NCAAF 2021 Week 26 Delaware vs Rhode Island

[Music] it's been 490 days since uri has hosted a football game in kingston but patience is a virtue as we have a matchup of two top 20 teams the delaware blue hens and the rhode island rams a battle of two undefeated programs early on in the caa schedule hi everybody i'm stone freeman alongside former brown quarterback kyle rowley and again kyle two top 20 teams set to square off in kingston it's exciting i mean it's just exciting out here to be playing college football and uh on such a great day with two undefeateds like you said i'm just i couldn't be more excited it's football in march let's take a look at some of the key names and faces we're going to talk about over the next two hours first for rhode island it's a tennessee transfer the quarterback casino hill because seem uh this is a guy that's got an nfl frame 6-2 235 but what's more impressive is that he plays efficient with his feet he gets the ball out on time you'll see them do a lot of underneath quick game passing uh for rhode island it's another player they're running back kevin brown jr he's in his redshirt freshman season four touchdowns in just two games for the rams yeah what i love about kevin is i think he's one of the main reasons that they're off to a two-and-oh start when you're averaging 5.7 yards a carry that means you're averaging a first down that's for rhode island's offense on the other side for delaware they're off to a tunnel start thanks to their defense the top defense in fcs football giving up just 1.5 points per game three total points in two games and this is johnny buchanan the anchor of their defense and their top tackle yeah watching some tape on bupan and what i love about him is if you keep watching after the play he always shows up on your screen he's always swarming to the ball and that's what you want out of your middle linebacker so it's rhode island versus delaware two top 20 teams set to square off in kingston we have kickoff just after this [Applause] right there the delaware blue hens and the rhode island rams are each 2-0 to start this season as we return inside meade stadium again a matchup of two top 20 opponents here in kingston we welcome you inside as the coin toss is going on at the center of meade stadium again brand new synthetic turf and lights were installed here a couple years ago and we don't need them today though in terms of the lights it's a beautiful sunny afternoon in kingston 56 degrees something that you love to play football in and right now you're not expecting to play football in march but nonetheless kyle rowley were playing and again pretty good matchup between two teams yeah i feel like we played a long time for this we got such a great day to play and two undefeated so i couldn't be happier with uh the matchup we've been uh gifted with here yeah let's see the results of this coin toss await the official word it looks like rhode island will receive the opening kickoff from delaware and that's where we will begin this game so rhode island will go to work offensively to start off against again a superb delaware defense on the season thus far by the numbers in terms of national ranks for the blue hens 1.5 points allowed per game that's first in the fcs they've given up just three points in two games this season a shutout against maine back on march the sixth and a 31-3 victory against stony brook and that's the only points they've given up yards allowed per game is at 192. that's fifth in fcs football seven takeaways this season for the blue hands including five alone in their last matchup against stony brook they're playing great you know as a quarterback or as a former quarterback looking at this because seam hill has his work cut out for him uh i think delaware does a great job disguising their defense you know with five db's back there and three safeties they can roll into any coverage you can think of they can go to cover three comfort four or cover two from any point they can bring the blitz without really showing it so the kicker today for delaware is number four ryan ko and he'll come out to kick things away rhode island has two men back for uri and it looks like kobe tippett and matt pires number 19 and 18. oh ed lee's out there correction so it's ed lee and matt pires back to receive the opening kickoff and again it's been 490 days we've waited to play kingston uh football rather in the village of kingston and we shall wait no longer refresh 15 minutes up on the clock two top 20 teams the blue hens and the rams ko to kick things away as this season in 2021 has been all but different but some things just feel normal we have football in the ocean state it's back outside of the end zone for a touch back rhode island will begin their drive with kasim hill the starting quarterback redshirt junior from tennessee coming out to begin things for uri you'll see a uri huddle on the sideline coming out of all these drives they can go right to the line of scrimmage and try to take delaware by surprise rhode island of course missing a lot of key pieces from graduation and to the nfl aaron parker and isaiah coulter departing but there's a look at the starters for uri kevin brown jr is obviously that big name we talked about the running game for rhode island has been superb this season thus far as the first run for brown ghost for about four yards and we'll set up second down for uri and this is the point in the game where kasim hill is trying to take a look at what they're giving them they didn't come out and you know their usual set there looked like a little bit more uh man-to-man so we'll see how he reacts to that there's the starting offense for the rather starting defense for the best defense in the caa we talked about their linebacking core a bit but really the anchor of their defense is also kendrick whitehead the captain the junior in all caa selection a couple years ago here's the first throwing play for hill he was looking for his tight end caleb warren along the near side couldn't handle it and it's third down now for the rams on their opening drive yeah not a bad decision by hill they've got second and manageable so he had the hitch on the front side but decides to go to his big tight end up top and that's something you can get away with on second medium so again rhode island's offense without isaiah coulter aaron parker even kyle murphy along their front five going to the nfl parker spent some time with the cowboys isaiah coulter with the houston texans and murphy with the giants third down and six to go for rhode island hill throws this one he's looking for warren again in the tough hands of caleb warren picks it up outside of the 40-yard line and rhode island picks up a first down on third down just a great catch by warren and kind of what they were looking for on second down there they go right back to it it's a game of percentages he puts two feet in the ground catches the back shoulder fade here's another look at it though hill with the dart and the strong hands from warren reels it in it's another first down and 10 to go for uri hills hit as he throws he released it the ball's loose and at the moment it's going to be ruled the reception and picked up by delaware and that's the call right now on the field hill was rocked as he got rid of it the reception was made by uri in delaware swarmed and looks like coming up with it was kendrick whitehead as he still has the ball dancing down his far sideline yeah nothing wrong with what kasim did there besides maybe putting a little bit on his back shoulder which i think created an opportunity to swipe at the ball by the defense um and you know you know it's not you know it's not something you want to turn over on your first drive and fourth play of the game so let's take another look at it hill got rid of it it was caught looks like a football move the reception for jamal mensah and coming up with it kendrick whitehead is the one that came up with it from the bottom of the pile and it was forced by whitehead and recovered by kendrick whitehead he has nine tackles this season yet to force a turnover and that quickly has changed the delaware defense that has been stinging this season after rhode island converted on third down a 13-yard reception for caleb warren is quickly negated as it's a turnover by the rams and now we'll take a look at this delaware offense flushed out of the pocket and rushing up the far side before drifting out of bounds is their starting quarterback for the blue hens nolan anderson captain in his junior season i'm really impressed with henderson's feet i think he's got a lot of game savvy he does some things outside the pocket that you may not even notice he'll he'll fake the run put get his head back downfield after drawing those linebackers up and make plays with his feet and arm pat kehoe was the former starting quarterback for the blue hens that started against the ram a couple seasons ago or rather last season what seems like a couple seasons ago and nolan henderson was the backup for keo and now into the starting role has been pretty good thus far this season completing 66 percent of his passes four touchdowns and one interception for rhode island this is a look at their defense andre bebalt wesley neal jr james maxson are the bigger names you'll see up front good linebacking core and then the secondary led by kobe tippett the transfer from towson who leads rhode island's defense with three interceptions this season including two the last time out for the rams against the university of albany we have a flag on the play here on third and five we await the official call [Applause] it's a false start against delaware you know it's still early in the season even though you might consider it midway through with the shortened season here and what you're going to have is is a little bit of penalties and this is how football seasons go one two three games are still working out the kinks so we'll see if delaware can make up it was called the number 89 marquise battle a wide receiver for the blue hens and what was third and five now becomes third and ten rhode island looking to force a three and out after turning over the ball themselves snap is back flushed over the middle it's caught in a nice tackle by uri it's kayveon holmes that brings down thyrik pitts and that'll set up fourth down really in no man's land here delaware might just go for it pits with a great catch right there i think i think henderson you know does a good job a lot of times on third long guys are trying to force it but he takes it underneath to see if his receiver can break a tackle and try to get him to first fourth and two they'll try to draw them offsides here because they they'll get a first with that henderson under center now two men behind him only one man out to the far side right and that's pitts play clock is down to three two and they do snap it balls hand it off it's a first down and more right up the gut into the end zone and it's a touchdown for the blue hens they needed three for a first down and day john lee just said we'll take the six touchdown blue hens dejean lee straight up the gut and this is something that'll happen you have to kind of build a box and try to make a play because it's fourth down and that's sometimes pressure will break that pipe and what you have is someone running straight down the middle no cut no nothing there's no safeties everyone's trying to meet him at the line of scrimmage nolan henderson waited until they were two seconds left on the play clock perhaps it even stumped the rhode island defensive front thinking they were just trying to force them off sides but instead it's a touchdown for lee the second touchdown of the season's previous long was 28 and this time a 43-yard or rather a 35-yard touchdown a 43-yard touchdown drive for delaware puts the blue hens up 7-0 we're coming back with the rest of the first [Applause] the top-ranked defense in fcs football forced a turnover and then the delaware offense did the rest a four-play 43-yard touchdown drive for the blue hens on fourth down it was lee the running back rushed it right up the middle untouched they needed three yards and instead got the six points rhode island's offense now will go back to work against the delaware defense stone freeman and kyle rally back inside meade stadium and again rhode island had moved the ball they've got a first down but then quickly turned it over their offense though this is a pretty big drive big drive here and you know what just happened there something i noted watching a lot of uri tape this week is that uh they'll let up big runs in the red zone which you just can't have because that's going to set up touchdowns you you at least want to mitigate that and set up a field goal but with the 20 yard run of the gut even if it is fourth down even if you do need to pack the box you can't have it each of the last two times these two teams have met it's been the road team that has gotten the victory rhode island started off the 2018 season with a victory at delaware and of course the last time the blue hens made the trip here to kingston which i know we'll talk about later in the broadcast it was a triple overtime victory for the blue hens here on the first night game inside meade stadium on turf now the third time in the last three seasons that they'll meet up we have a top 20 matchup a seven nothing lead for the blue hens but the rhode island offense led by kasim hill will head back out onto the field hill two of three thus far 14 yards his big completion came to caleb warren 13-yard reception on third down to bring in a first down situation then the rams turned the ball over on their next play hildo out there he's got a wide out to each side of the line of scrimmage one man in the backfield with him joining him to his left-hand side hill waits in the shotgun at the 20. the handoff it's faked it's thrown on the slant and it's up top intended for looks like ed lee number 80 and it was well over yeah ed lee you know a very possession type receiver guy that's shifty the guy you want to get the ball into his hands on these slants and these bang posts as you call them you know hill doing a great job on the first drive but now maybe he's confident shaking even though it wasn't his fault on that fumble and the turnover he'll make 10 starts in 2018 at the university of maryland before transferring to tennessee as he keeps it himself he rushes it to the 30. it'll set down third and four as he'll kept it good job good job up front by uri right there because seem you know i i laugh when i watch his tape as a quarterback he really wants to pull that that reed option out he wants that himself and he kind of leans towards pulling it he gets in trouble sometimes but uri hasn't had to pay the price for that decision making yet this season but right there a good pull and he'll get downhill quick and you don't want to get in his way with that that frame rhode island empties out the backfield now quickly joining is kevin brown again to the left-hand side of kasim hill and what is third and four snap back brown keeps it and he runs right up into the front four of the delaware blue hens and he's quickly taken down we'll bring down four bring up fourth down rather and rhode island's punt unit led by davey tucci is going to have to come out and pump this ball away what you have here is delaware really just taking the momentum of this first quarter with that turnover and now quick three and out which you know which is a turnover in itself we'll see uh how the punter does here and sets up for field position because this could be a short field for delaware just took a look at that lower third there for davies the reigning ca special teams player of the week 43.6 yards per punt against albany on nine attempts this one is going to be fair caught corralled at the 40 yard line we'll keep it right here as we'll take another look at the delaware offense that again was almost halted but of course almost doesn't count in football the touchdown has put up delaware 7-0 it was on fourth down that they scored though in rhode island's defense is gonna have to stand tall here their first hit their first look at the offense from delaware on the delaware side of the field like we said uh you know delaware's got a short field here i thought townsend did a great job to come up in traffic and take that punt that's a harder thing to do than it looks and take some guts [Applause] some movement along the front seven here for delaware one man in the backfield looks like lee with the quarterback henderson henderson takes it he's following some blockers up field and he's got some room shy of the 50-yard line to bring up second down but a nice run from the quarterback henderson like i said does a lot of good things with his feet but one thing you'll notice actually smart at the end of his runs he'll tend to you know use that baseball slide to his advantage and get down cause even some late hits because he'll do it right at the right moment so it was lee that he was following led the way another running back comes in for delaware it's maddio von demia so a couple men in the backfield with henderson he had two touchdowns in their last game handoff for lee who cut up in front of him to first down into rhode island territory a little extra on it as well so the 44 yard line brings up first down for the delaware blue hens delaware doing exactly what they want to do in this game you can see uri coming out in the three shell looks like they're manned up uh on one side and playing a little bit softer coverage on on the opposite henderson's going to go under center here delaware offense has been pretty good as well again they put up 30 plus points per game in each of their first two contests this season so as much as the defense has been the story line the offense doing just as well there's another run here for lee they're going to continue to pound it on the ground and it's worked so far through the opening quarter lee's got the touchdown already it's another carry for him his fourth and he's up just shy of 50 yards on the game thus far yeah a little bit of misdirection from delaware there henderson does a good job in the background you know that's the new form of college football is don't show the defense what you're gonna do until you're absolutely ready to do it so they've got a reverse comment and off tackle play and then obviously henderson keep the ball himself when he wants second and three anderson's going to throw at this time pressure rhode island brought it from the secondary it's a completion a first down and a little more at the 30-yard line the defense for rhode island is swarming but the reception reeled in by the tight end bryce demali the junior from frederick maryland only three receptions on the season but he picks up his fourth in a first down for the delaware blue hands this is what i'm talking about from henderson here he stays in the pocket much like a bull fighter waits at the last second spins out of there and then if you'll notice on his third step off the spin he's already has his eyes back downfield another first down on this drive for delaware they continue to roll that time it was demalian eight yard gainer sets him up at the uri 29 yard line [Applause] four wide receivers to the far side and looks like it's gonna be a timeout taken by delaware they were confused and we're gonna take it with them the blue hens they're driving already up seven nothing on rhode island 7 39 left to go in the first [Music] nice [Music] [Music] really good to have some fans in the crowd here in green stadium students at the university of rhode island were admitted in select students few students were submitted in and of course the families of players also allowed in there on the ryan center side but fans nonetheless intermediate stadium again as we recruit towards normalcy it helps to get off to a winning start to get those people out off you know that's right that's right first and ten for delaware after their timeout they were confused took their first of the half first charge time out to either team and the blue hens with a seven nothing lead go back to work henderson in the shotgun he waits he's got pressure rhode island's defense swarms and they sack them behind the line of scrimmage henderson falls to the ground and the sack is going to be credited to number six evan stewart the boston college transfer has got one sack this season now make it two and it brings up second and long that's something i'd like to see your eye do a little more of attack the line of scrimmage with their linebackers if there's no run then you're then you're on your way to the passer put some pressure on henderson here and try to create some luck of your own so the red shirt freshman new jersey native originally boston college transfer second sack of the season and a big one in that second and 17 henderson throws it over the middle it's caught quickly they'll get back about a yard shy of the original line of scrimmage it's reeled in by dylan zimmerman redshirt junior from hillsboro new jersey and it's a third down now for the blue hens yeah great great call by coach cooper uh you know for uri just rolling to a cover three making the quarterback recognize it but really all they're giving them right there is some underneath stuff and henderson does a good job taking what they're going to give them on second and long and now they're in a manageable third and third medium too long now referred to jack cooper the new defensive coordinator for rhode island as henderson trying to get up field rhode island swarming him in another sack for the rhode island defensive core that time it's a couple rams in on the stop and nonetheless brings up fourth and long now and delaware is going to have to punt it away you know you wonder about the leg of delaware's kicker did he just you know kind of take them out of field goal range you don't want to see a quarterback take that but at the same time without knowing his leg uh just trying to make a play down in uri territory so it's jordan jones the defensive back and jared martin the transfer from bryant university that compiled for the sack here's the punt away and it's drifting into the end zone rhode island's defense came ready to play on that drive a couple sacks and they knock nolan henderson out of his comfort zone and again we'll take another look here at the third offensive drive of the first quarter for rhode island's casino hill and their offense there is a flag on the play you may have a roughing the punter here which would be a huge mistake for uri so it's running into the kicker a five-yard penalty that's just added on to the end of the play but yes you see a flag come out on a punt like that and you start to get nervous suddenly it's just it's it's an anxiety-ridden thing when you're a guy just trying to play his way onto the field on special teams and you're expected to pull up when you have a chance at a pump lock so you just have to know anything you can do to not run into that kicker but they get away with one because it's not roughing so all of our thoughts still stand it'll be first in ten i think they gave them the wrong five yards though this is going to have to go back to the 20-yard line they set up at the 30. and yes that's what the officials are doing now so rhode island will have to go 80 yards and attempt to tie this game up with a touchdown total yard 70 for delaware thus far through the opening frame just 24 for uri and you know you or i could go you know they can put together long drives i like their ball control style offense uh they've already hit a deep pass which is another element to what they kind of haven't showed yet this season um but when you have that ball control underneath quick game style offense you have to execute on a much higher level because it takes more plays to get down and score now they're actually going to re-kick it looks like so delaware elected for the five yards to be tacked on and still fourth and long technically and the kicker for the blue hens it's tyler estula freshman punter 43 yards is as long and we'll punt from just on the other side of the field rhode island has one man back to receive the punt while we wait for the refs here you know speaking of ball control for uri it's not necessarily what they want to be doing it's just what they are doing with the you know with losing aaron parker and isaiah colter from last season they don't necessarily have the weapons that you know they're just learning who a lot of these guys are so we'll see how that offense progresses as the year goes on was really high on this offense attack this season but you can't discredit what alan parker and isaiah colter were here we get to see him a lot in 2018 and 2019 and coulter only a junior on departing mclaren for the nfl and he got drafted he went to the texans like we mentioned and parker who's his cousin signed as an undrafted free agent with the cowboys and now they will bring out the kicker so after the penalty yards are added right ryan coe comes out his career long as 45 this is a 50-yard attempt an attempt to make it a two-score game snap is back the kick is up looks like it's got the distance is it through no it's not it's wide to the left so a missed field goal attempt in rhode island now will get a chance to receive a kickoff delaware took the chance after the five yards extra added after running into the kicker and nonetheless it's rhode island football the seven nothing advantage in favor of the blueprints yeah so a lot to unpack right there henderson takes a sack when he probably shouldn't when they you know looks like they were in field goal range they come out uri runs into the kicker that gives it back to them and then we have a miss miss field goal so they get away with it anyway now here's rhode island is actually obviously going to take it over from where the missed field goal attempted from it looks like rhode island has brought in pop robinson brandon pop robinson the backup quarterback another transfer from liberty university number two but he is into the game he didn't have any inclination that would assume something's wrong with kasim now we've seen this a couple times this season from jim fleming and his staff they mix in robinson who's four of six on the season with 39 yards he hands it off again this time kevin brown brown's got some space and he's just shy of a first down past the 40-yard line that's something that'll help out a young quarterback give him you know an eight-yard gain on second down giving him a manageable manageable third i think right here um you know shake out the nerves a little bit those first two plays as a young quarterback you know you can have third and one yard to go robinson takes the snap handoff again is no he fakes it he took it himself and he slides just past the 45 yard line a first down and some a couple flags come in looks like he might have been hit late and rhode island should get some extra yards tacked on here you know clearly robinson can move a little bit just seeing that scamper right there he pulls the you know the read option out and goes around the left end but what you'll notice is he handed it twice so that'll set up the defense if you're not itching to pull it out so much a lot of times you gain a lot more when if you're patient with that and that's what i think we see right there from robinson again we don't have and it was roughing so it's 15 yards tacked on take another look here and robinson stumped me first to admit it thought this one went to kevin brown instead he took it himself left side and he was hit late by justice henley and you add another 15 yards on top of that rhode island is in the driver's seat looking to tie this game up robinson takes the snap hands it off to brown and he's met right at the line of scrimmage no gain for kevin brown jr and you know looks like they're limited in the playbook a little bit for robinson just kind of going to that read option but a lot of times when you do that you realize the game's simpler that you don't need to do so much give it when you should give it pull it once you pull it and and all of a sudden you're at the other opponent's 30-yard line again we don't have any inclination that would lead us to believe kasim hill was injured rather robinson's just been brought into this game his first throw it's caught by caleb warren it's a first down and deep inside delaware territory to the 15-yard line warren's second reception of the game his first picked up a first down his second does just the same and rhode island continues to drive nice simple pitch and catch there just a slant from the outside he does a great job great timing puts his right foot in the ground and gets it out you know even though they've got those that three look safeties they've got outside uh leaning corners so they're gonna allow those slants to come in just gotta find a window robinson keeps it rushes it up the middle again a couple yards before he's stalled that's the sixth play of the drive for uri that play for warren was good for 15 yards now two receptions 28 yards through the air he's caught a reception each from brandon robinson and kasim hill down eight to go rhode island deep inside delaware territory here on the first drive led by brandon robinson and as my good friend chris hixson who's a uri former quarterback the hall of fame here would say this is striking distance you want to take some shots at the endzone especially on second down robinson thought about it now he takes it himself out to the five touchdown rhode island brandon robinson welcome to kingston the transfer quarterback from liberty takes it himself right side touchdown rhode island or you can do that just run right up the middle and hit the outside and use your athleticism touchdown for uri that caps off a seven play 67 yard drive and the rams are a extra point away from nottingham this ball game up cj carrick who with his extra point against albany became a 200 point scorer puts it through make it 201 for a career for cj and more importantly the game is tied up seven to seven with 241 left to go in the first quarter i thought brandon robinson did a great job right there at the end of that run getting those those long legs up and misses that tackle right there at the end um and that's something that you know having a two quarterback system can do just give you a little spark and get the team going a little bit not the casino hill's not playing well but you just you know you get a drive and you got a tie score robinson scores and now they're back to work offensively with the blue hens but big drive for uri their defense kind of stood tall a couple sacks there as delaware was moving the ball down the field again the rams turned the ball over on their opening drive but brandon robinson the red redshirt sophomore leads the rams elegantly down the field a couple attempts 13 yards on the ground touchdown yeah they made it easy on them you know they call in their base plays a little bit of slant there that he showed he was poisoned enough to hit him and hit him in the gut and uh you know it could be that easy sometimes it's all about execution as as they'll tell you uh in these football locker rooms and football coaches offices carrick to kick things away in this delaware kick return group is lethal of course more notably it's dejohn lee who just 13 seconds into the season versus maine brought a kick back 87 yards for a score this one's reeled in delaware will bring it out to the 25-30 and he's up ended just shy of the 30. but lee a couple other threats there for delaware but rhode island's special teams comes through yeah elise got a good feel back there you know one of the things that can can help your average just kind of heading downhill and picking a spot and believing in the spot you picked a lot of guys will dance too much and he's not that type of guy he kind of picks a spot believes it sees it and if he doesn't if he doesn't break away what he ends up with is you know a 10 yard return rhode island has not had a three-game winning streak since 2005 rams beat fordham central connecticut and hofstra and that's actually the last time they started off the season three you know delaware hasn't started off the season 3-0 since 2012. so both of these teams not so much an unfamiliar territory delaware has been a playoff team in recent memory but trying to get to that 3-0 start again a shortened season really only playing conference games delaware will play delaware state on april the 10th other than that it's a whole lot of caa competition and those wins are at a premium this year when there's so little opportunities to get them absolutely i mean i think everyone needs to keep in mind how short this season is you're not used to that and uh realize that all these you know every win is super important henderson back out there for the blue hens on second and five handoff looks like to lee and he's met shy of a first down the first down markers up at the 38-yard line this will bring up third down granted short a chance for delaware and that actually was corey sproul the second string running back and it's third down now the rhode island defense against the delaware offense school's a nice change up for them big guy got like i said downhill runner um and these these two running back systems are a great way to keep guys having energy and all game long third and one henderson's keeping it following some blockers up field they got a first down out past the 40. and the champion right there [Applause] you're right another quarterback came in for the blue ends yeah and they'll use him in goal line situations short yard situations a lot like the saints do uh with hill there and that and that's a way to you know be dynamic with your quarterback position but not hurt your starter [Applause] now henderson is back out there with two men with him about the 35-yard line it's a first and ten for the blue hens as we get towards the tail end of the first quarter the rhode island defense makes the stop way outside on the far side right and it was lee on that carry in rhode island it's evan stewart who already has a sack today met him just shy of the line of scrimmage you know that's the first time we see delaware really try to get to the edge and uh unsuccessfully dejan lee's got wheels but i think you know they've had success they stay with what they're doing with that option read inside [Applause] 20 seconds left to go here first quarter out on the far side it's a first down for delaware nice play it's cory sproul again coming out of the backfield this time a reception and a first down for the red shirt junior and delaware moves the chains here as the final seconds tick away and the first quarter will come to a close but we waited 490 days and well the first quarter came through it was as promised we have two top 20 teams in kingston and we're knotted up at seven after playing 15 minutes it was first delaware who got into the scoring column dejean lee on fourth down thrown it to the house he took six put delaware up seven nothing but rhode island responded brandon robinson the second string quarterback comes in ties it up we get the second and onward don't go anywhere who fumbled for uri um it was mensah number three seventeen jamal madison was his first receptionist [Music] [Applause] we've played 15 minutes and we've got 14 combined points 7-7 we're knotted up between the blue hens and the rams and delaware converted a first down conversion we flipped the side of the field now so now delaware moving across your television set from left to right rhode island the opposite delaware and white rhode island in their home navy blue jersey stone freeman and kyle rowley back inside meade stadium as a fresh 15 minutes are up on the clock this is a end around to delaware and we'll see who gets up from the bottom of that pile along the rhode island sideline it looks like number 17 jordan townsend the wide receiver came out and around and brings up second down it looks like delaware trying to make a concerted effort to get to the edge and sort of stretch this uri defense out a lot of times that'll set up some scene routes in the middle we'll see what happens here delaware in their opening game against maine had 10 different blue hens run the football most in a caa contest since 2017 to put perspective on how danny rocco and his staff usually run the football they had 11 rushers all of the 2019 season it's been a different narrative this is thrown over the middle wide open a catch at the 30-yard line swarmed quickly but nonetheless a first down for dylan zimmerman his second reception of the game and delaware continues to drive they're getting closer to the red zone there's no time getting to the line of scrimmage speeding this game up a little bit lee gets the handoff and he rushes tries to get around rhode island's 38. he couldn't do that's andre blackett on the stop both teams have this no look no no huddle offense where they could give you a look and uh just try to surprise you you get a big game like that and jump right to my scrimmage sometimes the defense gets caught off guard uri handles it well right there imagine briefly danny rocco leading the delaware blue hens in his fourth season it's been a two different caa member institutions of course the coach at richmond from 2012 to 2016. as this is up the middle again he's drifting in the back field past the 25-yard line will bring up third down though for delaware maxson made the stop for uri redshirt sophomore delaware goes with a wide bunch trips formation trying to draw as many uri players outside the box they can and they run that read option and i think henderson does a great job making four out of what looked like it should be it should have been a no game third and six now bunch formation couple wide outs on the far side of the line of scrimmage tight ends doing some movement one man in the backfield with the quarterback henderson takes the snap he's swarmed he's sacked in the backfield rhode island's front four doing their thing today that's jared martin another sack for the bryant transfer will bring up fourth down [Applause] you know the second time that uri has been able to find pressure right when it looks like delaware's at least in field goal range and we'll see if uh that pushes them out just enough to give this kicker trouble martin had a sack that resulted in a safety for uri against albany the first safety for this rams program since september 28 2018 at harvard timeout taken by uri but martin has quickly crawled himself up the depth chart again a transfer from bryant university nearby in smithfield rhode island and he's making some noise here in the caa conference gotta love you uh rhode islander making noise for uri and uh you know i find that the guys that you really enjoy having on your team are the guys that have sacks that come at the right time all right guys that know how to bring pressure they can sense the moment and they and they they let loose sack for jarrett martin his second of the game jim fleming has talked about it a couple times this season already but the way his team is played they win two overtime games they've been on the other end of these where you're losing close games and quickly your season becomes deflated this year again not an easy contest not an easy task against a really good delaware team but the way that they're playing they can compete with just about anybody in this conference another field goal attempt here for ryan coe this would be a career high it's got enough leg will it get through and that one does not falls to the right the second field goal attempt for delaware is no good and granted you'd like your field goal kicker to make both of them both of them would have been career highs as long as there's only 45 each would be 50 plus it's 7-7 three minutes into the second quarter we continue to play football in [Music] kingston [Music] ryan cohen the kicker for delaware misses another field goal attempt to start this rhode island drive at the 34-yard line stone freeman and kyle rowley back inside meet stadium with 1206 left to go in the first half of football in kingston rhode island in nearly 500 days here's a look at the rams on the sideline it looks like rhode island will trot back out there kasim hill again it was brandon robinson number two that it scored for uri and their touchdown drive but hill back out there for the rams he's got one man in the backfield with him and a couple wide outs to each side of the line of scrimmage handoff running back pushing to about for 37. yeah i think the story of this game uh delaware starts off with a force fumble which sets up their first touchdown but what uri has been able to do is come up with some poignant sacks that that have resulted in two missed field goals which would be the difference here but we've got a tie score rhode island two sacks on the game thus far three tackles for loss delaware has forced a turnover as well that's what set up their touchdown drive and actually we should have mentioned it as it happened but the touchdown that rhode island scored is the first touchdown delaware has given up this season only giving up one field goal in two games and that came against stony brook third and six now uri got away with one there a lot of times what you'll see with this shotgun read option is some balls on the ground one or two balls on the ground because the running back doesn't know if he's given it or if he's pulling it and it's somewhere in between the ball ends up rolling around back there fires the man in motion left side's emptied out hill on third and six sides one defender and can't get past the second one delaware picks up looks like a sack there for number 91 aris hemingway and rhode island will have to punt it away not how uri's offense wants to start the second quarter with three and out but i think they you know got away with uh what was the scary fumble right there that balls rolling around the middle i thought delaware had it but at least they'll be able to flip the field here baby shawn bartochi out for his second punt of the game and a 61-yard punt a career high against albany and this one a pretty good one inside the 20 corralled by delaware spinning away from some tacklers and he'll get just out past the 20-yard line as we'll keep it right here there's jordan towson who had the punt return [Music] comes into the play there's a look here at how we've gotten here thus far again delaware 11 rhode island 18 delaware with two blowout victories rhode island with two wins nonetheless but they had to grind them out two different fashions a high scoring overtime affair at number six villanova and then a low scoring overtime affair and number 18 albany yeah you know one thing i think uri shown is the ability to scrape and claw keep their composure find wins in the fourth quarter and in overtime and uh you know that's kind of how the story of the first quarter here they look like they were off to a really bad start but they found their way back in this game 15-yard penalty rhode island had an unnecessary roughness penalty come in on that punt return jim fleming's certainly not happy with there's a good look at coach flying in his seventh season with the rams he's letting the officials know his displeasure nonetheless big gain 15 yards a lot in a game like this where yards are yeah far between it's tough for these guys you know they're taught to be aggressive be aggressive be aggressive but then in a moment's notice you have to pull up and play smart so it's understandable at times but the great teams learn how to avoid these situations with 1009 left to go in the first half delaware their offense out there lee trying to get around the outside edge he's out past the 40 spinning away fighting and churning those legs out past the 45 looking for the 50. the pile still moving that's a tough run there for delaware's dejohn that is the type of team play that you can show on film during the week or when you go in on sunday monday and gets your guys going the team can rally around that it almost gives you an identity you know this is our identity guys this is who we want to be everyone just keep pushing we never stop till the whistles blowing he was first hit the pile starts really at the 42-yard line and he kept it going to the 50. where it's a first down and 10 to go now for delaware henderson calling some shots at the line of scrimmage a delaware native grew up going to university of delaware football games now finds himself as their starting quarterback throws it out in the flat on the far side fighting up field a nice play call for the blue hens when you've got shifty wideouts like they do that's gene coleman the second his first reception in the game catches it just at the line of scrimmage and fights up for a nine yard gain to bring up second in short this is that's something i expect to see more out of delaware with that read option like i said you're holding all those linebackers in the box you can just fling it out to those two on the left and uh you don't have any pursuit from the linebackers second and two coleman and pitts who we've seen plenty of over the last couple years from the blue hens of the 12th and 13th member of the 50 career reception club so again really nice to have two of those guys on your team henderson rolls out throws it and he threw it away smart play he did have a receiver in the area but we've seen him take sacks in that situation a couple times today this time he gets ready yeah i think henderson's got the a great ability to uh you know give his his team chances for second place right getting outside the pocket setting something up keeping your eyes downfield not just becoming a runner and uh and right there he shows the ability to make a smart play and get it out of bounds third and two rhode island today has been pretty good on third downs holding delaware just one for four this time it's third and short [Applause] henderson hands it off rushed up the middle will get a first down stop at about the 35-yard line it was lee again that took it a nice gainer there for delaware and they'll move the chains to me it seems like that's where delaware's having its most success when they're heading towards the line of scrimmage on a downhill angle at least off tackle they've had no success really trying to stretch the field and get outside to the edges rhode island trying to get their third straight victory third straight victory over a ranked opponent they've never done that in program history they have beaten three ranked opponents twice in school history but never in a row the reception met instantly but gets around and staying on his feet nice catch for coleman this time on the near side you saw him on the far side now the near side for the blue hens and it's second down but rhode island's defensive back's going to meet him instantly it's like a missed tackle for kaveon holmes yeah uri going to kind of ball control uh passing attack right there um we'd like to see that the receiver get a little bit more right if you're gonna take that five yard pass play you want to get five or six out of it not three to two because now you're behind in the count second and seven to go a lot of wide outs on the far side for delaware it's a movement it's lean in the backfield henderson fakes it to lee keeps it himself he gets around the edge it's a first down just shy of the 20 nolan henderson moves the chains again for delaware another first down for the blue hens to me that looks more like a called run by the quarterback just a flash fake and get downhill that's why they put trips you know three receivers to the top of your screen so that he can be left alone and make a move make a guy miss on the backside rhode island went three and out on their last drive delaware looking to capitalize here henderson got confused in the backfield clean pocket nonetheless he escapes it rushes it he's hit at the 15 pushed forward just shy of the 10. the smart quarterback nolan henderson is and that time he put it on display he can certainly move i think that's one of the few times where he took his head and didn't keep it downfield i thought he had a really good option right in front of him someone drifting henderson comes off again we'll take another look here at paletti comes in on second and two snap back quarterback keeper and he might be shy of the first down they need the 12-yard line he ran parallel to the line of scrimmage so it will be third down delaware just you know changing packages here going to their their goal line or their more athletic set where their they focus more on the run didn't get what they wanted so they shift back into their you know third down passing style attack this is where we've seen rhode island make some pretty big plays today we've seen a couple sacks on third down that have knocked the blue hens out of field goal range they're well within rhode island territory here henderson under center handoff and that might have just got the first down it's going to depend on where they spot it delaware obviously advocating for the first down and the officials going to call a brief timeout i think to spot this ball you know in this day and age of shotgun style play delaware is one of the few teams that's not afraid to go up under center when the time calls for it and hand off off tackle just a straight hand off things you'd see you know in the 80s and 90s the official call is the brief timeout to measure this ball and i believe they need the 12-yard line maybe the 11 and a half for the first down the time being it looks short about a half yard shorter so you know this will be interesting right so you've got a tie score uh middle to end of the second quarter um two teams that have showed the ability to get up and down the field so do they you know i feel like you need to get seven out of this or at least need to try to get seven um and be aggressive and that'll actually add some momentum to the team if you can pull that off and come away with seven where you get three this is anyone's game especially with uri who knows how to come from behind now does that change that type of logic based on your opponent or is it really whatever the coach's staff probably goes in that's type of their culture right well you know obviously you guys have the dispositions but if you feel like it's a grinded out game you want to get that three i don't think this is that type of game i think this is two teams that can get up and down the field to play some offense i think danny rocco is under the same impression fourth in about a half a yard fourth and one technically and a big play here for both the blue hens and the rams quarterback keeper henderson rolled away and again they only needed a half yard and by the signaling of the officials they got the first down you know you're stuck in that position uri's got everyone at the line of scrimmage and you want the safe quarterback sneak that goes straight up the gup but at the same time you're inclined to audible and pitch it off to pitch it off to the side try to get around the edge i think they got it clean set it down first and goal from the 10. we'll have a couple shots here at the end zone still plenty of time left to go here as the first half begins to conclude henderson takes the shotgun he keeps it himself he's running he dumps it off and fighting for the goal line leaning over see if he got in delaware certainly thinks it's a touchdown and i think the officials are going to mark them short yes about a half yard short if that nolan henderson right there this is kind of what i alluded to in the beginning of the game a little bit of a pat mahomes type move trying to make it happen however you can couple pump fake get it in there you know almost a shot put into your tight end kobe tippett was running stride for stride with the tight end bryce de malley but de mali the junior great hands ball was thrown to the right spot and you got nine and a half yards they need ten for the touchdown and this one goes right up the middle a touchdown for nolan henderson no that's number 10 plenty back into the game nonetheless delaware takes the lead with 350 and change left to go in the first half of play nice drive for the blue heads you got to be a real team guy to let the backup quarterback come in and steal all your touchdowns nonetheless the blue hens back on top they took a 7-0 lean rhode island tied it up extra point is up and good and it's a 14-7 advantage for the delaware blue hens what a drive for delaware to take the lead we're going to step aside we got a good one here in kingston rhode island will get the ball back with 3 51 left to go in the first half [Music] here's a look here at the last time these two teams met 2019 under the lights here at meade stadium and delaware got the victory over rhode island in triple overtime what a game one for the ages 44 to 36 the final there's a look at aaron parker who was phenomenal for the rams in that game as a senior over 200 yards through the air helping quarterback veto priori an offensive game for sure and this was the final play of the game in overtime rhode island going for it and it's intercepted by the blue hens and the victory goes in favor of delaware but we're back here real time 2021 kingston rhode island rhode island trailing the blue hens 14-7 nice return for uri just shy at the 25-yard line but delaware pieced together a pretty impressive drive to go up 14-7 it was a 12-play 64-yard drive in six minutes and 18 seconds capped off by a touchdown for paoletti and just like that it's delaware back on top don't forget kyle rowley back inside mead stadium and again a really impressive game here for both sides this fall yeah this is a hard-fought battle two teams that uh that have heart you know i was going to say you see a three overtime game from years past and you know both teams are really fighting for it and i think that's what we have today kasim hill and at quarterback and he's taken down behind the line of scrimmage a sack for the delaware blue hens nice stop by number 92 tommy welch yeah uri has been able to get pressure today on defense and now delaware's showing a little bit of their own able to corral kasim hill and i think that's a tough thing to do he's not the shiftiest guy but he tends to be able to get out on the edge when there's pressure three-yard loss second and 13 now [Applause] clock just about three minutes left to go hill throws it out to the far side and i think that's the tight end again it is caleb warren his third reception of the game will bring him third manageable gets back out to the original line of scrimmage and a little more it's third and five and hill and the offense waste no time snaps it right away hill pressured from his backside and he's going to get taken down delaware with two sacks on this drive [Applause] delaware putting the pressure on hill and i think that's maybe a concerted effort at this effort at this point they don't want to see these sustained drives by uri but i do think that's one of his strengths is just to put his right foot in the ground and get these balls out quickly and accurately and if you notice right there they've got their tight end split out in a gronkowski type style so interesting to see both of their interior defensive lineman tommy walsh and chase mcgowan both registered sacks on that drive the second of the two coming from mcgowan to force fourth down and shumbar tochi out for the punt again another good one drifting delaware back inside the 25 stumbling to the 30 and rhode island swarms from there with two minutes left to go delaware will have two timeouts ball came loose but he was down anyway delaware's two minutes two timeouts to work with a chance to go up two scores they'll get the ball at the end of the half [Applause] this is the type of situation where you'd love to see uri come up with a turnover be aggressive however at the same time you've only got 158 on the clock which lends itself to playing a conservative style defense where you bend but don't break and go into halftime uh with a manageable score for all of your uri football news visit yourview.com this week brendan mcgare featured caa defensive player of the week kobe tippett visit yourview.com uri ram to read the story and much more and kobe again two interceptions two tackles block to pass great game for the son of a nfl hall of famer and a transfer from towson one of the leading players on the rhode island defense this is thrown out to the far side caught nearside rather corralled brought in by delaware first down for jordan townsend delaware moves the sticks quickly again they're up against the clock it's about 100 seconds left to go and like we said you know this want to go to a more of a ben don't break type defense but i think that's too much they went to a real true cover four deep look and uh that made it easy for henderson henderson pumps waits got a lot of times get towson again who's met instantly and kept inbounds nice play by tippit [Applause] towson with another reception the clock will continue to roll at second down tip it's credited with the stop [Applause] henderson again this time they're going to go to the ground it's a first down for lee so the clock will stop momentarily to move the chains now it's continuing to roll and they might have to measure [Applause] and now the timeout taken the official called the timeout to measure to see if it was a first down or not i think a good job by uh the offensive coordinator there for delaware calling an inside run you get you know it's tough to keep your composure in this type of situation but 57 seconds from midfield is more time than you think usually if you execute that's enough time to put seven on the board um so i like the call there delaware 202 total yards 110 of them on the ground thus far they're up 14-7 yeah to me delaware hasn't had much of a problem getting yardage up the gut in between the tackles and uh that's something they want to stick to and then you know what that calls for is they being able to make plays in the red zone uh when you get down there and having some precise passing plays that hit the back of the end zone if you will they're going to measure the ball short so it'll be third down third and about a half a yard if that doesn't stop the clock the clock does go back to 110 that's where they reset it but once the official signals the clock will start to roll again henderson back out there in the shotgun for delaware [Applause] and the clock rolls again [Applause] o'malley number 81 moves in the backfield this is thrown over the middle nice catch high hands reeled in by tyric pitts great job by henderson i think a no-brainer looks like they're man-to-man on the back side at the same time he rolls out opens his hips up right before the snap and that allows for an easy slant on the backside rhode island received the opening kickoff so delaware will get it after the halftime henderson's got plenty of time seems like an eternity throws it and he throws it away a smart play brings up second down with 42 seconds left to go in the first half stopping the clock's not a bad thing in this situation however i think he had a receiver come open late and i thought he had another couple seconds to hold the ball and try to make something happen um there's guys that you know in the nfl that you watch that are good at that just kind of slightly moving setting your blocks back up and staying back there and trying to make a play that defense gonna break down after a certain amount of time you can only stay with these guys for so long that offensive line for delaware kroll brown henry lynch and trent doing a great job there on that drive there's some pressure here around the backside for henderson he rolls out he's still getting chased stays on his feet but gets out of bounds maybe a one-yard gain that'll stop the clock at 34 seconds brings up third down that pressure for rhode island starting to come on led by jared martin who's already has two sacks today yeah absolutely uri's been able to get to him however he's got that nice late spin move and he's always it's like with henderson you always have two plays the first play and then the scramble play what i think his receivers need to do is is get with it and get open after your initial route it doesn't seem like that's happening our uri is doing a great job locking them up third and nine big chance for rhode island here big chance for the blue hens of delaware snap back to henderson he's got some time again steps up and it's blocked away nice defensive effort by evan stewart the linebacker again he already has a sack today that time breaks that pass up brings up fourth down yeah great play by stuart that's not an easy thing to do to to hold him on the back side with your right hand and swim that left hand over at the precise second it's just not as easy as it looks and that's almost you know exactly how you teach it ko comes out this would tie his career along with 45 he's missed two today but they have both been longer than 45 yard attempts this to put delaware up by two scores hold his down kick is up and like it is again off this time off to the left so rhode island here will work with two timeouts 23 seconds at the bare minimum though they should at least be going into halftime down by just a score yeah ryan coach is having a tough day you know at the same time they're putting him right at the limits of his leg strength so um you can't blame him too much i think uri doing a great job of really holding tight around the 30 and 40 yard line and forcing some tough fields so again with two timeouts 23 seconds rhode island does have some options here they're certainly gonna go for it not gonna neglect to wait for the half but they got to be careful of course hill back out there for uri takes the shotgun snap gets it to kevin brown and brown falling to about the 34-yard line and rhode island is not going to rush anything to me this type of situation where you see if you can get closer to midfield you see if you can get in sort of a hail mary type of range but if not you're not too upset about it you don't want to make a big mistake before halftime and rhode island will do just that they make the stop force a missed field goal and will stay pat they will head into halftime 14-7 delaware up on top by a score on uri we've had a great first half we've got plenty more where this has come from delaware in rhode island exchanging blows in the ocean state oh we're coming back on camera uh what are we going to uh stats and highlights so we'll banter for a little bit okay see some highlights i think it's the two delaware school it's all the scores oh you got yeah love it awesome yep having a blast so much fun we might do it again next week don't we and then the week after that yeah three hi everybody a pleasant afternoon to you on a beautiful day for football welcome back inside the broadcast booth stone freeman kyle rowley calling this game and it's been a good one 14-7 delaware up on top of rhode island and we've really seen it all in this game thus far yeah uh two teams hard fought battle i think the story under the story is that your eyes made some really big sacks at some really key times to force some missed field goals yeah let's take a look at some of those scores though from this half thus far first it was delaware jumping on lee needed three yards for a first down on fourth down took at the distance a touchdown put the blue hens up seven nothing rhode island though did tie it up they brought in brandon robinson their backup quarterback who takes it in so kyle two quick scores on the ground but this was the nifty play we saw very patrick mahomes s that set up another delaware score yeah henderson just does a great job always keeping his eyes downfield even though he's moving and becomes a runner at times he's doing both so well and bryce de mali was a half yard short so the handoff was kept by the quarterback and it's one of their second string guys anthony paletti who has an interesting role in this delaware offense but gets the score nonetheless to put delaware up 14-7 there's some totals for you 222 total yards for delaware just 88 for rhode island again the offense moving well for delaware but rhode island kyle you touched on doing a really good job of halting this offense and forcing them to missed field goals yeah to me and it's the story of uri's whole season it's like keep the wheels on the bus they've been able to sneak out some victories in overtime and they're in a position where they could sneak this one out even though i think delaware's playing a more sound game 14-7 at the half we have a good one here in kingston in a whole second half upcoming in just a couple more moments don't go anywhere the third quarter is here in a one-score game 14-7 delaware on top of rhode island welcoming you back to the beautiful ocean state university of rhode island football here against the university of delaware stone freeman and kyle rowley back here on the collins it's going to be delaware football out of the half here and a pretty big defensive drive for rhode island but again on the contrary a fairly big offensive drive for delaware trying to go two scores yeah that's why you always want the ball coming out at halftime uh uri started out but they didn't capitalize actually gave it away to delaware which i think is the difference in this game right now so hopefully they can you know stop delaware here and keep themselves in this game yeah it's a good point delaware's first score came off of a drive where rhode island had turned the ball over delaware took advantage of it right now it'll be cj carrick to kick things away rhode island will work from left to right delaware the opposite from right to left across your television on computer sets just a picture perfect day not a cloud in the sky in the village of kingston and this game is all the story lines two top ten teams around the two top 20 teams two two and oh teams fighting for the top spot in the caa northern division as carrick kicks it away and fielding at the five yard line on the blue hens out to the 10 on the opening drive looks like this is lee again and he'll be mad at the 20-yard line so delaware will start this drive at the 20. they've had a pretty good drive their second touchdown drive was just shy of seven minutes and they really put it together well they can do it obviously on the ground through the air it's been a complete game thus far for delaware and again there are a couple made field goals away from making this look a lot more of a heftier task for rhode island to crawl back yeah well your eyes played well on special teams including kickoff because lee's dangerous he's got an 87 yard touchdown return to his credit and uh they've kept him you know at least inside the 30 for all today so this drive will begin at the 20-yard line henderson will start under center one man in the backfield about seven yards behind him in a one-score game again in the first half 222 yards we got a whistle here before the first snap and it's a time-out taken by delaware [Applause] [Music] there it is timeout so while we have the time out take a look at the top 25 in the nation thus far this season and again there's the caa in the top 25. james madison the number one team but that's a tough gauntlet of a schedule whether you're playing six games or 11 games when you have a conference that has seven teams in the top 25 including the number one overall team in the country yeah which you know in this shortened season just shows you the importance of sneaking out two wins in the beginning you can actually you know kind of look up and have a and have a championship type year short and covet season it's really a six-game sprint this season as a handoff here on the first play from scrimmage is about a five yard gainer for the blue hens bring up second and five did a really good job on the ground 115 yards on the ground to start in the first half that was lee who got the other another carry i love lead downhill he's got quickness and speed he makes slight adjustments you know he's not that barry sanders type runner but that's all you really need to sustain drives ten attempts for lee 86 yards and a score and this is second down for his blue hens and again he'll get it this time trying to bounce out to the far side right and he's got the corner and a little more out to the 40 just shy of the 45 yard line lee running with authority and he continues to improve and impress for the delaware blue hens yeah i love that right there from lee that you know if you notice the difference right there they didn't initially go to the outside he brought it downhill drew the defensive ends in and then scampered the outside and then you get to see his speed there so another first down for delaware a really good job today converting 15 first downs for the blue hens the offense again the defense has been the story line this season and understandably so but the offense can really move the football pound the rock they lead in time of possession as well another running play fighting for rhode island territory will be just shy of about a half yard but a six yard gain to bring up second and short for delaware and there's head coach danny rocco and his running back is jean lee who has a hundred yards now on the ground on just 11 carries and a score you know one thing a great defense does for is he allows you to be patient and make good decisions on offense where you don't feel like you need to win every game yourself second and four from the 50. and rhode island met the running back in the backfield instantly but shedding the tackle and getting up just shy of a first down is looks like spruell that is corey sproule and he was met really behind the line of scrimmage shed it and kept going now sproul's their change up here to lee and i think what you're seeing from delaware here after halftime is under center which to me is a sign that they're making a commitment to the rush and i think they feel that if we keep it on the run do it we're supposed to we're going to win this game [Applause] [Music] delaware's played spoiler here before spoiled the fun for rhode island on a big night in september sprule again avoids the tackler and gets the first down he is quick in the backfield back to back impressive runs that on paper only equate to about five yards but they get you two first downs yeah i know that that won't show up in the stat line but uh made a nice little jump cut in the backfield to avoid a loss and got a few yards out of it [Music] rounds jim fleming saw him there briefly stalking the sidelines it's another first down his defense has given up anderson takes the snap he's been pressured today but he this time avoid some contact he's up to the 30 a first down run for the quarterback and he avoided the pressure that was surrounding him in the pocket took it himself in another first down the 16th given up by rhode island today yeah like we said henderson's done a good job of that all day uri going to what you'd call like a cover six look they're running a cover two zone on one side and cover four on the other side but basically what that means is they've only got seven in the box if you sit back there patient there's going to be some run first down this time at the 31 yard line [Applause] high snap corralled by henderson he hands it off and this run only about a two yard gain for the blue hens this is where rhode island's defense really has to clamp down giving up a couple big plays here on this drive the opening drive of the half that's chewed away just about four minutes the defense has come through with some timely sacks no turnovers yet though forced by the rings yeah to me the delaware this commitment to the run is kind of paying off on this drive they already find themselves inside the 30. second and eight henderson takes it throws it far side it's a reception reeled in by number five gene coleman the second and it'll be third down coleman his third reception of the game most on the team that's your bread and butter quick game five yard out hit it get out of bounds uh you know be able to kind of get yourself into that manageable third down situation which we have here delaware's had six receivers today including coleman five of them have two or more receptions so a diverse game here from the blue heads this one on the ground and it's gonna come down to the spot delaware of course leaning towards the first down rhode island quickly holding up the fourth down knuckles to me one of the advantages of playing under center right is that the ball's in your hands immediately so you can get that quick out route out of your hands one two three steps it's out but the other thing is that when you when you get it deep in the backfield with these handoffs a lot of times the linebackers are going to be more aggressive because you're not eyeing them up no longer you facing them they think they can get a beat on you you pull that ball out and all of a sudden you got some seam rafts down the middle for touchdowns fourth down there it is play action delaware rolls it out and it's reeled in nice catch by bryce demali he's looking for the end zone and he gets in bryce de mali the tight end caught it rolling away with his quarterback kind of flicked it in the air to himself great hands great focus and a touchdown for the blue hens to go up by two scores i don't want to say i told you so still they they they stick to the run and then right when they need it they get inside the red zone they pull it out and tight ends wide open out in the corner demali with great finger strength some great hands to hold on to that ball as he bobbled it the extra point is up and through in delaware now 21 rhode island stuck at seven it's a touchdown drive for delaware 10 plays 79 yards in five minutes and 31 seconds and it's henderson to demauli in a touchdown for the blue hens rhode island trailing by two scores [Music] delaware 22-yard touchdown for the tight end bryce de mali brings us here folks let's take a look now hoops are back in the sweet 16 tips off today the ncaa tournament coverage on your views advanced to indianapolis show check your local listings or visit yourview.com for that so we are in a unique time period here and really the history of sport we're playing some football in march while the sweet 16 is also underway did you make a bracket this year i did not but i'm just thinking how beautiful this is we get to watch college football and we get to watch the tournament this is like the opposite of that time of year where there's only baseball on tv that's right that's right opening day is like four days away wild wild time rhode island will take over the 25 year back to meet stadium against stone freeman and kyle rowley on the call this one rhode island now down by two scores bryce to maui's 22-yard touchdown gave delaware a 21-7 lead rhode island really in desperate need of a score here 21 still plenty of game left to go but they have been stagnant since that brandon robinson touchdown drive their first handoff goes to kevin brown brown takes it up the gut for a couple yard gains second down now for the rams you are i run a little bit of a bubble screen look up at the top of the screen while they hand it up up the middle which i think is interesting a lot that's kind of the trend right now is keep eyes up and open these linebackers have to pay attention to everything at all times um and he almost snuck away you know with a long touchdown run there second and four hill hands it off again brown bounces off the initial line of scrimmage gets a first down up just shy of the 40-yard line he spun away towards the right-hand side of the line and guts gets the first down rush [Applause] just bounced right off the front of the line of scrimmage this is just a critical drive for uri they got to get back in this game and make it a more manageable score now's better than ever time to do it ball is at the 39-yard line again they're going to the ground this time met instantly brown runs right into the front of the line of scrimmage and brown's taken aback by a tackle for loss for 51 mickels you know and that's maybe one of the differences here is is it seems like delaware is always coming up with positive plays four yards here five yards here and uri's a little bit more uh you know the balls on the ground here and there um and that's those are drive killers because now you've got second and twelve they're delaware's going to force a manageable uh third down right here this one's deflected off the third scrimmage now split second on the slant but it's deflected it looks like by frank burton the third yep and now what you have is uh you've got a third and long right and you're putting your quarterback in an awkward position he's he wants to make a play for a team but he doesn't want to make that big mistake so you'll see that here what i think smart bike hill right here is probably find something underneath see if you can get some yak yards by receiver and and get a lucky first down snap back hill's going to throw it dumps it and met instantly the reception made but kendrick whitehead who has a forced fumble and a fumble recovery today meets ed lee right away right away and quickly they get one first down but then turn the ball over on three down and that's so you know that's a result of second down like i'm saying and and coach pat murphy and me on the same page let's get it in someone's hand see if we can get some some yards on the ground and turn a couple broken tackles turn this into a first down just third and long is a is a dangerous down and distance to be in all game long one man back to receive the punt jordan townsend davy schombartoshi this one will take a rhode island bounce and roll right into thousands hands about the 21 yard line so he'll only get about a yard and we're going to step aside with seven minutes left to go in the third quarter delaware up by two scores looking to add to it on top of rhode island delaware has scored a touchdown in each of the last three quarters rhode island has not scored since the first seven minutes left to go here in the third quarter still plenty of ball game left to go but this uri defense is at a tall task in front of him stone freeman and kyle rowley back inside meade stadium henderson the quarterback for the blue hens under center yet again handoff goes to his running back and rhode island's front four doing a pretty good sound job on the opening play of this drive you know six minutes 50 seconds left in this quarter uh this is huge for uri if if they allow delaware to put together sustained drive and take up you know you're going to look up and it's going to be the fourth quarter before you know it and possibly down by not just 14 but 21 so i think they're back to the wall they've this season they've been able to stay in games so this is kind of where the rubber hits the road here second and eight similar look here henderson again under center another handoff and just out past the 30. so bring up third manageable and again crunch time for the uri defense a chance to kind of hold this momentum that has been all in favor of delaware and force maybe the punt team to have to come out from the blue hens absolutely in delaware you know committing to that under center look and um committing to the run it becomes more important to stay with the run here because if you can do it it helps you with the clock [Music] third and three not a wide out out there bunch form at the line of scrimmage henderson hands it off and this will be a first down it looks for delaware they needed the 38-yard line and sproul gets that and maybe a yard extra first down for the blue hands yeah this is this is why you want to play from play ahead and not from behind because as we go down here uh in deeper into the third quarter what uri is going to have to do they're going to be faced with either come up to the line of scrimmage and crowd that box and stop this run which is going to expose them to the deep ball and then it'll break wide open but you're gonna have to pick one of those two evils this time it's a shotgun formation for delaware henderson takes the snap rolls out himself he's got plenty of time he airs it out a man wide open the catch at the 40 out to the 30 and out of bounds fire rick pitts wide open the first time and really since the first half we've seen delaware really air it out and that time a bullet from henderson has pits wide open right if you look at your screen there you have about eight eight in the box and that kind of forces delaware's hand to go down the field they don't they're happy to run the ball but if you're going to come up and put that many guys in there they'll do it and we're gonna go over the top um and i like that the way delaware is playing it's like we'll take whatever you decide to give us because we've earned this 14 point lead and that's and that's what we deserve looks like a timeout limping off the field is mickey henry the center for delaware so it's a time-out taken by the officials we will keep it here everything going delaware's way right now and again we have pitts and coleman we've been kind of highlighting lee and sproul and henderson guys in the backfield but pitts and coleman the second are two of the best wide outs in the history of this delaware program and look at those numbers for nolan henderson 14 to 17 171 yards through the air and a touchdown yeah just super efficient game and and like you said i think it leads off with the run you make it so much easier on your quarterback to be efficient into complete passes when you've established yourself up front henderson is also 26 yards on the ground so he's mobile this one dumped out lee catches it in the flat with a head of speed up to the 2015 falling forward inside the red zone for delaware and again this rhode island defense has their work cut out against a multi-dimensional offense for the blue hens delaware looks like every bit of the top 11 team they are in the country if not higher this is a nice little safe play by delaware i think henderson shows a little bit of his athleticism a little step behind sidearm swing out to the out to his running back and uh you know almost like a second baseman would out there henderson has spent some time as a backup now moves into the starting role and is as his team rolling towards potentially a three-and-oh start with 330 left to go 345 left to go here in the third quarter you know sometimes you know the quarterback position it's not about highlights right it's about the little tiny subtle things you do to keep you keep the ball moving down the field and like i said that little sidearm swing route right there could with another player if he's not as savvy that's a batted ball maybe even an interception at times and he just makes it look easy out there delaware looking to add to this 14-point advantage henderson takes the snap some play action now waits drifting way back to the 25-yard line rolling away points up forward henderson still on his feet sidesteps at the five-yard line and he might have gotten the first down a lot of patience there by the quarterback um i just think both teams aren't doing a great job at receiver on the scramble drill if you watch here like we said about henderson he's always able to buy you know five more seconds somebody needs to do something and get open back there change direction throw a db out of your way and give him a spot to throw the ball because that's what he wants to do and he did pick up the first down so he only needed four yards he might have went 25 for it but nonetheless a first down for the blue hens and now they're inside for a goal to go opportunity that rush up the middle for about a yard or two so it'll bring up second and goal sprul on the gary uri really needs to to stay strong right here to find a way to make a play to at least force a field goal in this situation if they want if they're hoping for another comeback victory and the rams have worked for their victories two overtime affairs granted against some pretty stellar competition henderson at the 15. he's got a defensive back running towards him and they're going to wave it off of course it's incomplete uri defense does a great job right there so when you go play action and you're rolling right it limits the amount of routes you can run right they they lock up the guy in the flats they lock up the guy running towards the corner of the end zone they lock up the drag those are pretty much the three routes you're gonna get on any boot action or any roll out action and uh even though he bought a little more time by by pushing the sidelines still no scramble receivers getting open there third and goal to go big down here for the rhode island defense as henderson starts off under center and quickly flexes it throws it end zone touchdown delaware thyrik pitts had the big reception on this drive the chunk play and now he gets a touchdown reception his second of the season and that puts delaware up by three scores pitts made that look easy kind of a big body caught her right in front of his chest so the db had no way to go he couldn't come under he couldn't go over the top i thought henderson was going to go to the corner at the bottom of your screen he had both made a good decision b.a.t unit out for delaware the minute 56 left to go another five minute drive for delaware their second of the quarter they've scored twice two clock chewing really good drives for delaware just fundamental football 10 plays 77 yards and five minutes in four seconds and we'll take another look at this touchdown for thyrick pitts his second touchdown reception of the season his first of the game today [Music] and he celebrates with his team yeah good throw a lot of times you know you get that slant down the goal line you know you're going to have tight coverage you know the db is going to be right on your receiver's back so what you do you don't even want it out in front you want it straight in front of him so there's no way for that db to rate you know to rake the ball around around the guy so great throw by henderson and uh now uri's really got their backs of the wall if you look at this two minutes left in the third so to me they've got three or four drives at the most left that means they're gonna have to score on at least three we did see them go elect to go with their second string quarterback brennan robinson a little bit more mobile kasim hill obviously very athletic in his own right but the ball did move down the field their touchdown drive was with brendan robinson under center yup robinson took him down on a very simple methodical drive you know a lot of it was on the ground but um they were able to have some success i think number two is gonna lead the way out there actually number right now it's eight and two are both in the huddle we'll see which one well this is the beauty of huddling on the sideline too is the defense just like we can't get a read on what's going on down there neither can delaware so that's one of the you know one of the advantages of doing that muddle huddle on the sideline then going right out to the ball and they do bring out brandon robinson the transfer from liberty today is 28 yards on the ground and a score one for one through the air for 15 yards see if this rhode island offense can move a little bit robinson is quickly sacked swarmed behind the line of scrimmage a plethora of defensive players for the blue hands liam traynor being one of them number 11 back there take another look at it you know and i think that this is one of the difference between hill and robinson is you know while he took the sack he a glimpse of a little bit of the quickness there a little bit of the uh the shakes he's got it was chase mcgowan anthony toro and liam traynor in the backfield robinson keeps it himself gets back to the original line of scrimmage and more he's got a first down athletic play from brandon robinson on second and 17. he gets a first down and rhode island has some life to him here on this drive so you know like i said previously on this on these read options out of shotgun you see the ball he almost lost it there in the backfield able to make a play every time robinson has pulled the ball it's been wide open around the left side of the defense robinson again in the shotgun with his team trailing by three scores this time they go to kevin brown brown trying to bounce around and look at maybe a one-yard gain forced out of bounds along the delaware sideline brown has been knocked out of his element today just 35 yards on the ground has not found the end zone first two games of the season he's had four touchdowns that says stiff delaware defense and now with a second along we're probably going to get a chance to see robinson air it out a little bit trips to the near side for robinson he rolls waits throws got a man at the 50. now to the 40. looks like this is ed lee to the 30 20 ed lee dancing along the sideline dives for the pylon and it's a touchdown a big play for the university of rhode island ed lee striking down the sideline uri with the score hopefully hopefully he's all right he's on the ground here he reached it out at the end and maybe took you know when you when you got your ribs open like that and you get bounced on your back a lot of times that'll knock the wind out of you or you'll have a shoulder injury because your hands are extended above your head but uh robinson you know i think what they're doing there is that they move him outside the pocket which they don't do a lot intended anyway with hill um and they give him that high school look give him some receivers running right in front of his face that he can drop him off to and he does what he's supposed to and gives it to gives to his guy so edly is still on the ground he has some trainers there out there with him we'll take another look at it here robinson just rolls away from some pressure he's got lee at the 50 and then lee does a really good job along the sideline here and i think you might be right they are going to review the play while taking a look at it kyle what do you see well i thought it was interesting by lee he had a choice here nice little throw by robinson he has a choice here to go inside out he's got so much room in the inside but he actually reads that block really well tiptoes the sideline and uh and shows that he can run with those dbs [Applause] but he's under review for the time being too but he deserves the touchdown after that effort yeah so like i said that shoulder gets extended out and then you got a dv falling on your back and sometimes you hyper extend that or you lose it out of the sockets a lot of ac joint right up that sideline probably should have gained a stiff arm and he would have rode right into the end zone maybe on his feet great play though lee helped off by andy laguno and a couple other medical and team personnel i think he popped it out of the socket sometimes you pop back in it's you know if it is ac joint and i've done it myself basically similar type play uh you know for a quarterback eight weeks maybe for a receiver two to three oh really okay oh that makes sense you better yeah yeah but i came back two or three was that in college or that was uh in my arena football career yeah so almost the same you know right sideline reaching for the first down and just you know mine was a heavy guy just falling right on top and it's just the shoulder doesn't want to do that we'll wait for the official ruling because as much as we're hoping for his health and safety also we're going to see if it's a touchdown or not either way what an incredible play 75-yard gainer because if it is down he's down at the half yard [Music] line if he's on his side it could be ac joint which is worse but if it's if he was on his stomach more on his front then more of a labrum tier type situation but hopefully it's none of those hopefully he just extended it he's a little shaken up and he felt it slip a little bit he was down at the one so rhode island with robinson still out there as the quarterback by the chance for a score with 15 seconds left to go in the third quarter first and goal we will keep you updated if we hear anything on ed lee an incredible play though from the native of washington d.c pyles pushing forward and this time it should be a touchdown robinson kept it himself the rams come out of the pile happy so rhode island has cut this back to a two-score game but again they make it interesting their defense still has to make a stop here at some point obviously but for now though you show you're right back in it and it's a 15 point game of two scored absolutely so you know robinson able to answer the bell again like i said simple plays as a quarterback i don't like to you know to to say it's him sometimes you get lucky you get you get the good drives he's got the bad drives but um obviously he's had some success out there i think right now what you look at is the fumble from uri in the first half and sometimes like my thinking is we're kind of owed one they'll probably give won't cough one up at some point so if we can just stick to it not think about their offense playing better than ours just know oh we're owed one and we'll probably get it if all things are equal five plays 75 yards in a minute and 49 seconds efficiency take a look here though robinson pushing up forward and then you see kevin brown just come in and kind of bench presses quarterback into the end zone touchdown roadie yeah i knew love to see that as a team everyone pushing their weight everyone's sticking with the play making sure and like i said about delaware i think i think we have two fighters here right two two-and-oh teams teams that are willing to fight to the end um one team you know showing a little more dominance in their scores but uri able to get wins and that's what it's all about so ryan elected to go with brandon robinson on their last offensive drive again their defense though has to show something here delaware's been so good on the ground seven seconds left to go in the third makes this third quarter essentially over and we will head to the fourth here obviously every play matters though cara kicks this one up corralled by delaware and out to about the 35 yard line and that will conclude the third quarter with that bring back so it'll be first and ten in a brand new quarter when we come back delaware up by two scores after a rhode island 75-yard touchdown drive [Music] well rhode island gets the score here to end third quarter delaware still on top by two score stone free mckyle rally here final 15 minutes of regulation and rhode island's defense has really had their work cut out today delaware back to work on the offensive side first handoff of this drive for it's lee runs into the front of the rhode island line of scrimmage to bring him second down yeah uri's offense able to to answer the bell there right needed one back to the wall you know if they didn't score there this game's over so they're back in it and now like you said their defense has to find a way to have an impact on this game besides just forcing a long field goal they need to turn over three and second and nine looking for the end around up field and will be shy of a first down they went to townsend again who we've seen very similar if not the same play earlier in this game from delaware where they bring the wide out from the far side up across the front of the quarterback between the line of scrimmage and brings up third and four now delaware 50 on third down six of 12. [Applause] a big opportunity here for the rhode island defense [Applause] again townsend moves in front of the line of scrimmage they bring some pressure and met instantly evan stewart knocks back their running back who came out of the flat and rhode island gets a big three and out there was some pressure up front too from henry yanakopoulos yeah and i think that's expected pressure nice little wrinkle play by delaware but uh uri able to sniff it out on the back side so stewart has a sack today this time just a really big tackle it'll go into the scoring sheets as a tackle but really a lot bigger than that as a fourth and four and delaware will have to pump their way just the second punt of the day for tyler pastula there's a flag that comes in on this tip it watched it fall in front of him it's pinned inside the 20. the ball is loose delaware seems to think they've gotten it so there's a lot going on on this play looks like it may have hit a uri player in there and delaware thinks they jumped on it there's also a flag back at the line of scrimmage so the ball did hit something the official threw the signal the fumble [Applause] so at the minimum what we know is there's a flag back at the line of scrimmage a fumble we'll hear from the official [Applause] [Applause] now they said it did hit a rhode island player but it's not deemed a fumble it looked like tippett for some reason went in there late and wanted to to get in the mix i don't know why he tried to do that maybe he thought it hit one of his own uri players which you know then he does have to get in there but i didn't see what he saw but those are those scary moments on special teams where you're just hoping the refs work it out and you you keep the ball because you're down by 14 here in the fourth quarter and the flag was for an illegal formation so it'll just bump the ball up five yards over first i do apologize for that exact explanation for proving that official it did hit a rhode island player but was not deemed a fumble [Applause] interesting robinson back out there is the quarterback his two drives have resulted in touchdowns for the rams as brown gets a nice four five yard run to start off this drive for uri so rhode island starts out a little bit conservative i think looks like they got four or five out of it manageable second and short for this uh second a medium for the young quarterback see what he can do with his uh third or fourth drive here for him yep this is his third drive he scored on the last two that he's had brown has it again spinning away to the 35 and i think he's got the first down yeah and the chains will move so they're continuing to ground it uri is this time the quarterback is handing it off though to kevin brown kevin brown getting pumped up he hasn't had he hasn't had the type of game i'm sure he wanted to have here just trying to give a spark to his team and i thought he did a good job holding the ball tight even though he's spinning around in there robinson shotgun snap again this time he'll keep it himself and he's fighting maybe a two-yard gain you can see robinson's got you know a little bit of that shake a little bit of that basketball crossover type type stuff even though he's a taller guy slender guy um he kind of knows how to move and that's a type of thing it's it's easy to go from uh a negligible game to a three-yard game robinson hands this one off to brown again and he's swarmed nice stop there led by number 33 johnny buchanan i just elaine went at it i think that you know when robinson's out there i think uri limits the playbook a little bit which is you know precarious situation to be in right now when you really kind of you can't play too cautious and conservative third and six empty backfield for robinson he throws it and it's caught i believe it was real that no the official's gonna signal away i think that might have skipped up into the awaiting hands of number 17 jamal mensah [Applause] you know and that's that's it right there i think that hill is a lot more comfortable you know sticking one foot in the ground and that quick game out of shotgun and and making an easy read and put it in there i think what you saw there from robinson probably the wrong read had a chance to stick it in like and thread the needle but a low throw because he's kind of falling off his back foot and that's just a little bit of uh you know rust and not being out there all the time so another punt here for uri this one a spiraling one drifting all the way back inside the 10 and that's what's going to be fair caught so nice punt for davies john bartochi 10 48 left to go in a two score game delaware gets the ball back after a great punt for davey shambartochi delaware's going to start this drive at the eight-yard line deep inside their own territory stone freeman kyle rowley back here inside meets stadium under 11 minutes left to go in the fourth again delaware committed to the run today it's worked for him they went three and out there last time out but rhode island responded by themselves going three and out second down now for the blue hounds yeah i mean obviously delaware's happy to run the ball as long as they can sustain a drive here because that'll take hopefully for them five six minutes off this clock and that'll put it pretty close out of reach for uri especially if they're able to score on [Music] second and nine play clock down to 15 seconds so delaware will use it to their advantage again the handoff and another one or two yard gain will bring up third and seven sproul took at that time you know the tough thing about being in this situation when you're up by 14 with nine or ten minutes left in the fourth quarter is not to get too conservative right you get too conservative you allow your opponent right back in the game so you got to really kind of always split the difference there and stay aggressive but be smart and that's kind of the crux of the situation for these offensive coordinators third and seven third and six for delaware ball at the 11. big play here henderson waits henderson steps up henderson drifting outside the pocket and we'll see where they spot him depending on where he get out of bounds they took the sticks with him and henderson thinks the first down delaware's sideline sure thinks it is just waiting for the official call he might have had it yeah it looks like he had it i thought a very aware play to reach out the ball at the end of that and i think this is what makes him special just that quick little move to the outside and the awareness to reach that ball out and get that first down on a very important drive one that could seal the game for delaware and when you see it in that angle no doubter you got it back under center now three plays and a first down and off outside the 25-yard line that's lee again who already has over 100 yards over 120 actually and a score having a great game a quietly really good game for lee whenever he's hit it downhill and then bounce the outside afterward he's had a lot of success today against uri defense delaware now up over 200 yards on the ground 208. rhode island just 91 rhode island just 189 yards total offense and off again this will be sure to bring up another third down [Applause] like we talked about on the last drive uri has got inside something here you know down by 14 are they going to commit to stopping this successful run game of delaware and leave themselves open to some downfield passing or are they going to try to you know play somewhere in between that there's the total yards 403 for delaware for rhode island big play here though third and three straight up the gut and more a big run for delaware a chunk play and some we needed three yards for a first down and again he gets six a big touchdown run for dejohn lee and delaware up 35-14 now pending that extra point we've seen that a few times when uri gets caught in a short yardage situation they crowd the line problem with crowding the line is you know it's a good run-stopping strategy but when he breaks through that initial line there's nothing behind it there's no secondary there's no set of linebackers back there so it's one time and you're gone six plays 92 yards capped off by a 74 yard touchdown run dejohn lee with 202 yards on 20 attempts and two scores by far his longest run of the season a 74-yard touchdown run in delaware a big 35-14 after this touchdown run for their senior from springfield virginia [Music] 7 31 remaining in the fourth quarter 35-14 after a 74-yard touchdown run for dejohn lee senior captain for the delaware blue hens and it's a three score game again and rhode island now will receive this kickoff so freeman and kyle rally back inside a mead stadium on what is a perfect day in late march rhode island corrals it at the 30. and looks like that's justice antrim that's just shy of the 40-yard line so what i don't have good field position let's take another look here at this 74-yard run third and three yeah so uri crowds the line of scrimmage i think delaware does a great job just washing that whole line down for uri and knowing that there's no secondary behind it you know no safety even even back there so once he passed that line of scrimmage it's game over 35-14 and still brendan robinson out there for the university of rhode island takes the snap throws it it's caught by caleb warren who's still up on his feet and caleb's had himself a pretty impressive day his fourth reception of the game yeah you know as a quarterback i'm looking at this and i'm just thinking of the frustration of christine hill who hasn't lost the game yet he's forced to sit at the sideline and watch a guy when he knows he's brought this team back twice to win in overtime and now he's relegated to the sideline hill had the game-winning touchdown against albany as this one is shy of a first down bring up third down and second and two you know and possibly they're more experienced passer especially now that we're we're moving towards you know passing situations right [Applause] oh we did get the first down so they gave the first down rhode island with three timeouts left obviously it's a tall task to try to come back here but crazier things have happened robinson doing a lot for a couple yards there spinning away from a couple different tacklers delaware's kind of shifted their defense to more of a true cover two two you know outfielders back there with their corners kind of forcing uh inside routes right digs slants they don't want uri to be able to pass the ball up and down and be able to get out of bounds on all these plays because their only chances to conserve clock to win this game this delaware defense returning eight starters from a season ago this one thrown down the sideline for rhode island and it would have been out of bounds anyway out past the outstretched hands of ivory frimpong who has been quiet today but the best receiver on rhode island this season can't handle that one it's third and six just out of his reach and i think that's what delaware's gonna force the young quarterback to do is throw between players they don't want to give him anything easy to the outside so you know as a as a young quarterback what's the toughest thing to do is is read and manipulate linebackers in the middle you'd much rather see your outside linebacker throw outside him robinson again on third and six some pressure robinson avoids it second batch of pressure will take him down behind the original line of scrimmage and robinson goes down it's fourth down for uri so this is that situation where you're watching a game on tv and you go why are they punting here don't they need to score you don't take down by three scores so hopefully you are a ghost board here and they're able to to get the 11 12 yards they need um it's gonna have to be a special play call or a special on target throw uh by robinson fourth and 11. [Music] trailing by three scores got there four deep there they're not going to let anything get get you know over the top robinson throws it and it's intercepted picked off by the delaware secondary might have been smarter just to knock it away but in the moment joe zubalaga is just excited to get the interception and a turnover again delaware forces one yeah this is the point in the game where you know the stats get padded right um and i think he had him here on on a backside dig at the top of your screen he just overthrew it those are the type of throws where you got to feather it over the linebacker right there's a linebacker between he's got his guy but it takes a little bit of touch to make that throw because you're throwing between levels under the safeties over the linebackers and it's tough for young quarterback to do yeah that was matt pires out in the middle and again he was open but as kyle's alluding to just a real difficult throw but delaware takes over and they've been committed to the run all game we'll usually see a hefty dose of it here met in the backfield though a nice play from the rhode island front chris aaron harrington being one of them zelda we're gonna try to kill some clock obviously and go back to that throw you know there may also we're doing a little bit dis justice it was so overthrown that it may have been a little bit of miscommunication on the play you know for uri's quarterback and receiver harrington and martin meet for the tackle for a loss second in a long 14 under five minutes left to go in the fourth quarter delaware looking for their first 3-0 start since 2012. uri has to force the issue here you know even though they've got the the memory of that breakaway run they have to go right back to what they're doing and send their linebackers on downhill slants try to stop them get them to a three and out and uh and their only hope is you know to score score off and score fast timeout taken by rhode island delaware right now is looking for their third straight they're up by 19 right now i know my math is off they're off by 20 they're up by 21. which is an over 20 point performance obviously this would be their third straight 20 plus point win since 2003 in 2003 this delaware program won the national championship so this team doing almost everything right on defense offense doing a pretty darn good job today two in particular on the ground 286 yards on the ground yeah well you know if uri is not able to pull a miraculous victory out here one thing they could take some confidence in is that they were able to put some points up against a team that hasn't allowed any points this season total yards 199 yards delaware only giving up 192 per game so pretty much right on par thus far but rhode island will probably get the ball back at least once as this is a big play again the delaware blue hens attack on the ground in a huge play on third and 12 from sprul has all but sealed the deal for the blue hens of the university of delaware yeah you know one thing you and i talked about before the game that i saw on film is that i feel like uri's linebackers have a tendency to stick their heads in on these blocks and get lost a little bit where you really want to use your hands stay at bay be able to shed blocks and and make these tackles these pursuit angle tackles that aren't necessarily yours but you're gonna have to help your buddy out and and it just does i don't see any pursuit from uri at that level good point henderson gonna throw this one and it's picked off rhode island has picked it off looking for more down the sidelines still on his feet to the 30 and it's tackled at the 35. rhode island with a big swing of momentum it's picked off and taken back by rhode island's chris arrington just three tackles on the season this time a big momentum swinger and gives rhode island just a little bit of life the interception brought back to the 25-yard line this is exactly what you are i needed is a big play and a big moment i don't know what henderson was thinking right there it looked like he's trying to fit it into his outside receiver who was also you know blanketed into coverage you know maybe smarter just to put it out of bounds but amazing catch and run henderson's helmet had come off in pursuit as well hill back into the game throws it over the top looking for pires and too much on it but kasim hill is back into the contest for the university of rhode island you know one thing that's great about hill is he's willing to sit in the pocket and take a hit and deliver a good throw however that one off the mark he had pires in the corner of the end zone and a good throw roadie's back in this game with an outside chance to win 21 points is the difference at the moment you know hill wants to make a mark on this game after kind of being relegated to that sideline like we talked about see what we can do here hill hands it off brown brown to the 10. brown looking for more he sideswiped at the five bounces right up but rhode island looking to score again kyle i think you put it elegantly you know it'd be really a long shot for them to get the win here but they can just crawl back in make a couple plays and at least the next play will matter right yeah and i think you're looking at a quarterback competition you know it's hanging in the balance i i don't know that that's how the staff feels about it maybe they just want to play this two quarterback system but um you know i feel like hill uh wants to make his mark on this game you know showing that the youngster has had two scoring drives he had brown wide open in the flat here on the left side but it was knocked down at the line of scrimmage brings up second and goal clock stopped at 3 15. unfortunate too because i think that would have been a touchdown just got to find that arm angle the same way henderson was able to uh we talked about in the third quarter brown comes out of the game into the game's 32 justice antrim he'll look santrum's way to the right now looking left he's got a man and it's a touchdown mensah had one foot in and it's a score really poised to play uh by hill right there he didn't have anyone initially that route came all the way from the other side of the field you can hit him in any window any of the three windows in the middle but he hit him in the fourth window on the back side and that just takes some patience and like i said before the throw that henderson wasn't able to make with a little bit of touch and a little bit of pace uh hill's able to make there because that wasn't the easiest throw in the world jamal mensah who had turned the ball over on the opening drive for rhode island gets the first touchdown of his young career just a freshman no receptions coming into today but he has a touchdown reception the freshman from episcopal virginia and he gets some applause from his teammates and coaches on the near sideline we'll take another look here at the touchdown there we go yep great patience just subtly moving in the pocket and that little drop over throw because we've got 42 right and right in his passing lane and great toe touch here from mensa again in college you only need the one foot and he got it stuck his right foot in the ground and it's it's a tall task 14 points in three minutes and eight seconds but the turnover from arrington who picked it off brought it back to the 25 and rhode island gets the score it's doable so now they've got life again and that's i think one thing you can take from this game is that you know uri has a real willingness to to not quit in games and fight him out to the end for rhode island number 45 cj three minutes and eight seconds is an eternity they're gonna have to go for an onsite kick i would think here just two timeouts left but don't leave back to receive before delaware and delaware has emptied everybody out lee is out at the 30-yard line so they're anticipating that on sidekick and carrick lines up to do just that it looks like they will kick is up it's through oh it was almost picked up by rhode island rhode island thinks they got it if it went out of bounds it was nearly scooped up soaring along the sideline was rhode island's nine j.j williams the freshman from florida jim fleming is playing with the officials he couldn't have kicked that better williams with a chance to almost take it down the sideline right back in this game he'll be a five-yard penalty of course from the end of the play delaware's ball first down i think fleming it the the let's take a look at it first before we decipher it rolled perfectly pops up for him he's not able to handle it and i think what happened is it hit someone on the uri sideline yeah it's split right through the legs of either kendrick white or byric pitch they're both number ones which either whichever one was on special teams in that moment it split right through his legs so it's just a traditional ball kicked out of bounds to five-yard penalty fleming's still looking for an explanation he has two officials in front of him yeah what was great about that kick is it end over end stayed low stayed low stayed low and then popped you know it's gonna pop up eventually just don't you know the kicker can't really predict when i'm gonna review it i think that's what jim fleming is playing for is that there's at least an argument that it should be looked at again two officials remain with fleming about the 50-yard line and the head referee is over there with the white cap at the 20-yard line the review booth is on the ryan center side of the building and they are conferencing via that headset with the official the 20. take another look here though low low bounce another low bounce right through his legs and it pops right here williams has a chance and now the question is did it hit the sideline did it hit a uri player because it ended up in a ui player's hands that's right i think it was caleb warren that ends up with at 82. and they have different replays we have our own cameras and crew here the replay booth has their own set of cameras on the field and around the stadium so they're looking at different angles than we are they are taking a look at it though yeah well that's uri's only chance that they have a better angle than we have sure we can't see that sideline so we can't call there we go caleb warren 82 is the one that ends up with the football i think he's in bounds but like kyle you're saying it might have bounced off of somebody on the sideline back into play your eyes gotta hope that they have an angle that shows that sideline because i don't know how the refs are gonna be able to call it for uri if they can't see that white line either way they are taking a hefty look at it you know you gotta remember what's the initial call you know that's why the initial call matters so much even in this day of replay because you can't overturn something that's really right and then when they say stands that means that they didn't find anything yep but they can't overturn overturn good point either way 14 point affair with 308 left to go we saw how quickly things can change rhode island got that interception brought the ball back to the 25 yard line crazier things have happened this is where delaware for their sake on offense just has to play clean football you can't lose the ball here a nice run out for a first down about a 12-yard gainer for lee who continues to impress on the ground well it was going to be a five-yard game no matter what after he broke through line of scrimmage but linebackers for uri just kind of they got to be more sure tacklers keep their heads up and uh you know even if it's not the most solid attack have to make gold first that day even with the shifty guy like lee 245. fresh first and 10 for the blue ends play clock down to 10 seconds and again delaware will use that to their advantage here they're in the driver's seat henderson hands it off bouncing out to the far side 220 yards now on the ground in a timeout taken by uri there's his line 22 carries 221 yards and two scores yeah that big breakaway run helped padded stats but um obviously an effective day for him um and like you and i have talked about all game that downhill bounce it out after line scrimmages seems to be like where his bread and butter is he's got speed and he's also able to put his shoulder down for four or five when he needs to here's a look at the upcoming schedule for uri got some big matchups delaware as well rhode island going to play two more ranked opponents in a row so they'll start this season off with five ranked opponents delaware has albany then their in-state rival delaware state and villanova will wrap up their schedule rhode island then goes on the road after three straight home games including today's contest of course with the game against chuck priory and his stony brook sea wolves 2 22 left to go here second and three ball handed off again and looks like another first down for delaware that all might ice it they give lee a little rest get sprawls in the game makes a nice little up uphill cut and uh falls forward for the first rhode island does have one timeout left to use no two minute warning in college football you know big play is the only thing that you know you or i could really hope to get them back in this game right now i don't think delaware is going to chance the ball in the air for the rest of the game so it's going to be have to be you got to be thinking strip strip sack or strip fumble here ball's handed off to sproul again and they're trying to get the ball the helmet came flying off so flags are coming in everywhere and some extra curricules between the rams and the blue hens the center of it johnny alvarado and evan stewart yeah and this is where you'll have you know skirmishes little fights break out because guys would be punching at the ball and uh it's not because they're trying to punch him they just need that ball out personal foul face mask number 47 on the defense penalty's half the distance to the goal the player will watch his helmet and they stay in the game but they came off due to foul first down the penalty goes against rhode island's jarrett martin face mask the official signal usually when you lose your helmet you have to get off the field for one play but because it came off due to the penalty you can stay on but that's half the distance to the goal so clock rolls once they blow the whistle when you take your helmet off your marketability goes up and the ncaa does not want that 80 seconds left to go in the fourth [Applause] delaware runs it into the line of scrimmage but that i should do it jim fleming might think about calling his last timeout we've seen him do that before where he'll use him yeah because he has him time out starts to rhode island third and final time out of the half this will be a full timeout like you said crazier things have happened i'd like to see coaches kind of use everything they have sure you know see what happens see if a snap rolls around the ground you can pick it up scoop it and all sudden you're back in with an outside kick um you know why why give in just to save everyone a minute and six people are allowed to leave when they want that's right second and eight 66 seconds left except us yeah we stayed what a performance though from delaware 553 yards total largely in part due to their 363 yards on the ground they held rhode island i thought rhode island did a good job fighting in this game but yeah delaware especially that ground game controlled time of possession they've controlled the ball for 40 minutes well they have a recipe to win when you can control on the ground then you have to change up in the past you got a quarterback that can buy you two plays on every play the initial play call and then he can get outside the pocket he keeps his eyes downfield they're gonna be a tough team to beat but i thought uri did a good job uh you know like you said staying in it so the kneel down from delaware bring up third and nine and they'll need it and head back to the second smallest state in the union with a road victory and a 3-0 start yeah so you know at this point it's uri needs to kind of figure out are we gonna you know who are we gonna be right are we gonna be a team that believes anything can shake out in the next four or five games or are we gonna relegate ourselves oh we're a second tier team right it's all about continuing to get better as the season goes on so someone will need to step up in that locker room in this week that's a good point that should do it delaware knees it out the final 20 seconds will roll off a complete performance from the blue hens they score in each of the quarters 35-21 the final the delaware blue hens come into kingston rhode island and make it now three straight meetings between the rams and the blue hens that the visiting team gets the victory all zeroes across the scoreboard 35-21 the final delaware beating rhode island the 11th best team in the country they look just like that today if not higher one of the top teams in fcs football the top defense in fcs football was on full display this afternoon in kingston rhode island 35 to 21 is your final we're gonna step aside but when we come back we do have some final thoughts from kyle rowley and myself and some highlights for you rhode island though they lose today 35-21 we're coming back with our final thoughts [Music] what was a beautiful day for football in march uri falls to delaware in a battle of top of two top 20 teams in fcs football 35-21 the final hi everybody i'm stone freeman alongside kyle o'reilly thanks for joining us here on your view or flow football if you did and again a pretty good game the first half in particular was 14 to 7 but delaware just flexed their muscles 500 total yards on these uh on the game yeah i thought a very scrappy uri team did a great job showing uh that they could play with that team but uh delaware too strong in the end let's take a look at some of the highlights from the first and second half so again the first half rhode island hung around it was 14-7 this is the first score of the game dejan lee who had over 200 yards on the ground this was his first score on fourth down put delaware up 7-0 rhode island responded brandon robinson their backup quarterback came in he scored on two drives for rhodey this tied the game up before delaware took the lead again before delaware's score though this was a pretty fun play here from bryce o'malley in the quarterback nolan henderson absolutely i think uh you know a little bit my homestitch is which what we called it during the game but he's just able to make plays in a number of different ways and did that today and that set up this run here for one of the backup quarterbacks pioletti who dove up the middle for a one-yard score to give delaware a 14-7 lead at the half in the third quarter delaware started to separate themselves they went up by two scores here as nolan henderson rolled out they had committed to the run this time he finds bryce de mali a tight end for a touchdown and that put them up by two scores rhode island tried to fight in it but again delaware found the red zone this time through the air again it's tyra pitts who grabs a hold of it just a big body that grabbed a hold of the touchdown throw but rhode island's robinson again airing it out ed lee set this wall up what a play he ended up getting hurt on the play but he set it up at the half yard line yeah i thought in this game good overall quarterback play but on all sides by all three quarterbacks the difference maybe a dominance in the run game and there was robinson who finished it off because they marked lee down after review down at the one-yard line so robinson rushes it up the middle to bring rhode island within a couple scores but here it is again on third and three this was really the now in the coffin despite rhode island making it a little bit closer in the end lee with a 74-yard touchdown run yeah he just broke a couple straight up the middle on uri's defense on third short fourth and short and that ended up being the difference rhode island did get an interception from chris arrington that brought them back within a couple scores they made it interesting couldn't get the onside kick but anyway the final 35 to 21 and those numbers speak for themselves delaware just so good in particular on the ground 361 of their 551 total yards on the ground and that helped them lead in the time of possession they'll be a tough team to beat in an age of passing you know still if you could dominate on the ground you're going to be a formidable opponent to anyone so rhode island they fall today to delaware 35 to 21 the final delaware on top of the caa north they're now 3-0 overall 3-0 in conference play rhode island 2-1 overall 2-1 in conference play for kyle rowley and everybody here at your view i'm stone freeman saying so long from kingston

Channel: Wally the Bronco Too

Views: 3,316

Keywords: Delaware, Rhode Island

Id: 4fBoj7jDfQU

Length: 143min 36sec (8616 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 28 2021