URI 45, BROWN 24: Rams take control, defeat Bears for Governor's Cup

PROVIDENCE — One consistent characteristic among good football teams? The ability to muster a response when challenged. 

The University of Rhode Island certainly looked the part on Saturday. The Rams more than made up for a flat opening five minutes against Brown, hoisting the Governor’s Cup for the fourth time in the last five meetings. 

URI was generally in control for the remainder of the afternoon at Brown Stadium, flashing its explosiveness on both sides of the ball. The result was a 45-24 victory in the renewal of this rivalry series, one that occurred after the COVID-19 pandemic forced a cancellation of last year’s meeting. 

Kasim Hill totaled 352 yards rushing and passing in a career day at quarterback, Caleb Warren made for a nice target at tight end with 106 receiving yards and the Rams defense forced four turnovers to slow the potent Bears offense. Jordan Jones returned an interception 100 yards for a touchdown with 3:57 left to provide the exclamation point. It’s the most points ever scored by URI in a road game at Brown, significant in a series dating to the 1909 season.  

“For a lot of people in the state, it means a lot,” Hill said. “I just wanted to come out here and experience it with the team. For the people who had this as their last game, we definitely wanted to send them off the right way.” 

The Rams took complete control of this one in the third quarter. URI expanded a 17-14 halftime lead in just 3:27 when Henry Yianakopolos forced a fumble and Antonio Carter III recovered at the Brown 32. Hill’s 7-yard touchdown pass to Warren in the end zone’s right corner lifted the cushion into double digits for good. 

“Just keep going after the quarterback,” Yianakopolos said. “Put pressure on him. Get him flustered a little bit.” 

The Rams made the most of another turnover later in the quarter, this time snuffing out a Bears drive inside the URI 20. James Makszin recovered a fumble and the Rams needed just two plays to find the end zone. Hill slipped a pass to Matt Pires in the right flat, and the veteran receiver made a couple of would-be tacklers miss before racing 80 yards for a score. 

“That was a tough football game in the first half,” URI coach Jim Fleming said. “Then we were able to go and get some things going our way in the second half.” 

That gave the URI a 38-14 lead, and the defense seemed intent on pitching a shutout over the final 30 minutes. Brown was kept out of the end zone until the final 1:35 despite advancing to the URI 1 early in the fourth. The Bears eventually settled for a 23-yard field goal by Christopher Maron, their only points in the second half until EJ Perry threw a late 6-yard touchdown pass to Wes Rockett. 

Brown was playing its first game in 665 days after the Ivy League opted not to sponsor sports in 2020-21. The Bears showed some early energy thanks to a special-teams tackle by Jack Kosar and a thumping hit in the secondary from Malcolm Brunson. URI was forced to punt and Perry found Hayes Sutton from 14 yards out to give Brown a quick 7-0 lead. 

“There was no rust on our energy,” Brown coach James Perry said. “I was very happy with the sideline and when we came out of that locker room. Execution when the bullets are flying is difficult.” 

From that point on it was just about all URI. The Rams cashed in on three consecutive possessions, including off the game’s lone turnover to that point. Andre Blackett intercepted Perry to set up a short field and CJ Carrick hit a 40-yard field goal to give URI the lead for keeps.  

“Now we’re state champs,” Warren said, as URI added to a previous 45-21 triumph over Bryant. “We have the Governor’s Cup and we’re going to go back and celebrate.” 

The Rams are on their first three-game winning streak since opening the 2005 season a perfect 3-0. URI collapsed from there, losing seven of its final eight, but there is little to suggest history will repeat itself 16 years later. The Rams enter their bye week on a high and will have some extra time to prepare for an already sold-out homecoming game with Stony Brook on Oct. 2. 

“They like each other,” Fleming said about his players. “They feel good about each other. It’s a very strong team. We know that we’ll get prepared for Stony Brook and whatever is after that.” 

bkoch@providencejournal.com  

On Twitter: @BillKoch25