Football Falls at Bryant, 45-40

N. Smithfield, R.I. - With the official change of seasons occurring on Friday, the Fordham football squad hoped that its luck, especially with injuries, would change on Saturday. But that was not the case as, despite five touchdowns passes from Kevin Anderson, the Rams fell to Bryant University, 45-40, at Beirne Stadium.
 
With the loss, Fordham falls to 1-3 on the year while Brant evens its record at 2-2.
 
Fordham was once again without the services of All-American running back Chase Edmonds, who missed his second game with an injury, and also was without starting defensive back Jesse Bramble, who missed the game with an injury.
 
Anderson completed 27 of 42 passes for 366 yards and the five touchdowns, tying his career-high for touchdown passes in a game. The 366 passing yards was Anderson's ninth career 300-yard game and the fourth best game in his Fordham career. His five passing scores give him 69 for his Fordham career, tying Anderson with John Skelton for the Fordham school record.
 

Anderson's favorite receiver was tight end Isaiah Searight, who caught seven passes for 133 yards and two scores, all career-bests, while Corey Caddle hauled in seven passes for 82 yards and one score and Andrew Prince grabbed six passes for 52 yards and two scores.
 
On the ground, freshman running back Zach Davis rushed for 119 yards on 21 carries.
 
The Bulldogs took an early 7-0 lead but the Rams answered immediately as Dylan Mabin took the ensuing kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown with 4:50 left in the first.
 
The Rams took a 34-31 lead on a 22-yard scoring strike from Anderson to Caddle with 1:51 left in the third but Bryant scored twice over the first five minutes of the fourth quarter to take a 45-34 lead. The Rams made it a 45-40 game on a 17-yard touchdown pass from Anderson to Prince with 3:24 left but couldn't recover the onside kick and the Bulldogs managed to run out the clock.
 
Takeaways
It was the first time that Fordham lost back-to-back games since the end of the 2011 season (a streak of 65 games).
 
Bryant made good on five of six fourth down conversions while Fordham was one-for-two.
 
Mabin's kickoff return for a score was Fordham's first since Jihaad Pretlow returned one 87 yards against Holy Cross in 2015.
 
Anderson last threw five touchdowns passes against Yale last year.
 
The Rams started Anthony Coyle, Ben Hartman, Dominic Lombard, Garrett Donaldson and Nick Zakelj on the offensive line, the fourth different starting lineup over the first four games. Coyle and Lombard, who made his first start at center today, are the only two to have started every game.
 
Fordham scored 40 or more points in a game for the 25th time since 2012.
 
By the Numbers
1 – Sacks allowed by the Rams on 42 pass attempts.
 
2- Pass breakups by Dylan Mabin, who entered the game leading the Patriot League with eight.
 
4 – The game was Anderson's fourth career game with five touchdown passes (school record is six).
 
7, 133, 2 – Number of receptions, receiving yards and touchdown by junior tight end Isaiah Searight, all career-highs (previous career-highs were four receptions, 67 yards and one touchdown).
 
11 – Team-high total tackles from freshman linebacker Glenn Cunningham, the second straight game he led the Rams in tackles.
 
65 – Interception return yards for Glenn Cunningham on a pick off in the second quarter.
 
73 – Yards covered in first scoring pass from Anderson to Caddle, the longest pass play of the year for the Rams.
 
119 – Rushing yards by freshman Zach Davis, the most for a Fordham freshman since Chase Edmonds gained 137 at Georgetown in 2014.
 
133 – Receiving yards by tight end Isaiah Searight, the second most in a game by a Fordham tight end in school history (record is 138 by Stephen Skelton in 2009).
 
366 – Passing yards by Kevin Anderson, the fourth most in a game in his career.
 
What's Next
Fordham returns to Jack Coffey Field to host Yale University on Saturday, September 30 at 6:00 p.m. for Military Appreciation Night.