Rhody football suffers 8th loss of season against UMass

11/6/08 - The University of Rhode Island football team was held scoreless Saturday as it fell to the University of Massachusetts 49-0. The shutout was the first suffered at the hands of the Minutemen since 1979.On the first drive of the game, senior quarterback Derrick Cassidy threw an interception with less than a minute off of the clock. It was the second play from scrimmage.

From that point on, UMass, lead by quarterback and North Providence native Liam Coen, took off and never looked back.

"When you get picked like that in the first series, I think naturally you get a little gun shy," said head coach Darren Rizzi.

The Rams (2-8) had a difficult time recovering from the interception as the Minutemen marched down the field on their first possession for a score.

"I think today was a sign of a young football team playing 10 straight games in a row without a bye," Rizzi said.

Coen was clicking on all cylinders as he completed all but two passes on the day. His completion percentage of 88.2 percent was good for second highest in school history.

His team was able to score on four drives in the first half, on two runs by Massachusetts running back Tony Cruz and two passes by Coen. Defensive back Josh Jennings also contributed an interception return for a touchdown.

By the end of the half, UMass lead 35-0.

"We did some things today that were uncharacteristic of our team," Rizzi said. "Although we've struggled at times, we've played pretty sound and I think when your record is where ours is, you have some guys trying to do too much to make something happen."

UMass scored again in the third quarter on a touchdown pass by Coen to wide out Victor Cruz. A fourth quarter eight-yard run by running back Korrey Davis capped off the scoring.

Senior running back Jimmy Hughes carried the ball 17 times for 58 yards.

Cassidy carried the ball 11 times, the majority of the time because he was forced to scramble from the pursuing Massachusetts defense.

"If you look at our season as a whole, we actually ran the ball better today than we have in some games, which is kind of ironic," Rizzi said. "Our rushing yards for the game were way down because of the sacks."

The Minutemen were able to get to Cassidy eight times, forcing him to lose a total of 55 yards.

Through the air, Cassidy was able to complete 13 of 24 for 185 yards. Still, the Rams could not put points on the board.

Freshman kicker Louis Feinstein missed two field goals, from 40 and 34 yards.

"We have to remain positive," Rizzi said. "We started only four seniors today and eight freshman and sophomores on defense and that's how we played."

With a bye week coming up, Rizzi said the team is ready for a break.

"I think the whole program is going to take a nap for about three days," he said.

The Rams return to action on Saturday, Nov. 15 as they close out their home schedule against the University of Maine at 1 p.m.