Brown & URI Football Set for 35th Governor’s Cup Game
Friday, September 30, 2016
The URI Rams and Brown Bears football programs are set to renew their rivalry in the 35th edition of the Governor’s Cup on Saturday at noon at Meade Stadium on the URI Campus.
"It doesn't matter about the records, it's just about a very hard nosed, competitively fought game every time we get on the football field together," said Brown Head Coach, Phil Estes in Thursday's Governor's Cup press conference.
"Every game I've been involved in against Brown has been a knock down drag out game, I think my first year the score was 20-13, it's probably going to be similar to what is going to happen this week," added URI Head Coach, Jim Fleming, in his half of the press conference.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe Bears have won the last five Governor’s Cups, including a 41-31 win last season, and are 72-26-2 all time and 18-16 in the Governor’s Cup series, against URI. The last URI win came in 2010, a 27-24 overtime win.
The URI Rams
The Rams come into the Governor’s Cup game looking for their first win of the season. Most recently, URI is coming off a 39-17 loss to New Hampshire, in which, Rhode Island gave up 17 fourth quarter points.
"Thing about my career is I've bounced around a lot, and then you find yourself in a perfect situation to be able to give everything you have to resurrect a football program. It's a tough job," said Fleming, a former Brown defensive coordinator.
About the Rams, Estes added, "Rhode Island is a big, strong, physical football team and 0-4 makes them very, very dangerous."
Rams Offense
The Rams offense has averaged 13 points and a total of 300 offensive yards per game (175.8 passing, 124.8 rushing) in four games so far this season.
URI is led by quarterback, Paul Mroz, who has completed 29 of 60 passes for 436 yards with one touchdown pass and one interception. Mroz averages 145 passing yards per game.
The Rams receiving corps is led by Harold Buckner III, who has ten receptions on the season for 180 yards and a touchdown. He averages 18 yards per catch and 45 yards per game.
Sophomore, Khayri Denny, has nine catches for 149 yards and averages 37 yards per game and 16.6 yards per catch.
Out of the backfield, the Rams use a combination of three different running backs led by junior, T.J. Anderson, who has 47 carries for 190 yards and two touchdowns on the season. He averages a team leading 47 rushing yards per game.
Junior, Markey Clarke, follows up with 20 carries for 85 yards and one touchdown, while junior, Harold Cooper, has 19 carries for 54 yards.
Rams Defense
On the defensive side of the ball, URI has given up an average of 45 points and 464 offensive yards per game (216.8 rushing yards, 247 passing yards) so far this season.
The Rams defense is led by senior linebacker, Adam Parker, who has recorded 28 tackles on the year with an average of seven tackles per game.
Junior defensive lineman, Jose Duncan, leads the Rams with three sacks for a loss of eight yards, while the Rams defense as a whole have a total of seven sacks for 38 yards.
Brown Bears
Brown comes into this game with a record of 1-1 on the season after suffering a home loss to Ivy League rival Harvard last week at Brown Stadium.
"When you think about this game, you try to think about yourselves, not about the other team. It's about us, how can we make ourselves better. So that's what it is this year, it's about us and how are we going to make those improvements," Estes said.
Brown Offense
The Brown offense comes into the Governor’s Cup game averaging 28.5 points and 372 total yards ( 270 passing, 102 rushing) per game.
The offense is led by senior quarterback, Kyle Moreno, who has completed 47 of 78 passes for 526 yards and six touchdowns so far this season. He also has Brown's only two rushing touchdowns of the season.
Brown’s run game is anchored by two guys, junior, Jalen Broome, and senior, Johnny Pena.
On the season, Broome has 25 carries for 87 yards for an average of 43.5 yards per game, while Pena has 23 carries for 66 yards for an average of 33 yards per game.
In the passing game, Brown’s receiving corps revolves primarily around three players, seniors' Garrett Swanky, Alex Jette, and Troy Doles.
Swanky has hauled in 13 catches for 124 yards and two touchdowns on the season, averaging 62 yards per game.
Jette has ten catches on the year for 153 yards, averaging 76.5 yards per game and 15.3 yards per catch.
Brown Defense
The Bears defense has allowed an average of 29.5 points and 340 total yards (100 rushing, 240 passing) per game this season.
The defense is led by senior inside linebacker, William Twyman, who has 14 total tackles and a sack for a loss of six yards. The Brown defense, as a whole, has five sacks on the year, and 13.5 tackles for a loss.
In the secondary, junior free safety, Connor Coughlin, sophomore free safety, Sebastian Dovi, and senior defensive back, Jordan Ferguson, each have an interception.
Looking Ahead
After this game, the Rams hit the road for two straight contests starting on October 8 against Villanova and then October 15 against Stony Brook.
The Brown Bears will return home to host Stetson on October 8.
Related Slideshow: RI Teams To Win National Championships
PC Basketball 1960-61 NIT
PC 1962-63 NIT Champions
URI Men's Sailing 1965
URI Men's Sailing 1975
URI Men's Sailing 1977
Brown Men's Crew '93
Brown Men's Crew '94
Brown Men's Crew '95
PC Women's Cross Country
Brown Women's Crew '96
Brown Women's Crew '97
Brown Women's Sailing '98
Brown Women's Crew '99
Brown Women's Crew 2000-
Brown Women's Crew '02 
Brown Women's Crew '04
Brown Women's Crew '07-
Brown Women's Crew '08 
URI Women's Sailing 2011
Brown Women's Crew 2011
PC Women's Cross Country
PC Hockey 2015
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