Football Game 5, 10/4 vs. Brown at 1

RhowdyRam02 · Unread post by **RhowdyRam02** » 9 years ago

Tomorrow URI meets Brown for the 99th time, the 33rd time for the Governor's Cup. Each team has won the cup 16 times, but Brown has won the last 3, including last year's 31-14 win. Brown is currently 0-2 with losses to Georgetown and Harvard.

STC · Unread post by **STC** » 9 years ago

I've got Brown 34-10.

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 9 years ago

I'll be there. Go Rhody.

RF1 · Unread post by **RF1** » 9 years ago

This might be the last reasonable opportunity for a win this season. Albany and CCSU were the other best shots and they did not go well.

adam914 · Unread post by **adam914** » 9 years ago

Congrats to Brown on their upcoming first win.

Shinze88 · Unread post by **Shinze88** » 9 years ago

I think the team gives a spirited performance tomorrow and comes away with a big W.

Rhodysk · Unread post by **Rhodysk** » 9 years ago

It's not going to be as nice as it was for the home opener but I like to see the turnout. Students? Could be the only chance to see a win this year. Either way it's always a good game and a fun time at Meade, come out and enjoy!

rjsuperfly66 · Unread post by **rjsuperfly66** » 9 years ago

Sagarin has the bout scored URI -1 if my quick math is correct.

Gamer Prediction has the score 17-16 Brown.

twisted3829 · Unread post by **twisted3829** » 9 years ago

then they have URI +1 if they have Brown winning 17-16

rjsuperfly66 · Unread post by **rjsuperfly66** » 9 years ago

Sagarin and Gamer Prediction are two different sources.

twisted3829 · Unread post by **twisted3829** » 9 years ago

my bad, i thought gamer prediction was part of sagarin. I'm not as familiar with football sites as I am with basketball sites

adam914 · Unread post by **adam914** » 9 years ago

GoRhody.com schedule already has the game as a 37-20 loss. Expectations are high!

RF1 · Unread post by **RF1** » 9 years ago

URI loses 20-13.

A win-less season is a very real possibility.

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 9 years ago

What was the turnout?

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 9 years ago

URI had three yards rushing.

STC · Unread post by **STC** » 9 years ago

TruePoint wrote:URI had three yards rushing.

25 attempts! Wow! I could go for 3 yards on 25 attempts!

RhowdyRam02 · Unread post by **RhowdyRam02** » 9 years ago

Turnout was spotty. Not very much on the West side, maybe half full. East side had a strong Brown group and there were a lot of people there for the Band Day festivities. Much smaller student turnout than Albany. Official attendance is listed at 4205.

As for the game itself, if this game was nationally televised, baseball would go back to being this nation's most popular sport. Both offenses were putrid and set the game of football back 40 years. And that was just in the first half before the rain came.

We're now done with the easy part of our schedule.

adam914 · Unread post by **adam914** » 9 years ago

Haha that was the easy part of the schedule? Fun!!

RhowdyRam02 · Unread post by **RhowdyRam02** » 9 years ago

TruePoint wrote:URI had three yards rushing.

That's all we got, three goddamn rushing yards???

Rhode_Island_Red · Unread post by **Rhode_Island_Red** » 9 years ago

And how many millions does football cost?

Hal Kopp · Unread post by **Hal Kopp** » 9 years ago

No and yes, Cooper # 22 RB from Rhody is great. Best player on field today as a frosh.
Yes,running game #s are terrible because Rams cannot get center /QB exchange or Qb/RB hand offs down. I have never seen anything like it. 2-3 turnovers right there. Game,set and match.
The o line is average. But Cooper is a stud RB. TE Mckernan,Wieclaw DB and BOse LB are great. As great as they are,some of the position groups,mainly QB and the kicking game are so bad it defies description. This was another winnable game ala Albany that was just frittered away. Really heart breaking.

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 9 years ago

How can Center/QB. Exchanges and handoffs be a problem when they practice all Spring and Summer?

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 9 years ago

A decent HS team does these things way better.

WHAT are the coaches doing?

Baron was bad at teaching fundamentals, this group is worse.

Hal Kopp · Unread post by **Hal Kopp** » 9 years ago

One of the issues allegedly is staring center is out. However,I have never seen a FB team have so much trouble handling the ball. See pro Jo's write up on cooper today,he is best frosh RB in CAA. Out of Hillhouse in new haven. Not going to win games by himself,but he definitely is explosive and can keep chains moving.

adam914 · Unread post by **adam914** » 9 years ago

ATPTourFan wrote:How can Center/QB. Exchanges and handoffs be a problem when they practice all Spring and Summer?

How can these things be an issue when you are playing above Pop Warner. Actually even then, they seem to be able to handle it.

Ramblinrose · Unread post by **Ramblinrose** » 9 years ago

I was there. Not a great game for either team. Gray weather, sloppy game.

Hal Kopp · Unread post by **Hal Kopp** » 9 years ago

Rambling,do,you agree on the ball exchange observations?

Rhodymob05 · Unread post by **Rhodymob05** » 9 years ago

Like most things in life and sports, good things take time. On two or three season we could look back and hopefully laugh how bad be USE to be. Because even when we were a game under 500 a few years ago, football was awesome at URI. NO way we can continue to suck this bad.

adam914 · Unread post by **adam914** » 9 years ago

Rhodymob05 wrote:Like most things in life and sports, good things take time. On two or three season we could look back and hopefully laugh how bad be USE to be. Because even when we were a game under 500 a few years ago, football was awesome at URI. NO way we can continue to suck this bad.

Well just think, all it takes to claim an improvement next year is to figure out how to successfully snap the ball to the QB!!

Rhode_Island_Red · Unread post by **Rhode_Island_Red** » 9 years ago

Rhodymob05 wrote:Like most things in life and sports, good things take time. On two or three season we could look back and hopefully laugh how bad be USE to be. Because even when we were a game under 500 a few years ago, football was awesome at URI. NO way we can continue to suck this bad.

People have been saying this for something like 20 years. It's time to put this program out of its (and our) misery.

Ramblinrose · Unread post by **Ramblinrose** » 9 years ago

I reluctantly agree with Red. This is a money drain year after year. There's little fan interest except from diehards or people who go to see other people.
The team loses, coach after coach. The "stadium" is a pit and probably unsafe.
It does nothing for recruiting and some of our recruits like Ricardo McCray chose Bryant over URI.

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 9 years ago

I think Dooley will finally pull the plug in a couple of years unless there is substantial improvement.

Not being able to hand the ball off to your RB's, or snap the ball to the QB, is the ultimate embarrassment. That's coaching, or lack of it.

If that isn't the final straw, it's close.

Iggy1979 · Unread post by **Iggy1979** » 9 years ago

Fleming, like Hurley, didn't realize how bad things were. I'm not ready to say he won't get it done yet. The two best players on offense are freshmen, so that's one small encouraging sign.

RhowdyRam02 · Unread post by **RhowdyRam02** » 9 years ago

Iggy1979 wrote:Fleming, like Hurley, didn't realize how bad things were. I'm not ready to say he won't get it done yet. The two best players on offense are freshmen, so that's one small encouraging sign.

Hurley thought he would have Holton and Baron on his team and he didn't know able the APR issues. What issues is Fleming encountering that he didn't know about?

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 9 years ago

Whether he knew about them or not is kind of besides the point. They are real and they are significant.

OBRAM · Unread post by **OBRAM** » 9 years ago

Ramblinrose wrote:I reluctantly agree with Red. This is a money drain year after year. There's little fan interest except from diehards or people who go to see other people.
The team loses, coach after coach. The "stadium" is a pit and probably unsafe.
It does nothing for recruiting and some of our recruits like Ricardo McCray chose Bryant over URI.

If 6,000+ for the Albany game is little fan interest, then maybe we should drop all sports , because even basketball has not drawn 6,000+ for most if but a few games since the $54 million Ryan Center was built.

gorhody89 · Unread post by **gorhody89** » 9 years ago

25 rushes for 3 yards? How? They would have had better luck running 25 QB sneaks...but hey atleast "it was soo college with a fall saturday with the leaves turning and tailgating"...definitely worth the millions spent, no way is there a better use for that money

RhowdyRam02 · Unread post by **RhowdyRam02** » 9 years ago

TruePoint wrote:Whether he knew about them or not is kind of besides the point. They are real and they are significant.

If you only care about a BBQ then yes it's besides the point. If you care about the state of the program and if it can move forward it isn't besides the point at all.

Are there things that are holding this program back that he would have no way of knowing about as an outsider? Are those things that can be fixed by fans/boosters or are they more institutional problems? Or did he underestimate the roster/stadium issues? If so it shows a lack of preparedness and ability to judge the state of the program on the part of Coach Fleming, which would be a red flag on if he is the right person for the job.

So again, the question stands, what issues is Fleming encountering that he didn't know about/underestimate?

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 9 years ago

You don't think the issues that we do know about are enough to make the job difficult? Do you think Hurley's underestimating of the basketball program's issues showed a lack of preparedness and raise a red flag? You're making a bunch really speculative and questionable points as pretense for saying the BBQ thing to me again, which was dumb the first time you brought it up since you are knowingly misrepresenting the point I was making.

The question may stand, but the distinction between issues he did and didn't know about remains meaningless. All of the problems should be addressed, whether he knew about them or not.

RhowdyRam02 · Unread post by **RhowdyRam02** » 9 years ago

You're the one that talked about how important football was to a university, you even said you're not a real university if you don't have football, which is galactically stupid. And you followed that up with the following speech, "Getting students and alumni together to walk through campus during autumn - being able to hear the band playing and the sounds of pads and helmets colliding and crowds roaring and smell the grills burning and the feel of red and orange leaves crunching under your feet on your way to the stadium? Yeah, that is college." You're the one who didn't mention winning, you're the one who mentioned BBQ's more than winning, if your point isn't being taken properly it's because you didn't represent it right, not other people misrepresenting you.

Also, I'm not the one who brought up these issues, Iggy said Fleming didn't know how bad things were without further elaborating. If you don't care, that's fine. It shows a complete lack of critical thinking on your part and it shows you don't care about winning, just having a team, but that's fine, that's your choice. I think it's massively important. What are these extra issues and why didn't he know? Hurley had reason to believe that Holton and Baron would be on his team and I'm not sure if he should have or shouldn't have known about the APR issue when he came in. If Fleming is facing extra difficulties like this, I have no fault with him. If he's saying the roster and stadium situation are worse than he expected when everyone with the most basic understanding of URI football knows how bad they are, then it sounds like he wasn't prepared for this job and it sounds like he's starting with excuse making already. If you think the distinction is meaningless, that's fine, you're just wrong.

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 9 years ago

I don't even know how to respond to that word salad, other than to say that I don't think you've understood anything I've said on the topic (despite my explaining it you numerous times), so it probably isn't worth repeating myself. But in case anyone else is just reading your post and not actually reading what I wrote, my point about the importance of football to a university, generally, is wholly unrelated to the importance of winning to the viability of the football program. Not only is winning important for every sport at every school, but just about every post I've ever made about the football program (other than the one you keep referencing) is about how important it is to make the football team competitive. So I thought it went without saying in that one instance. I didn't think I would had to repeat every obvious thing in every post to ensure I am fully understood.

It honestly doesn't even make sense that you are hell bent on arguing with me here if your point is that the football program needs to figure out how to win. I've been banging that drum for years. I'm not the person you should be directing your strange outbursts at.

And I get that Iggy brought up Fleming's surprise. My statement that it ultimately doesn't matter whether he was surprised or not at this point because the problems are real was in response to that. I was not talking to you. You started this argument by saying it only doesn't matter to me because I like barbecue or something, which hilariously and somewhat impressively manages to completely miss two separate points in one short sentence.

RhowdyRam02 · Unread post by **RhowdyRam02** » 9 years ago

When a poster who tends to have inside knowledge about URI athletics posted that Fleming didn't realize how bad things were I simply asked what were the issues Fleming didn't know about or underestimated. That's a perfectly sound question. And you seemed to take exception and said it was beside the point. Essentially it didn't matter what the issues were, just that there were issues. Personally I think it matters what the issues facing this program are, especially if it's not something obvious that we all know about like the stadium situation. I also think it matters why they exist, and yes, I believe it matters if he knew ahead of not. I believe it matters what they are and why they exist, because that's the only way to fix the problem and I want to know if the coach knew when he took the job because if he knew and is now saying he didn't know it's excuse making at best and inability to diagnose this program's situation at worst.

On a personal level, do you ever find it odd that you get into so many more pissing matches than an average poster on here? Do you think it's just that you're the unluckiest poster on here, or do you think you might have some culpability when it comes to this?

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 9 years ago

I definitely have culpability. I don't necessarily think it is a bad thing to disagree and have it out some times. I don't take it personally and I don't hold it against anyone else personally, either. I will say, though, that sometimes I think people read things into what I'm saying or get defensive because they think I'm trying to start an argument. That seems to be the case here, since you thought I was saying your question didn't matter and honestly I didn't even see your question. When you responded to me and went back to the BBQ thing again, I definitely got agitated. I hope you understand that I was trying to make a point about how the atmosphere that surrounds college football is important to a university, and that implied in that was that is a reason to commit resources to it and try to make something out of the program, not that winning doesn't matter because the atmosphere at a football game is enough to justify the program's existence. But if not, I'm officially giving up trying to convince you. I generally like your posts, so no hard feelings from me. Although in this case I feel like I was just responding to you busting my chops about a point I felt you misconstrued.

Rhodysk · Unread post by **Rhodysk** » 9 years ago

I have a question that maybe someone could anwser. Just throwing this out there and if anyone has any inside info. Was coach Fleeming promised anything durring his interview? Reason why I ask is when Seton Hall was flirting with coach Hurly Rhody moved fast to keep him here ( which they should) but if I remember he wanted more money for ast. Coaches, etc. so did Thor promise coach Fleeming anything?

RhowdyRam02 · Unread post by **RhowdyRam02** » 9 years ago

TruePoint wrote:I definitely have culpability. I don't necessarily think it is a bad thing to disagree and have it out some times. I don't take it personally and I don't hold it against anyone else personally, either. I will say, though, that sometimes I think people read things into what I'm saying or get defensive because they think I'm trying to start an argument. That seems to be the case here, since you thought I was saying your question didn't matter and honestly I didn't even see your question. When you responded to me and went back to the BBQ thing again, I definitely got agitated. I hope you understand that I was trying to make a point about how the atmosphere that surrounds college football is important to a university, and that implied in that was that is a reason to commit resources to it and try to make something out of the program, not that winning doesn't matter because the atmosphere at a football game is enough to justify the program's existence. But if not, I'm officially giving up trying to convince you. I generally like your posts, so no hard feelings from me. Although in this case I feel like I was just responding to you busting my chops about a point I felt you misconstrued.

See that makes sense. Last week we kind of got into it, and it ended with you saying it wasn't worth discussing things any longer because it seemed like I wasn't reading what you were saying. Overall I thought you were right that the conversation had probably run its course at the time, but it did feel like the way you phrased it was a little condescending, though that could have been an online tone issue more than anything else. It never occurred to me that you didn't read the question I posed to Iggy in this thread, so when you followed it up with what you said I did take it that you were responding to me and not him and so I thought, this is seriously still going? I'd like to think that I can be in discussions on here without getting defensive or taking things personally, but clearly I didn't in this case and I'm sorry for my role in how things escalated.

I do understand the importance of college football for a campus and a university. I'm a season ticket holder. I've been to spring games. I've traveled to UMass, Maine and Syracuse to see URI play. I've been to several BC games, including Matt Ryan's senior year when they got as high as #2 in the country and I went to their game against USC earlier this year. I've been to the Red River Rivalry when Texas was ranked 15 and Oklahoma was 13, and to this day it's the best sporting environment I've ever been in, and I've been to Sox and Bruins playoff games and I've been to several Sox-Yankees games. They don't hold a candle to that day in Dallas. I can only imagine how awesome it would have been to have been in Mississippi this past weekend. College football, despite its many issues is probably the best sport there is. No other league has a regular season that means as much. No other sport has the kind of pageantry that programs with tradition have. Hell, when URI won it even made the food in Roger Williams (RIP) taste better.

We have many of the same views when it comes to football and it's place, just one major difference. You think URI should have it no matter what. I think that even if we should have it no matter what, if the losing continues it will die. The losing will continue until we make massive financial investments into the program, yet the university won't make those improvements until we stop the losing. It's like telling a person who needs a blood transfusion to get better that you won't give him the transfusion until he gets better. It's a strategy that won't work for this program, and this program will die if we continue down this path.

If you told me I could choose URI to have a successful football program or hockey program, I would choose football, and I say that as someone who loves college hockey. But I see a program on its deathbed, with no cure on the way. And if the program is going to die no matter what, I'd rather the university be bold and pull the plug sooner rather than later and invest in hockey. Watching the football program continue to wither away, then die, and have the waiting cost us a place in a hockey conference is to me the worst possible outcome, and it's where I see things heading. And I hate all of it. I hate seeing the team play bad football, I hate seeing them lose, and I hate that there doesn't seem to be a good vision of how to handle things to make things better.

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 9 years ago

All fair. I think we basically agree so I'm good with leaving it at that.

rhodyrob · Unread post by **rhodyrob** » 9 years ago

Why don't we go back and think about keeping football, adding hockey and helping the other sports,
Football- Drop down to a league that we may be able to compete in. The NEC was put down by many on this board a short time ago but look at their record this year vs. CAA teams. Central Conn. and Albany are recent NEC programs and both beat us. Bryant as defeated CAA teams this season. The Projo had our coach saying he was after RI High School players. How many RI kids are CAA level scholarship players? I went to see a nephew play a D2 RI game the other day and their were offensive lineman under 5'6' and 150 pounds starting.(honest) . A drop down would mean a drop of 30 scholarships which for out of state students is $.40,000 (tut,fees r&b) each. It would not mean any difference for our placement in the A10 for all our other sports.

Other sports
Hockey- Start the program with 13 of the max 16 allowed scholarships.
Baseball, soccer - both get two extra scholarships.
golf, XC , Track- each get 1 extra.

With the ten scholarships left over Rhody saves apx $400,000 a year which could mean a new track around an artificial turf football/soccer field in maybe five years ( just a guess on cost). This football complex would not be a disgrace in the NEC. Maybe an investment in replacing a smaller east stands at Meade would soon even be possible.

This would allow the tailgating, the band and maybe even a winning team on Saturday afternoons, plus an improvement in the overall Men's Athletic program while still allowing the school to meet Title IX requirements.

If nothing is done just drop the Football program completely.

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 9 years ago

From what I hear, football is on a "prove it" schedule, but it is four years not two (as some have speculated). Hockey is too expensive and is a non-starter for the administration based on the due diligence they've done.

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 9 years ago

Yep. Makes sense to me, TP.

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 9 years ago

Hockey would be too expensive if we also kept football. It's not going to be both.

So, Fleming has 4 years to produce? Wonder what "prove it" means in terms of record and competitiveness? .500 by the 4th year?

I guess 4 years makes sense, in that it's one full 4 year cycle of players.

I don't see us going back down again to the NEC, ever.

I would also imagine that any major facility upgrades are contingent on keeping the program. Maybe that's why the lights for Meade that were promised are on hold.

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