URI football: History is chasing us

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URI football: History is chasing us

Unread post by RhowdyRam02 »

With Saturday’s loss URI has clinched another losing season. They haven’t had a winning season since 2001, which means 13 plus seasons without a winning record, which is the most ever for URI. The second worst stretch in program history was 9 seasons from 1913-22.

We're currently tied for the third longest losing streak in program history at 11 games. The longest losing streak is 15 games (11/12/11-9/7/13). Between that record streak and our current streak we've lost 29 of our last 32 games. If we lose Saturday, we tie our 2nd longest losing streak of 12 games (9/19/09-9/11/10). So we have three separate double digit losing streaks in the last 6 seasons, three separate double digit losing streaks since Thorr Bjorn, a football guy, took over. We also had 11 game losing streaks from 9/19/92-9/4/93 and 9/19/87-9/10/88.

First, we need to stop playing games on September 19th. 3 of our top 5 losing streaks have all started on that date. Second, notice how our program has become historically poor by our school's standards since 1987. This is not a coincidence. As the Yankee Conference has transitioned to the CAA we've added better programs, schools that invest in their program. We added the East stands in 1978. What other investments have we made in the program since then? You could say the Ryan Center stands, but realistically they just replaced the field house.

The fact of the matter is we are a CAA program in name only. The administration's supposed plan of not investing in football until they show signs of life won't work. Football won't show signs of life until they're invested in. The administration must know this, which makes me believe that the plan is really to delay a decision until they're gone, making the next administration be the ones to pull the plug or just wait until the East stands collapse, whichever comes first. This program has been left for dead since Carothers punished the team for the frat fight. While Carothers deserves a lot of blame, every president and AD since also have blood on their hands, including Bjorn and Dooley. This has gone beyond embarrassing at this point. Either invest, lower the program to a conference that matches our commitment, or kill it. This current trend needs to stop, and waiting 3-5 years isn't a solution. This is unacceptable and has been for far too long.
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Re: URI football: History is chasing us

Unread post by rambone 78 »

RR2, could not agree with you more.

I get the feeling this program will improve, if you could call it that, to 3-4 wins in a couple of years.

That's simply not good enough.

A $20-30 million investment in facilities, etc., would only put us on a par with the bottom half of the CAA. No way, no how will we ever approach the level of funding of the top schools in this conference.

Alas, the ship has sailed, and I would think at least Dooley sees it.
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Re: URI football: History is chasing us

Unread post by Puck Frovidence »

RhowdyRam02 wrote:The administration's supposed plan of not investing in football until they show signs of life won't work. Football won't show signs of life until they're invested in. The administration must know this, which makes me believe that the plan is really to delay a decision until they're gone, making the next administration be the ones to pull the plug or just wait until the East stands collapse, whichever comes first.
You're so right. Death by attrition to avoid attribution.
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Re: URI football: History is chasing us

Unread post by Rhodysk »

GREAT POST RR2!
I think you can see by there actions that they will not invest in this program at all. It's a very sad day and year for this team. No one knows the future of this team NO ONE. That's the sad part. It would be nice to see some kind of annocement saying we are trying to build this or that but nothing. I have been going to these games as a kid and now bring my own kids to the games. It's really sad to see this program going no where.
So all you football haters have at it. But remember title 9. If football goes so doesnt other sports. And if you really think the money they save will go to basketball, even " hockey" guess again. That money will stay in the pockets and never be used.
Other than that I will be at every last home game supporting this school, team, and players till the end!
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Re: URI football: History is chasing us

Unread post by rambone 78 »

Yeah Dooley even told me last year lights for Meade was a done deal.

I guess not, now.
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Re: URI football: History is chasing us

Unread post by rhodyrob »

As I understand it dropping football would not need to cause a title 9 drop in other sports. Rhody would need to 1) invest the lost scholarships in other Men sports making them more competitive or 2)Start a new Men's sport with scholarships ="hockey" or 3) drop the number of scholarships for the existing Women teams to equal the total that to male teams have.
I would hope #3 could not even be considered and a combination of 1 and2 would be possible.
The best option I can see is dropping down in Football. This lowers the amount of scholarships that can then be used to help our present men"s teams and start Hockey while not lowering the Female programs.
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Re: URI football: History is chasing us

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A $20-30 million investment in facilities, etc., would only put us on a par with the bottom half of the CAA. No way, no how will we ever approach the level of funding of the top schools in this conference.

Where does the $20-30 million figure come from? I agree we have to be committed to being a player and commit the necessary funds to get there. But we can't be guessing about the expense. Does Thor/Dooley know what this number is and is it realistic. UNH and Maine have great programs - how do they do it and what does it cost?
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Re: URI football: History is chasing us

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rambone 78 wrote:A $20-30 million investment in facilities, etc., would only put us on a par with the bottom half of the CAA. No way, no how will we ever approach the level of funding of the top schools in this conference.
We'll never approach a James Madison, assuming they even stay in the conference, but that kind of investment would put us ahead of Maine's stadium, and probably on par or better than UNH's stadium after their upgrades. We can have successful seasons, even playoff level seasons with that investment.

The biggest problem is with no investment in the program we become very easy to recruit against. Every program in the conference has a stadium as good as ours (UNH) or better (everyone else). Every school continually improves their facilities, we haven't seriously overhauled the East side of the stadium despite it being condemned years ago.

The $20-30 million investment isn't even just about improving facilities, it's about proving to recruits that this University is now serious about its football program. Firing Trainor with a year left on his contract and getting a new coach doesn't move the needle. To counteract the decades of neglect the University needs to commit to a grand gesture that shows football is moving forward seriously and with every intention of being successful. The University can no longer just have a football program because we always have, the University has to finally have a football program on purpose.

And honestly I'm glad the talk of lights was scrapped for now. I've always thought the idea of lights for Meade in its current shape and capacity was a poor idea. All investments in the program must start with improved East stands. Anything other is lipstick on a pig.
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Re: URI football: History is chasing us

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I totally agree. EAST stands has to be be first to go. From the press box down to the bathrooms. In fact I would love to watch them bulldoze that whole side. IF the school ( that's a big IF ) is to put money in the program I don't think it has to be all done in 1 year. I think a little here and there each spring for the next 3 years would be great. If I had to rank what should be done in order:
1.east stands. The most important peice that needs to be done.
2.scoreboard. I know people are gonna think I'm crazy but a replay board makes a world of difference and in this day of age is only right.
3. End zone seats. Maybe something high enough where either coaches offices or suites are on field level.
4. Lights. 3:30 and saturday 7:00 games in September would be a lot of fun.
5. Field turf. I always put this last Bc URI is a farm school with GREA5 grass seed. The natural grass looks really good ( good job by the grounds crew) turf would only be useful if you were to have multiply sports play at Meade.
Just a few things I would like to see or like I have seen before even have a plan for something.
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Re: URI football: History is chasing us

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Great posts, I always felt that most of footballs problems are a result of Administrative decisions. It has been 10 years since the stadium plans came out, and still nothing but the West Stands which are just a replacement for what was removed to build the Ryan Center. URI should be embarrassed at the Stadium facilities and outside track, and lack of baseball stands. A flagship State University with 16,000 total students has worse facilities than most high schools in RI. Is it any co-incident that just 6 years after the East Stands were built that we were competing for National Championships in 1984? I know that is not the only reason, and a lot of credit has to do Mo Zarchen,, with Bob Griffin's revolutionary offense, but would he have been able to recruit the Ehrhardt's, Forster's, DiMaggio's, Dameon Reilly's of the world without the East Stands, which were even outdated when they were new.

BTW, Here is info on Mo Zarchen
Mo Zarchen,
He enlisted in the U. S. Army in 1942 and served in the infantry for three years during World War II. He received several commendations, including two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star. As a member of the infantry, he participated in the landing at Utah Beach in Normandy on D-Day, the liberation of Paris, the Battle of the Bulge, and the crossing of the Rhine River at Remagen.

After his military service, he graduated from Rhode Island State College in 1949 and received his master’s degree from Columbia University.
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Re: URI football: History is chasing us

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Rhodysk wrote:I totally agree. EAST stands has to be be first to go. From the press box down to the bathrooms. In fact I would love to watch them bulldoze that whole side. IF the school ( that's a big IF ) is to put money in the program I don't think it has to be all done in 1 year. I think a little here and there each spring for the next 3 years would be great. If I had to rank what should be done in order:
1.east stands. The most important peice that needs to be done.
2.scoreboard. I know people are gonna think I'm crazy but a replay board makes a world of difference and in this day of age is only right.
3. End zone seats. Maybe something high enough where either coaches offices or suites are on field level.
4. Lights. 3:30 and saturday 7:00 games in September would be a lot of fun.
5. Field turf. I always put this last Bc URI is a farm school with GREA5 grass seed. The natural grass looks really good ( good job by the grounds crew) turf would only be useful if you were to have multiply sports play at Meade.
Just a few things I would like to see or like I have seen before even have a plan for something.
When Stowers had that great year in 2001 and the stadium drawing came out right after the season I really thought the program was on the cusp of turning around. The only thing I would change about the stadium design is I would take a cue from some the stadiums in MLS and make one of the endzones a permanent stage. This obviously gives you the opportunity to host concerts, commencement, and other activities at Meade, but it would also create a place for group receptions during the game. I really like your idea for suites at field level. Obviously McCoy already has this in addition to Cowboys Stadium and Gillette will be adding them as well. As for the order I'd do things in:

1. East stands. I would even pay $25 to operate the bulldozer for a couple minutes, maybe a possible fundraising opportunity? This is a must and soon, I can't think the current East stands have much of a life left.
2. Lights, field turf and stage. To me they're pretty much a combined expense. Lights and field turf would allow the football team to use the field for practice without tearing up the playing surface. Turf would also allow more events at the Stadium including concerts with seating/standing on the field surface. To me the field turf is the most important of the three, for the ability to practice and get more use out of the field.
3. This would depend on how our attendance looks. If we seem to need more seating I go with the end zone seats opposite the stage. If we seem to be fine with what we have for seating I go with the video board.
4. Whichever of the two options we don't go with in 3.
5. An inflatable bubble like BC has for Alumni Field. This would allow for baseball, softball, golf and other sports to use the field during offseason, even with snow.
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Re: URI football: History is chasing us

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OBRAM wrote:Great posts, I always felt that most of footballs problems are a result of Administrative decisions. It has been 10 years since the stadium plans came out, and still nothing but the West Stands which are just a replacement for what was removed to build the Ryan Center. URI should be embarrassed at the Stadium facilities and outside track, and lack of baseball stands. A flagship State University with 16,000 total students has worse facilities than most high schools in RI. Is it any co-incident that just 6 years after the East Stands were built that we were competing for National Championships in 1984? I know that is not the only reason, and a lot of credit has to do Mo Zarchen,, with Bob Griffins revolutionary offense, but would he have been able to recruit the Erhart's , Fosters, of the world without the East Stands, which were even outdated when they were new.
The facilities do need a massive upgrade, that's for sure. I'd love to see the University partner with someone to help build stands around Beck Field with the understanding the partner could then use the field in the Summer for a college wood bat league or maybe even a Single A team. And while we need a new track, I hope they have no plans of putting it around the football field. I always hate stadiums that have that.
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Re: URI football: History is chasing us

Unread post by RhowdyRam02 »

The problem of course is that this is all a pipe dream. I had no luck with Mega Millions or Powerball this week. Maybe this weekend...
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Re: URI football: History is chasing us

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Is it all a pipe dream? You would like to think that the athletic dept has gotten responces and I'm sure thor's ear as been picked apart a few times. Someone at the top is stalling. But who? Dooley? Thor? State?
Recruits has to see there is a plan in place. No plan means the same old recruits. And how has that done for us the past 13 years?
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Re: URI football: History is chasing us

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It absolutely is a pipe dream...
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Re: URI football: History is chasing us

Unread post by rodfromcranston »

Cure it or kill it.
This program is on life support, and anyone who thinks
carrying on, and wishing for some miracle is delusional.
There is no T Boone Pickers at URI, and no bond issue to
improve the football facilities would ever pass the RI voters.
I think a D-1 hockey program is more practical and makes sense for the region
we're in.
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Exactly, either build a legitimate stadium or just kill the program.
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And who's going to be behind the building of this stadium? URI Administration is just going to do it? Oh yeah, that's right, because Ron Petro built the Ryan Center.
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Exactly!
It would need to be almost completely funded by private money.
Not happening.
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Re: URI football: History is chasing us

Unread post by rambone 78 »

There seems to be no desire to start a private fund raising program for improving the football facilities.

Without that, this program is doomed.

Fleming isn't the answer either. Not going to get the talent in here without a REAL commitment to infrastructure improvement.

They are paying the guy $170K a year. That's chicken crap in the world of college football even at this level.

People have said Fleming has 3 more years to turn this around. I doubt it ends up that way.
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We're now tied for the 2nd longest losing streak in URI football history. In the 116 year history of the program, the three longest losing streaks have all come in the last six seasons, and we have a 12-52 record in those 6 seasons.
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Re: URI football: History is chasing us

Unread post by Seawrightspostgame »

I don't know anything about this, aside from what I have read here.

I don't understand why they can't eventually replace those stands. Team draws like what 7k on average?

Some headline like "URI athletic field's stands are deemed dangerous, state exploring ways to replace."

Some figure in the 11-20M range to put up a brick facade that houses a bunch of metal benches overlooking the field.

Private/public partnership, spruce it up to hold other events like people are saying. It seems much more unreal that people would speculate that it will never get done, than eventually something getting done. Just with the trend of more ppl living in the southern part of the state and the fact those stands can't last forever.
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Re: URI football: History is chasing us

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They've averaged 4887 in attendance since the 2010 season.

The East stands were condemned after the 2009 season and even with that there has been no movement to upgrade those seats, they just did patchwork repairs to keep them open, that's why everyone speculates it won't get done.
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Re: URI football: History is chasing us

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Seawrightspostgame wrote:I don't know anything about this, aside from what I have read here.

I don't understand why they can't eventually replace those stands. Team draws like what 7k on average?

Some headline like "URI athletic field's stands are deemed dangerous, state exploring ways to replace."

Some figure in the 11-20M range to put up a brick facade that houses a bunch of metal benches overlooking the field.

Private/public partnership, spruce it up to hold other events like people are saying. It seems much more unreal that people would speculate that it will never get done, than eventually something getting done. Just with the trend of more ppl living in the southern part of the state and the fact those stands can't last forever.

It took 10+ years to get the SADC built and when it was, it was a much diminished project. It originally started out as a 10 million dollar new stand alone facility which was ultimately modified to 4.5 million dollar renovation of existing space in Tootell.

The SADC was for all athletes and it took that long. Try exrapolating that with a project multiple times that cost which would only serve football. That should give you an idea what they are up against.
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Re: URI football: History is chasing us

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URI coach Fleming really is living the dream
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Re: URI football: History is chasing us

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Some dream.
Well, 0-12 seems well within being possible.
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If this is his dream I would hate to hear about his nightmares.
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Re: URI football: History is chasing us

Unread post by ATPTourFan »

I think Thorr and others are looking for how the program is run this year more so than wins and losses. It's critical to make the most of this season and not let the losing get in the way of establishing a more healthy and functional football program.

From that perspective, Thorr is happy.
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Re: URI football: History is chasing us

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The team hasn't quit the way they did the last few novembers...
That being said, wtf is bunky talking about?!?!
Fleming is dreaming of an indoor practice facility?
Seriously, what was the point of that column?
I probly can't make it saturday, but here's hoping we keep it close.
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Re: URI football: History is chasing us

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What am I missing? What progress have we made in the last year? Why should Thorr be happy with what's going on? We have no wins this year, and we almost certainly won't be favored in any of our final three games. We had three wins last year, all three of those teams stomped us this year, including one team from the NEC who hung 28 fourth quarter points on us. Yeah, our last two games have been closer, but that's because of the competition we've faced. Maine is a bottom of the conference team this season who lost at Bryant earlier this year, and their average game in conference this year outside of URI is a 26-15.25 loss. They beat us 20-14. Delaware is an average team with an average in conference game of 25.5-24.5 loss, they beat us 28-13. Great, we haven't been blown out, but that says more about the competition than anything we did.
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Re: URI football: History is chasing us

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We are now alone in second place for the longest losing streak in URI football history at 13 games and it looks like we have the fourth longest active losing streak in FCS. In the 116 year history of the program the two longest losing streaks ever have come in the last 3 plus seasons. We are now 3-31 since the program's longest losing streak started on 11/12/11.
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RhowdyRam02 wrote:We are now alone in second place for the longest losing streak in URI football history at 13 games and it looks like we have the fourth longest active losing streak in FCS. In the 116 year history of the program the two longest losing streaks ever have come in the last 3 plus seasons. We are now 3-31 since the program's longest losing streak started on 11/12/11.

Much of the reason it has been this bad the last few years was due to the NEC move and subsequent reversal. The number of scholarships was being reduced and the downgrading message sent out to possible CAA level recruits contributed to these disastrous results.
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Re: URI football: History is chasing us

Unread post by rambone 78 »

RR, the football program is where Dan was when he coached his first year here.

All they're going to get is moral victories. In other words, losing close games to other not-quite-as- bad teams.

It's obvious Fleming is going to get his chance to turn things around. They will get better, but without promised infrastructure improvements, it's going to be almost impossible to get much better.

The depth of talent will improve, it has to. Nowhere to go but up. To a winning level?

Don't see it.
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RhowdyRam02 wrote:What am I missing? What progress have we made in the last year? Why should Thorr be happy with what's going on? We have no wins this year, and we almost certainly won't be favored in any of our final three games. We had three wins last year, all three of those teams stomped us this year, including one team from the NEC who hung 28 fourth quarter points on us. Yeah, our last two games have been closer, but that's because of the competition we've faced. Maine is a bottom of the conference team this season who lost at Bryant earlier this year, and their average game in conference this year outside of URI is a 26-15.25 loss. They beat us 20-14. Delaware is an average team with an average in conference game of 25.5-24.5 loss, they beat us 28-13. Great, we haven't been blown out, but that says more about the competition than anything we did.
They've been without their starting QB and starting RB for some time, so I think citing the quality of the opponent is a little misleading. Keeping it closer while missing key pieces, especially on offense, shows improvement in other areas of the game. Because let's face it - Caparell isn't exactly lighting it up out there.

Also, Bryant is nationally ranked. The fact that Maine lost to them doesn't say much at all, other than Maine lost to a good team.
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Re: URI football: History is chasing us

Unread post by rhodyrob »

Interesting that the football backers on this site never even acknowledged that we had a game last week at Delaware. Are you more interested in the tailgating or the game? Be honest, the partying with your friends would be the same if we dropped out of the CAA and into a more local league where we are competitive. This would allow us to have the same good time but have our other sports do better. What would soccer be like with two or three more scholarships? Hockey anyone?
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Re: URI football: History is chasing us

Unread post by OBRAM »

rhodyrob wrote:Interesting that the football backers on this site never even acknowledged that we had a game last week at Delaware. Are you more interested in the tailgating or the game? Be honest, the partying with your friends would be the same if we dropped out of the CAA and into a more local league where we are competitive. This would allow us to have the same good time but have our other sports do better. What would soccer be like with two or three more scholarships? Hockey anyone?
I would tailgate at the basketball games if most were not at night, or in the frigid cold. Maybe I will for a warm February Saturday game. Guess we should get rid of basketball scholarships also.
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Re: URI football: History is chasing us

Unread post by RhowdyRam02 »

RF1 wrote:Much of the reason it has been this bad the last few years was due to the NEC move and subsequent reversal. The number of scholarships was being reduced and the downgrading message sent out to possible CAA level recruits contributed to these disastrous results.
The talked about move to the NEC has always been overblown by the football apologists. They announced two days after the 2010 season that they were moving to the NEC. In the four seasons since they've gone 6-37. But the four seasons before the announcement they went 12-33, better, but let's not act like there's been some massive decline. They had nine straight losing seasons before they announced the move to the NEC, which is tied with our previous record for consecutive losing seasons.

Also, the NEC scholarship limits have been overblown in regard to this season. Albany blew out out, and they were in the NEC two seasons ago. Central Connecticut blew us out and they're in the NEC.

This program was dead before they announced the potential move to the NEC. If anything, we should have followed through with the move and competed at a level more in line with our level of commitment to football.
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Re: URI football: History is chasing us

Unread post by RhowdyRam02 »

SmartyBarrett wrote:They've been without their starting QB and starting RB for some time, so I think citing the quality of the opponent is a little misleading. Keeping it closer while missing key pieces, especially on offense, shows improvement in other areas of the game. Because let's face it - Caparell isn't exactly lighting it up out there.
Mack Lowrie hasn't been playing, but lets' not act like we're missing some great QB who was lighting it up as you say. He was only completing 54.1% of his passes, he had the same yards per attempt that Caparell has and he threw 5 TD's with 5 Int.'s. Better than Caparell, but it's hard to see him making a difference, seeing as he was interchangeable with Caparell in camp leading up to the season and made no difference in the games he played. And spare me the RB excuse. Yeah, we're missing Lyle McCombs' 3.5 yards a carry. Harold Cooper, who is playing more now with McCombs out, is averaging 4.6 yards per carry. You can argue the upgrade in running back cancels out what we lost at QB seeing as we run more than pass.

They've only kept it close lately because they played an average team and a terrible team, not because they've improved. Before Maine and Delaware they got smoked by Richmond and Villanova until Villanova put in scrubs. And spoiler alert, New Hampshire is going to curb stomp us this week.
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Re: URI football: History is chasing us

Unread post by RhowdyRam02 »

rhodyrob wrote:Interesting that the football backers on this site never even acknowledged that we had a game last week at Delaware. Are you more interested in the tailgating or the game? Be honest, the partying with your friends would be the same if we dropped out of the CAA and into a more local league where we are competitive. This would allow us to have the same good time but have our other sports do better. What would soccer be like with two or three more scholarships? Hockey anyone?
Exactly. The lack of people that bother to talk about the team's games speaks volumes.
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Re: URI football: History is chasing us

Unread post by rambone 78 »

Interest in FB is at an all time low here, if that's even possible.

Remember Prairie View? We're approaching THAT level of futility.
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Re: URI football: History is chasing us

Unread post by adam914 »

But they try hard! Participation ribbons for everyone!!
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Re: URI football: History is chasing us

Unread post by SmartyBarrett »

RhowdyRam02 wrote:
SmartyBarrett wrote:They've been without their starting QB and starting RB for some time, so I think citing the quality of the opponent is a little misleading. Keeping it closer while missing key pieces, especially on offense, shows improvement in other areas of the game. Because let's face it - Caparell isn't exactly lighting it up out there.
Mack Lowrie hasn't been playing, but lets' not act like we're missing some great QB who was lighting it up as you say. He was only completing 54.1% of his passes, he had the same yards per attempt that Caparell has and he threw 5 TD's with 5 Int.'s. Better than Caparell, but it's hard to see him making a difference, seeing as he was interchangeable with Caparell in camp leading up to the season and made no difference in the games he played. And spare me the RB excuse. Yeah, we're missing Lyle McCombs' 3.5 yards a carry. Harold Cooper, who is playing more now with McCombs out, is averaging 4.6 yards per carry. You can argue the upgrade in running back cancels out what we lost at QB seeing as we run more than pass.

They've only kept it close lately because they played an average team and a terrible team, not because they've improved. Before Maine and Delaware they got smoked by Richmond and Villanova until Villanova put in scrubs. And spoiler alert, New Hampshire is going to curb stomp us this week.
I never said Lowrie was lighting it up. I said Cappy is not lighting it up. If you think the difference between the two is negligible, then I question how many games you've actually watched, and not just checked a box score afterwards. Caparell is not a CAA level QB, period. Lowrie can be, if he isn't already. He wasn't "lighting it up", but his decision making was clearly on another level. If he was the QB vs Maine, URI is 1-8 now, not 0-9.

RE: running back. Let's say McCombs never got hurt and Cooper earned the starting job even with both healthy. Who would you rather have as a back-up: McCombs or Sebastian? It's not even a question. Sebastian had two carries before McCombs went down. He's had 48 since (at a whopping 2.9 YPC clip). Paint is as an "excuse" if you must, but they could have really used McCombs over the past few games, starting or otherwise.
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Re: URI football: History is chasing us

Unread post by RhowdyRam02 »

SmartyBarrett wrote:I never said Lowrie was lighting it up. I said Cappy is not lighting it up. If you think the difference between the two is negligible, then I question how many games you've actually watched, and not just checked a box score afterwards. Caparell is not a CAA level QB, period. Lowrie can be, if he isn't already. He wasn't "lighting it up", but his decision making was clearly on another level. If he was the QB vs Maine, URI is 1-8 now, not 0-9.

RE: running back. Let's say McCombs never got hurt and Cooper earned the starting job even with both healthy. Who would you rather have as a back-up: McCombs or Sebastian? It's not even a question. Sebastian had two carries before McCombs went down. He's had 48 since (at a whopping 2.9 YPC clip). Paint is as an "excuse" if you must, but they could have really used McCombs over the past few games, starting or otherwise.
If you think Lowrie is a CAA level QB right now I question how much football you watch. Lowrie is like having your car totaled, Caparell is like having your house burn down. Yeah, you'd rather have your car totaled if one of the two had to happen, but both will ruin your day. And not only do I think the difference between the two is negligible, the coaches thought the same before the season and even during the season because they've had Caparell come in for series even when Lowrie was healthy. Are you wondering if the coaches are watching the games too? And the idea that we'd have won the Maine game if Lowrie was in there is pure conjecture at best. He didn't help us beat Albany, Central Connecticut or Brown, why would he have been the difference against Maine? Because you really, really hope so?

And yeah, depth would be better, but you made an excuse about us missing our starting running back because you thought you could get away with throwing out a crap excuse with no one paying attention to the team, and I pointed out our current starter is better. You want to act like the team is keeping things close even though we're dealing with these killer injuries. Every team has injuries, and our injuries aren't really killers. The last two games were close because we played lesser opponents, not because we've gotten any better.
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Re: URI football: History is chasing us

Unread post by SmartyBarrett »

All I'll say is, there's no need to exaggerate the failures of this program this year or in the past few years. This team is not good (clearly), and they're probably going to finish 0-12. But I believe they would be (marginally) better if they had some of their better offensive players healthy. It's debatable (clearly), but all I've been met with is overt exaggerations and a general stomping around and screaming "THEY STINK!" There's a fine line between being realistic about the program and just straight up trolling.
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Re: URI football: History is chasing us

Unread post by Rhode_Island_Red »

SmartyBarrett wrote:All I'll say is, there's no need to exaggerate the failures of this program this year or in the past few years. This team is not good (clearly), and they're probably going to finish 0-12. But I believe they would be (marginally) better if they had some of their better offensive players healthy. It's debatable (clearly), but all I've been met with is overt exaggerations and a general stomping around and screaming "THEY STINK!" There's a fine line between being realistic about the program and just straight up trolling.
So 3-9 would be worth pouring out more millions of dollars that we don't have?
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Re: URI football: History is chasing us

Unread post by SmartyBarrett »

Rhode_Island_Red wrote:
SmartyBarrett wrote:All I'll say is, there's no need to exaggerate the failures of this program this year or in the past few years. This team is not good (clearly), and they're probably going to finish 0-12. But I believe they would be (marginally) better if they had some of their better offensive players healthy. It's debatable (clearly), but all I've been met with is overt exaggerations and a general stomping around and screaming "THEY STINK!" There's a fine line between being realistic about the program and just straight up trolling.
So 3-9 would be worth pouring out more millions of dollars that we don't have?
Huh?

Look, we all know Fleming is going to get about three years, four years tops to turn this around. I'm not debating this, nor am I a URI football optimist. I honestly don't have an opinion either way. All I was trying to discuss is this: with the core of players currently on the roster, does Fleming have a chance to get to a record where this program will survive (provided he can recruit and build around them)? I think he MIGHT. That's all I'm saying. 0-9 is terrible, but I'm not sure that it's indicative of the future just yet.
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Re: URI football: History is chasing us

Unread post by Ramblinrose »

Fleming says this is his dream job. Well that is what he told Bunky.
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Re: URI football: History is chasing us

Unread post by RhowdyRam02 »

We are now tied for the longest losing streak in the program's 116 year history at 15 games in a row and are 3-33 in our last 36 games. If we lose at home on Saturday against Towson (4-7, 2-5) we will obviously have the longest losing streak in program history, but we will also have our 6th winless and tieless season, joining 1896 (0-4), 1901 (0-2), 1924 (0-7), 1949 (0-8), and 2012 (0-11).
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Re: URI football: History is chasing us

Unread post by ATPTourFan »

So, there IS something to look forward to this weekend!
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Re: URI football: History is chasing us

Unread post by Meade »

Yes, the kids are going to play their hearts out and do everything they can to win!
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