2008 Woodie Awards
Football pulls off upset against UMass in wind, rain during Family Weekend
Joseph Rea
Issue date: 11/6/07 Section: Sports
- Page 1 of 2 next >
11/06/07 - The University of Rhode Island football team defeated the University of Massachusetts 12-6 in overtime on Saturday afternoon at Meade Stadium. The game was played in the driving rain with wind gusts nearing 50 miles per hour on family weekend.
"I thought we handled the weather extremely well. We had two bad snaps that resulted in two safeties on punts, but we played Maine last season in these same conditions. We were well prepared for it," head coach Tim Stowers said. The teams combined for only 310 yards of total offense in the conditions.
Rhode Island (2-7, 1-5 conference) upset a Massachusetts (7-2, 5-1 conference) team that was nationally ranked third in the Division I-AA poll. UMass' only previous loss was a road game against Boston College, a team that was nationally ranked second in the Bowl Championship Series poll heading into the weekend.
Rhode Island started the scoring with a 26-yard field goal from Bryan Giannecchini after they forced a turnover on the first play from scrimmage. Late in the first quarter, the Rams set up to punt on its own 31. A bad snap resulted in a safety, and Rhody's lead was 3-2. In the second quarter URI engineered a 14-play drive that ended with Giannecchini's second field goal of the contest. The field goal came from 23 yards. Rhode Island led 6-2 at halftime.
Less than two minutes into the third quarter, another bad snap resulted in UMass' second safety of the game. Rhode Island's lead was cut to 6-4, and the score would remain that way for the rest of the third quarter.
Later in the third, Massachusetts started a drive on the Rhode Island 36-yard line The Minutemen drove the ball down inside the Rams' five-yard line, but were stuffed by the URI defense.
"The defense shut them out, and UMass has a prolific offense," Stowers said. "We had a goal line stand on fourth-and-two, and it was probably the turning point in the game."
Rhode Island took over deep inside its own territory, and less than a minute into the fourth quarter surrendered its third safety of the game. Massachusetts had tied the game, 6-6. The score stayed this way for the rest of the game, resulting in Rhody's third overtime game of this season. The head coach said the Rams were ready for overtime.
"I thought we handled the weather extremely well. We had two bad snaps that resulted in two safeties on punts, but we played Maine last season in these same conditions. We were well prepared for it," head coach Tim Stowers said. The teams combined for only 310 yards of total offense in the conditions.
Rhode Island (2-7, 1-5 conference) upset a Massachusetts (7-2, 5-1 conference) team that was nationally ranked third in the Division I-AA poll. UMass' only previous loss was a road game against Boston College, a team that was nationally ranked second in the Bowl Championship Series poll heading into the weekend.
Rhode Island started the scoring with a 26-yard field goal from Bryan Giannecchini after they forced a turnover on the first play from scrimmage. Late in the first quarter, the Rams set up to punt on its own 31. A bad snap resulted in a safety, and Rhody's lead was 3-2. In the second quarter URI engineered a 14-play drive that ended with Giannecchini's second field goal of the contest. The field goal came from 23 yards. Rhode Island led 6-2 at halftime.
Less than two minutes into the third quarter, another bad snap resulted in UMass' second safety of the game. Rhode Island's lead was cut to 6-4, and the score would remain that way for the rest of the third quarter.
Later in the third, Massachusetts started a drive on the Rhode Island 36-yard line The Minutemen drove the ball down inside the Rams' five-yard line, but were stuffed by the URI defense.
"The defense shut them out, and UMass has a prolific offense," Stowers said. "We had a goal line stand on fourth-and-two, and it was probably the turning point in the game."
Rhode Island took over deep inside its own territory, and less than a minute into the fourth quarter surrendered its third safety of the game. Massachusetts had tied the game, 6-6. The score stayed this way for the rest of the game, resulting in Rhody's third overtime game of this season. The head coach said the Rams were ready for overtime.