URI Looking For 1st Win Over Ranked Opponent Since 2011 vs #25 Harvard

URI Looking For 1st Win Over Ranked Opponent Since 2011 vs #25 Harvard

The University of Rhode Island Rams football team (0-2) opens their home schedule against (0-0) #25 Harvard University on Saturday, September 19th at 1 p.m. The Rams will be looking to beat a ranked opponent for the first time since 2011 when they defeated #19 William and Mary 24-21. URI has lost 14 straight games to ranked opponents.

URI is 14-76 all-time against ranked opponents.

Last Time Out

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In last week's game, the Rams fell on the road to Albany 35-7. The Rams went 3 for 15 on third down efficiency and quarterback Paul Mroz completed 17-of-38 for 180 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions.

URI had the ball for 25 minutes in the game compared to 35 minutes for Albany.

URI vs Harvard

The last time the Rams and Crimson played was in 1923 when Harvard rolled to a 35-0 victory over URI.

Harvard makes their first ever trip to URI for their first game of the season. In 2014, The Crimson completed an undefeated season getting as low as #15 in both the sports network poll and the FCS Coaches poll.

Harvard comes in this season as the favorite to win the Ivy League.

Keys to Pulling Off the Upset

For URI to get the win, the biggest thing they will need to do is convert third down's. Doing that will keeps drives alive and will lead to points or at least opportunities for them.

As head coach, Marty Fine, told GoLocal prior to the season, " Our goal is to get a couple of first downs each time we touch the football, if we do that we will shorten the field, score some points and put ourselves in position to win some games this season."

In the last game against Albany, URI's running game looked better. The Rams rushed for 120 yards led by Harold Cooper, who carried the ball 16 times for 66 yards.

Lastly, getting on the board early in the game could make a difference. The Rams have had trouble scoring and in turn putting alot of pressure on their defense. An early score gets the home crowd going and gets the team some confidence.

Home Opener

The Rams look to upset Harvard in their home opener on Saturday. The last time the Rams were at home, they defeated Towson 13-7 in the final game of the 2014 season.

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