Football Falls at Monmouth

West Long Branch, N.J. – Unlike Willie Nelson, the 2024 Fordham football squad can wait to get on the road again. Playing away from home for the fourth time in their first five games, and the in the rain for the second time of the past three away games, the Rams found the roads to Monmouth University less than friendly as they fell to the Hawks, 63-21, at a soggy Kessler Stadium.
 
With the loss, the Rams fall to 0-5 on the year while Monmouth improves to 3-2.
 
Senior running back Julius Loughridge led the Fordham offense, rushing 24 times for 97 yards and two scores while junior quarterback Jack Capaldi carried eleven times for 72 yards and he threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to freshman receiver Jack Freeburg.
 
Defensively, sophomore defensive back Nate Lindsey-Gill recorded seven tackles, five solo, and he forced a fumble, while grad student linebacker Mike Courtney finished with six stops, five solo, including one for loss.
 
The game got off on the wrong foot for the Rams as Monmouth returned the opening kickoff 100 yards for a score, one of two kickoff returns for a score for the Hawks.
 
The Rams answered immediately, marching 72 yards on 13 plays with Loughridge taking it in from the nine to knot the game at seven with 8:45 remaining in the quarter.
 
But Monmouth would score on its next four possessions to take a 35-7 lead with 9:48 left in the half before Loughridge capped a ten-play, 75-yard drive with an eight-yard scoring run to cut the Fordham deficit to 35-14, with just under five minutes remaining in the second quarter.
 
The Hawks returned the ensuring kickoff 79 yards for a score to make it a 42-14 game at the break, and bumped the lead to 63-14 in the fourth before Capaldi connected with Freeburg in the endzone to close out the scoring.
 
Takeaways
• Senior running back Julius Loughridge came up three yards shy of recording his third 100-yard rushing game of the year.
 
• Junior quarterback CJ Montes missed his second straight game with an injury.
 
• The Rams converted two of three fourth down attempts.
 
• Fordham did not commit a turnover in the game (neither team turned the ball over but Monmouth fumbled three times).
 
• Monmouth now leads the all-time series, 3-2.
 
• Fordham averaged 53.0 ppg in the two wins over Monmouth and 17.7 ppg in the three losses.
 
• The last time the Rams played four of the first five games on the road was 2011.
 
By the Numbers
 
20 – Career rushing touchdowns for Julius Loughridge, ninth all-time for the Rams.
 
64 – Long punt in the game for Will Haslett, a season-best.
 
2,477 – Career rushing yards for Julius Loughridge, moving him ahead of Rick Hollawell (1986-89) and into seventh on the Fordham career rushing list.
 
What's Next?
• The Rams continue the 2024 season by returning to the friendly confines of Moglia Stadium to open Patriot League play by hosting the defending League champ, Lafayette College, on Saturday, October 5, at 1:00 p.m.
 
• It will be the 42nd meeting between Fordham and Lafayette on the gridiron.
 
• The Leopards lead the all-time series, which started in 1903, 26-14-1, but Fordham has taken two of the past three meetings, including a 45-10 win at Lafayette in 2022 as Tim DeMorat completed 32 of 45 passes for 482 yards and four touchdowns while also rushing for a pair of scores.