Rams drop football game to College of William and Mary

11/03/09 - An early lead was not enough to spark the University of Rhode Island football team's (1-7, 0-5 CAA) offense as the nationally ranked College of William and Mary shut them down with a 39-14 victory Saturday afternoon at Meade Stadium. The game appeared to be going in the Rams' direction t after a botched snap by the William and Mary punting unit helped swing the momentum in the Rams favor. However, it didn't last very long as the Tribe found their stride and the Rams offense struggled once again.

"Obviously we ran into a pretty good team today," head coach Joe Trainer said. "They really don't have a unit that can be exposed in terms of offense, defense, and special teams. I was proud of the way our kids competed. We definitely didn't quit. To beat a team like William and Mary right now where we are, we would have had to play a perfect game and we were far from perfect."

The William and Mary defensive unit held the Rams offense to only 149 yards of total offense. The Tribe forced Rhody to play one-dimensional football completely stopping the run holding them to negative 44 yards on the day.

"[William and Mary has] two NFL prospects up front," Trainer said. "They're a quality defense, they're led by their front, they have a lot of seniors in that group, and obviously having two NFL prospects doesn't hurt."

The Rams attacked the Tribe through the air and were successful in the game's opening quarter. URI junior quarterback Chris Paul-Etienne completed 19 of his 34 passes for 195 yards and two touchdowns including a five- yard pass to senior wide receiver Shawn Leonard that gave them an opening 7-0 lead.

The Tribe quickly responded with 39 unanswered points, while keeping Paul-Etienne in check, sacking him six times including a safety for a total loss of 38 yards.

"That was a difficult team for a first year quarterback to play against because they do a ton of things in coverage and pressures like any senior dominated defense," Trainer said. "Chris's attitude is great. He needs to continue to work hard and get better, and good things are going to happen for him and certainly our offense."

The Rams led for most of the first quarter slowing the Tribe's top ranked rushing attack. With 1:51 remaining in the first quarter, sophomore running back Courtland Marriner made a few shifty moves on a nine yard scamper in to the end zone to tie the game at seven. In the second quarter the Tribe added two more scores including a four-yard pass from quarterback R.J Archer to senior tightend Rob Varno with 14 seconds left in the half.

"We're not where we need to be from a maturity standpoint," Trainer said. "It was obviously a nice way to start up 7-0, but the score right before the half kind of took the wind out of our sails."

After halftime, the Tribe carried their late momentum into the second half scoring on three of their first four possessions including two Marriner rushing touchdowns. They added a safety late in the fourth extending the lead to 39-7 lead.

The Rams showed no signs of quitting and they continued to play hard. Paul-Etienne completed his second touchdown pass to Leonard with a minute and a half remaining.

"I told the guys after the game that we need to continue to fight," Trainer said. "I don't think we're that far away."

Rhody returns to action next Saturday as they head to the University of New Hampshire to take on their third consecutive nationally ranked opponent. Kickoff time is set for noon.