although the Wildcats recovered, the play went for a safety, giving Rhody a 2-0 lead. On the opening drive of the second half, cornerback Fredrick Mallay intercepted UNH quarterback Seth Morgan to give Rhody a first down at the New Hampshire 48-yard line. The drive ended with a Ty Groff 20-yard field goal to move the Rams back in front, 5-3, after UNH had kicked a field goal.
With 6:33 to play in the third quarter, URI's Freddie Camp recovered a fumble on a muffed punt in the end zone for the first touchdown of the game, putting Rhody ahead, 12-3. The Rams extended their lead when Devin Farrell (147 yards on 10 completions, 1 TD, 1 INT) hit Marquise Buchanan (62 yards, 4 catches) deep over the middle for a 57-yard touchdown strike, making it 19-3 just before the end of the third quarter. URI iced the game with a short-yardage drive that ended with a 3-yard TD run for Tommy Smith on a direct-snap.
URI hosts Maine on Saturday for its Homecoming Game. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.
Brown loses road game at Princeton
Five turnovers, all in Princeton territory, doomed Brown (2-3, 1-1 in Ivy League) in their Friday night matchup in New Jersey as they fell to the Tigers, 29-17.
Quarterback Jake Willcox threw for 271 yards on 31-for-50 passing, with three interceptions. He led the Bears on the ground with 55 yards rushing. Stockton Owen carried 11 times for 51 yards, and Matt Childs rushed 13 times for 43 yards. Qwentin Brown and Solomon Miller had rushing touchdowns for Brown.
The Bears return home for two straight games at Brown Stadium, beginning Saturday against Cornell at noon.
Bryant is run over at Monmouth
It wasn't all bad for the Bryant football team (2-5, 0-3 in CAA) on Saturday at Monmouth. The Bulldogs lost, 55-17, in West Long Branch, N.J., but Keylijah Williams ran for a school (Division I) record 279 return yards, including an 86-yard return for his first career touchdown. Monmouth had jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter before Williams returned a kick for the Bulldog's first score.
Landon Ruggieri tallied five receptions for 95 yards and now moves to third all-time in receiving yards for Bryant with 2,178. Hollis Dirstine had seven tackles, while Bryce Soli knocked in a career-long, 41-yard field goal in the loss. Brennan Myer replaced an injured Jarrett Guest and threw for 105 yards and his first collegiate touchdown to Drew Montez.
The Bulldogs return home Saturday to face Richmond. Kickoff is at noon.
PC hockey sweeps Arizona State
The No. 14 PC Friars men's ice hockey team completed a two-game sweep of Arizona State (1-4-1, 0-0-0 in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference) after a 2-1 win on Saturday at Schneider Arena. They had defeated the Sun Devils , 4-1, on Friday.
Zachary Borgiel stopped 31 of 32 shots in his first start as a Friar, while Hudson Malinoski led the way for PC (2-1-0, 0-0-0 in Hockey East) with a goal and an assist. Sun Devils goalie Luke Pavicich had 36 saves.
Providence broke open the scoring at the 5:54 mark in the third period, as Malinoski put away a Nick Poisson rebound for his second tally of the year. Tanner Adams also had an assist on the play.
With about half a minute to play in the game, Ryan Kirwan scored for Arizona State.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Rhode Island football routs Wildcats for first road win in N.H. since 1995
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