Game 1 Football AT Georgia State 7PM Thursday Aug 31 2023 ESPN+

[Native]

URI 28, Georgia State 21

[Billyboy78]

This team has some talented wide receivers!

[PeterRamTime]

This is the best game I've ever seen a Rhody QB have

[Rhodymob05]

Holds murdering us

[PeterRamTime]

This is the best game I've ever seen a Rhody QB have

I knew I jinxed it

[PeterRamTime]

Holds murdering us

Holds ruin every drive immediately

[Kirby.Krackle]

This offensive line is really struggling without AJ.

[Bos8]

This offensive line is really struggling without AJ.

One of the holds was on a tight end. Don't believe they showed the replay, so I didn't see it.

[Rhodymob05]

Hill is definitely hurt.

[PeterRamTime]

Coaching to lose


Wow

Absolutely atrocious

[rhodyrudder]

Coaching to lose


Wow

Absolutely atrocious

Can’t understand punting there

[PeterRamTime]

Coaching to lose


Wow

Absolutely atrocious

Can’t understand punting there

Fleming coaches like he's in the 90's

[damram]

That was the dumbest call ever.

[PeterRamTime]

Jim Fleming is braindead

[Rhodymob05]

Should have went for it the way their ground game is dominating.

[Jdrums#3]

Oooph! That TD hurt.

The O is playing good but two scores is a tough hill to climb with 8 minutes left.

[rhodyfan3]

Man, the coaching decisions tonight have been pretty brutal. I don’t know how you go for it on your own 29 yard line and on the same drive punt in + territory on 4th and 2. Yikes.

[PeterRamTime]

What a huge response!

Wonder why we had gone away from the pass in the first place???

[reef]

Yeah the 4th and 2 punt was terrible have to be aggressive there

[Bos8]

Would have loved to see Buchanan come down with that one. WRs overall have had a really good game. Need a stop here

[Rhodymob05]

Our receivers play good all game and now decide to have butter fingers.

[damram]

Screwed ourselves again.

[Bos8]

How is that a first down? At first glance it appeared he never got back to the line of scrimmage. And the double measurements with it looking short both times makes no sense?

[adam914]

LOL the refs fixed the game...

[PeterRamTime]

How is that a first down? At first glance it appeared he never got back to the line of scrimmage. And the double measurements with it looking short both times makes no sense?

That was utter bs

[STC]

Tough loss, GA St RB looked short by a mile. I can’t recall seeing a URI offense as thrilling and dynamic as this which is exciting. Despite the loss I love what Fleming has built here.

[4Diffs]

What a hose job that was at the end. No way was that a first down not the first time they measured it and definitely not the second and I think they noticed that and said oh my God we got to push this thing back. It's was pretty obvious the second time. Didn't think stuff like this still happen in 2023 as far as the fix being that obvious.

Still a frustrating game in so many ways. I don't know how you can go on the road as an underdog and be that conservative twice on 4th and two calls and don't go for it. Wrong decision each time. Frankly cost them the game.

[Billyboy78]

There's going to be a lot of high scoring games this year.

[Rhodymob05]

That was insane

[Shinze88]

Saw alot of good things overall from the Rams tonight, but again, to many mistakes which ended up costing us this game. This GSU team is not very strong and would be a mid level CAA team in my opinion. Still encouraged with how we hung around and fought until the end. We definitely have the talent to make a run in the CAA and be in contention for the post season, onto Stony Brook

[SmartyBarrett]

How is that a first down? At first glance it appeared he never got back to the line of scrimmage. And the double measurements with it looking short both times makes no sense?

Kinda getting sick of these hose job endings. UNH last year and now this. But whatever, I'm pumped about this team. Get Hill 100% and I'm not sure any CAA team can stop this offense.

[Jdrums#3]

Tough loss but despite the rough start, penalties, turnovers and questionable coaching decisions, we put up 520 yards of O and were in the game on the road.

I’m disappointed tonight but very hopeful for the rest of the season.

[PeterRamTime]

We have no excuse to not make the playoff this year

We definitely have a squad

[Blue Man]

Not that I’m actively rooting for it, but if something horrible happened to that officiating crew tonight I wouldn’t be emotional about it.

[TruePoint]

Hard to win when you lose the TO battle 2-0. But, going on the road against a FBS opponent, 18 pt dog and being extremely competitive is encouraging. Really, looking at the box score we were at least as good if not the better team save for the two turnovers. Looking to see us clean up some of the penalty stuff and do a little better job against the run next time out. Would have loved to have got this one but I’ll take our chances going forward if we can consistently reproduce that effort.

[RhowdyRam02]

1. really like the back up QB Farrell. No concern who is playing
2 Sloat has gotten faster. At least 4 deep at RB,no concern who is playing. They have somewhat different styles.
3. OL & DL transfers from BC & VT non factors
4. Depina Gray is great athlete. Frosh walk on
5. 4 of the 10 DBs are from Rhody HS. Lots of athletes back there
6. Shank (didn't come through) is behind frosh from New Canaan (great program)
7. LB from Cincy looks real good (Hightower)

Credit on the call about Sloat. Been impressed. Silas also looks like a burner, but 5'8 seems to be a major stretch.

I've stood next to him, I think that height is accurate he just looks smaller because of the people around him

[reef]

How is that a first down? At first glance it appeared he never got back to the line of scrimmage. And the double measurements with it looking short both times makes no sense?

That was utter bs

Yeah definitely bogus , should have been out ball with a chance to tie

[Farrell_Fan]

[Sweep The Leg]

URI Underdog Big Game Formula:

1) Get down (sometimes big) early
2) Take lead late
3) implode a little later
4) Refs deliver death blow with a bad/ questionable call.
5) The End

Doesn’t matter the sport. Most notable are in basketball like Duke 88’, Stanford and Oregon.

Seems we have more losses like this than the total of the Fast and Furious movies. Or for the older generation Police Academy movies.

[RhowdyRam02]

So this might not be a popular opinion, but I'm not that pissed off about the officiating. Yeah, the measurement issue was a joke, but I still believe that Hill's arm wasn't actually going forward/making a throwing motion on that first drive, and that incompletion call took a TD off the board for them

[jcru]

I actually can't believe more of a big deal isn't being made about that call. I guess one URI player wasn't "playing along" and was beside himself, he saw the measurement at a perfect angle and was protesting to the officials, both times.

It's not even that subtle anymore when the officials are trying to gift one team the game. Just like UNH last year, we weren't getting out of Atlanta with the "W" unless we dominated them to the point where they couldn't penalize and bad call their way back.

[jcru]

I got this text msg from my brother this morning:


Can't find 1 article or even a
Twitter post questioning the end
of that game.. all there is are the
minions, "golly gee, they played a
swell game .....tidy up the
penalties, and button up the
defense, and we're cooking with
Crisco folks.... Complete w/
Thumbs up & smiley face
emojis....Ok I'm done complaining


lol

[Bos8]

I was surprised to see the Georgia State running back motioning for a first down when he got up after the play. It appeared he didn't get back to the line of scrimmage, let alone the yard or so they needed.

I will say, it's never a good sign when your two leading tacklers are in your secondary.

[PeterRamTime]

So this might not be a popular opinion, but I'm not that pissed off about the officiating. Yeah, the measurement issue was a joke, but I still believe that Hill's arm wasn't actually going forward/making a throwing motion on that first drive, and that incompletion call took a TD off the board for them

Seemed pretty clear it was going forward to me. We also got a really bad angle.

[PeterRamTime]

How come we don't believe in qb sneaks here? We were going out of the shotgun with a 6'2 234 pound QB on 3rd and 1. Totally dumb

They could not cover summers at all and we threw him the ball maybe once in the 3rd quarter and never looked his way in the 4th.

Then the 4th and 2 where you punted late in the fourth. What a chickenshit

I just hope that our talented players find a way to overcome enough questionable play calls to get us to the playoffs, because it's pretty clear Jim will forever coach not to lose.

Kasim played like the FBS QB he was suppose to be and we have some FBS level receivers. Same with the o-line. We should have no problem imposing our will against most anybody on our schedule. There's no way anyone in the CAA can cover Summers and the rest of the WR's are fast. We really matched up pretty well with them athletically. Was surprising.

[BigBlueDawg]

We ran a QB sneak from like our minus 30-35 for a first down on that same drive we punted on in the 4th quarter......

[bigappleram]

How come we don't believe in qb sneaks here? We were going out of the shotgun with a 6'2 234 pound QB on 3rd and 1. Totally dumb

They could not cover summers at all and we threw him the ball maybe once in the 3rd quarter and never looked his way in the 4th.

Then the 4th and 2 where you punted late in the fourth. What a chickenshit

I just hope that our talented players find a way to overcome enough questionable play calls to get us to the playoffs, because it's pretty clear Jim will forever coach not to lose.

Kasim played like the FBS QB he was suppose to be and we have some FBS level receivers. Same with the o-line. We should have no problem imposing our will against most anybody on our schedule. There's no way anyone in the CAA can cover Summers and the rest of the WR's are fast. We really matched up pretty well with them athletically. Was surprising.

I’m not privy to game tape but maybe just maybe they started doubling Summers and playing a safety over the top…..soooo…Hill made them pay by going to Urby, Buchanan, Savedge.

[ramster]

Thoughts from the game:
The Good:

• URI was an 18 point underdog to an FBS opponent on the Road. We went down 0-7 at 13:36 of Q1 and then 0-14 at 14:10 Q2 and 7-21 at 11:31 Q2. Many of the players and even some coaches looked at bit shell shocked and down with such quick scoring by GSU. Starting Safety Jordan Colbert (#2) 6'3" GRAD Transfer from Columbia was a bundle of positive energy on the sideline right from the beginning of the game and especially stepped it up after the GSU first score. Colbert is in his 2nd year for URI. The Transfer from Bucknell, starting Safety Brent Jackson (#31) 6'2" was also very positive, confident and showed leadership. Jackson is from Denton Texas and was All Patriot League 2nd Team. He was a 2 time MVP for Bucknell. He was Team Captain for Bucknell. These 2 players were pumping up the URI players and coaches on the sidelines when things were looking tough early on. Love that we have such strong leaders, both experienced Grad Transfers and solid players at the 2 Safety positions. Colbert got beat on a long TD pass early on that was perfectly thrown by the GSU QB. He had good coverage but just got beat, yet he stayed positive, kept instilling energy and enthusiasm in his teammates and in himself. Ton of credit to URI players, Coaches and Fans for keeping the faith and not folding. This game could have easily gotten ugly.

• Field Goal Kicking. Freshman Ty Groff from New Canaan CT was 5-5 PAT's but missed a 33 yard FG that hit the right Upright. He showed a strong leg in all of his kicks and exuded confidence. Groff was Team Captain for his Connecticut HS Team that won the State Championship going 12-1. Groff played QB, Kicker and Punter. Senior Year FG's he was 15-17 including kicks from 48, 47, 45 and 41. Connecticut State Record Holder with 27 Career FG's and 15 FG's in one season. Freshman Will Johnson handled the KickOff duty adequately. Kicking already looking much improved from last year.

• The 1st GSU interception in the End Zone was a tremendous play by several guys. Kasim Hill threw a perfect pass, a beautifully thrown catchable ball. John Erby made a great attempt to catch the ball, momentarily had it but Cody Jones made an absolutely amazing interception. Jones is a transfer from UMASS - originally from Georgia, so a big play for him. Watched the replay multiple times and it's just unreal how he came up with that ball. A bit of juggling by Erby made it possible but still a great interception. Tough to call that a Turnover because Hill, Erby and Jones all made excellent plays with the ball. Of course it is a Turnover - but not a bad Turnover by any means.

• Marquis Buchanan had an unbelievable TD reception and run - his 1st catch and TD for URI!! He ran horizontally from 1 side of the field to the other to get a clear shot at the end zone. Fellow WR John Erby had a tremendous block to free Buchanan to make the final corner turn. Buchanan almost had a 2nd TD getting tackled just before reaching the end zone. Marquis earned more playing time with his performance. He could be a big plus this season adding to an already strong receiving core.

• Good turnout of URI Fans. Better than I expected and they were enthusiastic. Represented URI very nicely.

• This result showed URI players and coaches that they can complete and even beat a FBS opponent on the road. Gives confidence that this group can succeed in the CAA and go for a coveted FCS playoff spot in the 24 team Bracket.

Opportunities to improve:

• We did not have a QB Sack nor a QB hurry in the game. Credit the GSU Offensive Line and the QB but we need more pressure heading into CAA play

• Penalties. We had 9 Penalties for 70 yards. GSU had 4 penalties for 50 yards. On one play Grad Transfer from St Francis DL Jalen Brown, 6' 280 lb, made a late hit. Most all around me thought it was a late hit. Ref threw the flag, albeit somewhat late, which seemed a pattern during the game. Crazy thing is the Referees looked back at it and picked the flag back up - no penalty. I was shocked. But just too many penalties for Rhody.

• Running game. Last season Marques DeShields came on strong. He started the last 8 games of the season after subbing the 1st 3 games. He ended up 2nd team CAA and 2nd in CAA in Rushing. We need somebody to break out in running similar to how DeShields did. We have several talented players with the potential to break out.

• Punting. Devin Walker is a freshman from North Carolina. He had 3 punts to average 36 yards. Almost had one blocked. Hope he improves as most all Freshmen do but we need a strong punting game to achieve FCS Playoffs.

• The 2nd GSU Interception came when Kasim Hill lofted a pass and GSU picked it off for a Pick 6. Hill was at about the GSU 25 yard line and walked all the way to the far end of the URI Bench and sat down about the URI 25 yard line. Along the way he threw his helmet to the ground. He was not happy. Maybe someone ran a wrong route? Or maybe Hill was just upset with himself? Hill is a tough competitor. As he walked by #6 Evan Stewart Hill he said something to him. Not sure if it was about a bad route run or upset with his own pass or a little of both. Stewart is our great, 3rd Team All CAA Linebacker, leader of our Defense just as Hill is the Leader of our Offense. Good to see Hill get angry at himself. He can take us far this season.

• URI did not force any GSU Turnovers.

Other thoughts:

• Attendance announced as 15,546. I know it's a big stadium but I'd guess the actual attendance was less than half that number.

• Starting JR Linebacker Gabe Solomons hurt his finger on his left hand and was in a lot of pain. Trainer worked with him. Not sure if all is well yet.

• I was surprised to see URI punt with 4th and 2 yards to go with the ball on the GSU 45 yard line in the 4Q. Could be that Fleming wants to see more from the URI running game before taking that chance. Also Fleming may have wanted to pin GSU down inside the 10 yard line and see if the URI defense could force a turnover. His call but on the road with a legit chance to beat a FBS Team why not take the chance?

• Lot's of Townhome, apartment and shopping construction going on in the Centre Parc Stadium area. This old section where the Atlanta Braves played before moving to Cobb County was not the best area of town. Georgia State enrollment is growing. They had a sign up on the display saying GSU is the largest University in Georgia with 50,000 students. New Convocation Center that holds 8,000 for Basketball is near the Football Stadium.

• Kai Cenat was in attendance at the game posing the GSU Cheerleaders and fans. He is a big Twitch and Youtube Streamer. Cenat was involved with the Union Square Riot last month in Manhattan involving the PlayStation 5 Giveaway. He has some pretty funny videos.

[jcru]

Seriously, Summers looked like shades of Jerry Rice and Sterling Sharpe out there. Just dominant, they had no answer for him and I doubt anyone in the CAA will have anyone that can stop him either.

This kid should be going to the League.

[jcru]

Groff hit the Field Goal through the uprights that didn't count because a time out was called by the defense as the ball was being snapped.

When he went to kick the second attempt, it hit the right goal post and bounced back.