Box Score Sept. 1, 2007
Final Stats
Kingston, R.I. -
It was a fitting end to the season opener of the 125th anniversary season of Fordham Football, with the entire Fordham team singing the Fordham Fight Song outside the Fordham locker room after a thrilling 27-23 win over the University of Rhode Island at Meade Stadium. And despite the youth of the Fordham squad, with some of the players singing the song for the first time, the Rams belted out the notes as if they were experienced upperclassmen.
It was that youth, with a dash of senior leadership, that served Fordham well. The best thing about being young is being resilient. And the Fordham squad showed that resiliency today, allowing Rhode Island to come back from a 20-10 deficit to take a 23-20 lead with 3:26 remaining before going on a 75-yard drive, capped by a nine-yard scoring strike from John Skelton to Jason Caldwell with just 15 seconds left, that helped Fordham pull out a 27-23 win.
"This was a total team effort," said Fordham head coach Tom Masella. "We had a lot of different players contribute today since we didn't know if we would be able to match Rhode Island's speed. But today was a perfect example of what we've been saying all throughout camp which is play every play and see what happens."
After Rhode Island took a 23-20 lead with 2:17 remaining on a 24-yard Bryan Giannecchini field goal, one of three on the day, Fordham started the winning drive on its own 25 following the ensuing kickoff. But Fordham quickly faced a fourth and ten from the 25 when Rhode Island was whistled for a pass interference penalty, giving Fordham a first down on the Fordham 40.
After Skelton was sacked back to the 32, he hit Richard Rayborn with consecutive passes to move to ball to the Rhode Island 35. A short pass to Jonte Coven picked up 11 more yards and a completion to Caldwell put the ball on the Rhode Island 15. Coven then took a handoff and picked up the first down around the left side, with a five-yard face mask penalty added on to the end of the run to move the ball to the nine. After Skelton threw in an incomplete pass to Sylvester Clarke in the end zone, he found Caldwell cutting across the back of the end zone for the game-winner.
"John Skelton made a big play for us," said Masella. "He grew up and learned a lot in this game today and that will make us a better team down the road."
Rhode Island had two chances to score before time expired, but Isiejah Allen sacked Derek Cassidy on the final play of the game on the Rhode Island 33.
Rhode Island took an early 3-0 lead on its first possession, moving from its own 43 to the Fordham 24 where Giannecchini connected on a 41-yard field goal 4:27 into the game.
The Fordham was able to move the ball into Rhode Island territory on its next possession, thanks to a 23-yard rush from Coven that put the ball on the Rhode Island 45. But on the next play Skelton was intercepted by Raji El-Amin on the Rhode Island 22 and he returned out to the 44.
The Rhode Island offense moved the ball to the Fordham eight but a false start penalty and three incomplete passes forced Rhode Island to attempt a 39-yard field goal but the ball was tipped by Fordham's Darzell Wright and Fordham took over on its own 22.
The game would remain 3-0 until Fordham took over on its own 41 following a punt and a penalty. Skelton then went to work, completing three straight passes to three different receivers to put the ball on the Rhode Island 38. Coven then picked up five yards on a rush and on the next play, Skelton found a wide open Michael Shorter down the left side with a 33-yard scoring pass for a 7-3 Fordham lead.
The Fordham defense fed off the success of the offense, with Allen and Matt Loucks stopping Rhode Island's Jerell Jones for a seven-yard loss on the first play of the next possession and Earl Hudnell followed with a sack back to the Rhode Island 25. Another loss on third down forced Rhode Island to punt the ball away and Fordham took over on its own 43.
Coven and Skelton then went to work, with Skelton completing two of three passes for 34 yards and Coven carrying four times for 21 yards to put the ball on the Rhode Island two where Fordham was called for a personal foul, moving the ball back to the 17. But that didn't matter to Coven, who took a handoff and scored untouched on the next play, giving Fordham a 13-3 lead.
Rhode Island threatened on it next possession, moving from its own 26 to the Fordham five before twice being penalized for a false start, moving the ball back to the 15. On first and goal from the 15, Allen picked off a Cassidy pass and brought it out to the 29.
Skelton completed a pair of passes to move the ball to the Rhode Island 36 but the drive stalled and the Rams lined up to punt on fourth down but used an unorthodox formation to attempt a pass that fell incomplete.
Rhode Island took over on its own 33 with 1:39 left in the half and moved the ball to the Fordham 49 when it appeared Rhody faced a fourth down and eighth. But the down marker indicated third down and after a consultation between the officials, they allowed Rhode Island to run a third down play which allowed the Rams to pick up a first down on the Fordham 35. But that was as close as Rhode Island would get to the end zone before time ran out in the half.
Rhode Island came out determined in the second half, taking the kickoff and driving 66 yards on five plays to cut the deficit to three, 13-10, on a Joe Casey five-yard touchdown run.
Fordham was on the verge of scoring later in the quarter as Skelton rambled 61 yards to move the ball from the Fordham 18 to the Rhode Island 21 but he was picked off on the next play by El-Amin, giving the ball back to Rhode Island on the ten.
But Rhode Island couldn't take advantage of the turnover as six plays later, Ryan Mehra hit Casey on the Fordham 48, forcing the Rhode Island running back to fumble, which was recovered by Fordham's Nick Magiera on the 46.
Midway through the second quarter, Coven scored from the 17 for a 20-10 Fordham lead.
Rhode Island took over on its own 35 following a punt to start the fourth quarter and Rhody covered the 65 yards in six plays to make it a three-point game on a six-yard touchdown rush from Jimmy Hughes.
Rhode Island took advantage of a Fordham turnover to tie the game at 20 as Ki'Ameer intercepted a Skelton pass on the Fordham 20 on the next play and returned it to 13. The Fordham defense held Rhode Island to three net yards and Giannecchini came on to boot a 27-yard field goal to knot the game with 10:28 remaining.
Later in the quarter, Rhode Island received the ball on its own 27 after a 42-yard Ben Dato punt and drove to the Fordham seven where Giannecchini kicked his third field goal of the game to give Rhode Island its first lead, 23-20, with 2:17 left.
Coven rushed for a career-high 119 yards on 18 carries with two touchdowns for Fordham while Skelton completed 23 of 38 passes for 208 yards and two scores and he rushed for 75 net yards. Caldwell led all Fordham receivers with five catches for 40 yards while Coven hauled in four passes and Shorter had three receptions for 61 yards.
Defensively, Allen led Fordham with 11 total tackles, six solo, including a sack and a tackle for a loss along with an interception. Dominique Owens notched nine stops for Fordham, six solo, including a sack while Isa Abdul-Quddas had eight tackles, four solo, including four for a loss.
Fordham will open its 2007 home schedule next Saturday, September 8th, playing host to the University at Albany on Jack Coffey Field at 6:00 p.m.
Notes
The win is the first opening day win for Fordham since a 42-7 victory over C.W. Post in 2003...The win was Masella's first over Rhode Island in five tries...The win beaks a two-game losing streak for Fordham against Rhode Island and give Fordham a 4-3 lead in the all-time series...Coven's previous career-high was 85 yards against Marist last year...Coven had missed part of camp while attending his grandfather's funeral in Georgia, rejoining the team last Sunday...Though listed as a sophomore, the touchdown pass was the first of Caldwell's career as he missed all of the 2006 season with an injury...The 209 net rushing yards were the most for Fordham since gaining 344 against Bucknell in 2005...Eight different players caught at least one pass for Fordham.
