Box Score Sept. 5, 2009
Final Stats |
Photo Gallery 
Kingston, R.I. -
Even though they lost, the Fordham University football Rams may have found out a lot about themselves today. Trailing 41-7 after the first play of the second half, it would have been easy for the Rams to go through the motions and finish out the game. Instead, they fought back, scoring three straight touchdowns but that was as close as Fordham would get, falling to Rhode Island, 41-28, in the season opener for both teams in Meade Stadium.
"You just can't give up 34 points in the first half and expect to get back in the game," said Fordham head coach Tom Masella. "We simply didn't play football in the first half but I thought the guys hung there in the second half and showed a lot of fight."
It's difficult to say that a 41-28 game turned on one play but after scoring three times the Rams seemed to have momentum. The Fordham defense then forced the Rhode Island offense into a third and long situation with about seven minutes remaining but Rhode Island was able to complete a long pass to bring the ball across midfield.
Fordham still had a chance to score later in the game, facing a fourth down on its own ten. John Skelton completed a pass over the middle to Jason Caldwell for the first down but as Caldwell struggled for extra yards he fumbled and the ball was recovered by Rhode Island on the Fordham 29, who then ran out the clock for the win.
Speaking of Skelton, he became Fordham's all-time pass completions leader with his first completion in the game, a short gain to Caldwell on the Rams' second offensive series. He finished the game with 28 completions, bringing his career total to 546, moving ahead of Joe Moorhead, who completed 518 passes from 1992-95.
Rhode Island controlled the first 27 minutes of the game, with Fordham finally breaking the goose egg on the scoreboard on a John Skelton four-yard touchdown scamper with 23 seconds left in the half.
The opening kickoff was an omen of things to come for Fordham as Brandon Johnson-Farrell returned a Kevin Heinowitz kick 70 yards to give Rhode Island the ball on the Fordham 21. Four plays later, Anthony Ferrer took it in from the one for a 7-0 Rhode Island lead just over two minutes into the game.
After Fordham went three and out, Rhode Island took over on its own 27 and two big plays later, a 20-yard gain on third down from the Rhode Island 33 and the next play, a 35-yard gain on a short pass, had the ball on the Fordham 12. The Fordham defense dug in and forced Rhode Island to settle for a 25-yard field goal and a 10-0 lead midway through the first quarter.
Rhode Island made it a 17-0 game with a 29-yard scoring rush 13 seconds into the second quarter and then went up 24-0 five minutes later on a five-yard scoring strike. A 25-yard Louis Feinstein field goal with 2:51 left in the half boosted the Rhode Island lead to 34-0.
Fordham then drove 80 yards on ten plays with John Skelton capping the drive with a four-yard touchdown run with 23 seconds left in the half. John Skelton completed six of seven passes in the drive, including three straight to his brother, Stephen Skelton.
The second half didn't start any better for Fordham as the Rams fumbled on each of its first two offensive plays. The first occurred when Skelton fumbled as he was sacked by Victor Adesanya and the fumble was scooped up by Rhode Island's Steven Weeden who returned it 15 yards for a score.
Following the kickoff, Xavier Martin fumbled and Rhode Island recovered on the Fordham 42. But the Fordham defense didn't allow Rhode Island to gain any yards, forcing Rhody to punt for the first time in the game.
John Skelton then drove Fordham 80 yards on 13 plays, covering the final one himself to cut the Rhode Island lead to 41-14 with 7:50 left in the third. The scoring play came on fourth down after a pass from Skelton to Brad Pierre put the ball on the one. Skelton quickly got Fordham to the line of scrimmage and called for the snap before the Rhode Island defense set up.
After the Fordham defense held Rhode Island, Fordham took over on its own 20 following a punt. A pair of Martin rushes gained 14 yard but later in the drive Fordham faced a fourth down and two from its own 39. Darryl Whiting took the handoff and bolted up the middle to pick up the first down. Skelton then completed three straight passes for 40 yards, the last to Caldwell that put the ball on the six where Skelton rushed it in to cut the Fordham deficit to 41-21 27 seconds into the fourth quarter.
The Fordham defense again held Rhode Island and Fordham took over on it own 16 after a punt. Skelton again went to work, completing all five of his pass attempts in the drive, including the scoring strike to a wide open Caldwell with 9:34 left in the contest. The big play was a 45-yard Skelton-to-Skelton completion that started with a short pass that Stephen Skelton brought down the left sideline, breaking multiple tackles in the process.
John Skelton finished the day completing 28 of 42 passes for 302 yards and the one score while also leading the team in rushing, carrying 13 times for 68 yards and two scores. Martin finished with 47 yards on seven carries. Caldwell led all receivers with 102 yards on eight catches while Stephen Skelton made seven receptions for 90 yards.
Isiejah Allen led the Fordham defense with eight solo tackles while Cliff Stuckey also finished with eight tackles, seven solo, including 1.5 for loss. Darzell Wright added five stops for Fordham, including a game-high three for a loss.
Fordham will have a week off before opening its 2009 home season on Saturday, September 19th, by hosting Columbia University on Jack Coffey Field in the annual Liberty Cup game at 6:00 p.m.
Notes: The 300-yard passing day was the third of Skelton's career... He is now two touchdown passes shy of setting the Fordham career touchdown passes mark... The 53 net rushing yards was the third best game in Skelton's Fordham career... Caldwell set a career-high with the eight catches and the 102 receiving yards... Stephen Skelton set a career-high with the 90 receiving yards... Freshman kicker Kevin Heinowitz was perfect on all four of his PATs while sophomore punter Cameron Dean averaged 40.7 yards/punt on three kicks... The Fordham defense recorded nine tackles for loss, led by three for Darzell Wright and two for James Crockett... The loss snaps a Fordham two-game winning streak in the all-time series... Fordham still leads the all-time series, 5-4... The Rams are now 45-27 all-time in season openers since 1902, 6-15 since moving to the NCAA FCS in 1989.
