URI Football is 7-1, And They Defy Their Stats
The Biz of Sports
URI Football is 7-1, And They Defy Their Stats
The only loss on the record is to the Big Ten’s University of Minnesota - not surprisingly.
Since that loss, the Rams have won 6 in a row, but what may make Coach Jim Fleming’s run more impressive is that their opponents have beaten the Rams in nearly every statistical category.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTGoLocal breaks down the stats and finds that the Rams defy the laws of football statistics.
Opponents Offensive Numbers Are Better Than Rams
The Rams have run for 56 first downs, and opponents have run for 61.
Rhode Island has thrown for 67 first downs, and their opponents have thrown for 85.
The Rams have outgained their opponent on the ground — an average of 152.3 to 122.8, so chalk that up for Rhode Island, but URI loses the air game.
Opponents have thrown for an average of 216 yards against the Ram and the URI has thrown for 191 yards.
Total offensive plays are even worse for the Rams. URI has run 484, and opponents have run 566.
How About Special Teams
The Rams are swept in nearly every special team stats category.
Rams' kickoff return average is just under 14 yards, and the opponents are gaining 18 yards against the Rams.
Punt returns are the same - the Rams' gain has been just 5.5 yards v. 7 yards.
Punting average by yards and nets - two more URI losses.
Jump over to the all-important stat - time of possession - opponents average 34:08 minutes per game, and the Rams just 25:46.
Rams lost more fumbles.
Opponents won the 3rd down conversion narrowly. The Rams' conversion percentage is 41% and their opponents is 42%.
The Rams' pass defense is out-sacking its opponents. The Rams have an impressive 21 sacks for 128 yards, compared to opponents sacking the Rams 9 times for 48 yards.
In general, red zone offense and red zone defense have been key for URI. If you exclude the Minnesota game, the Rams have scored 23 of 27 trips to the red zone with 138 points. Their opponents have scored 14 of 20 trips to the red zone with 87 points.
Rhode Island seems to lose the first half in most of its games, but it outscored its opponents in the second half, which was enough to win the game (again, excluding the MInn. game). Fleming and his coaches seem to be able to make the adjustments at halftime.
Despite the statistical discrepancies, the Rams can move to 8-1 with a victory Saturday over Monmouth at Meade Stadium.