Rhode Island vs Brown: Rhody Downs Bears 28-13 to Win Governor's Cup

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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The Governor’s Cup is back in Kingston! Rhode Island football defeated in-state rival Brown 28-13 this afternoon to pick up their first win of the 2016 season.

For the first time since 2010, the Rhode Island Rams are in possession of the Governor’s Cup. URI used a full-team effort to dispose of the Brown Bears 28-13 this afternoon in a sloppy one at Meade Stadium. But Rhody will take it — the Rams hoisted the Cup at midfield after this one in what was perhaps Jim Fleming’s biggest win since taking over in Kingston. The win — URI’s first of the season — moves them to 1-4 on the year.

The ‘W’ feels especially good because this one didn’t give Rhody fans that warm-and-fuzzy feeling from the start. With Jordan Vazzano under center (replacing the injured Paul Mroz), Rhode Island’s first three drives ended in three-and-outs. Meanwhile, the Bears took their first possession to the house, giving them an early 6-0 lead. Add in some special teams and field position struggles and it felt like URI was in trouble.

But the Rams got a big drive when they needed it most. Still trailing 6-0 late in the first quarter, Rhody engineered a nine-play, 80-yard TD drive to jump on top 7-6. It was the rushing attack doing a brunt of the work, with Harold Cooper, T.J. Anderson, and Vazzano picking up 55 of those yards on the ground. Even backup QB Wes McKoy got in on the fun, with a pair of runs and a completed pass netting positive yards on the drive.

Rhode Island punched it in with Vazzano’s first completion of the day: a 10-yard strike to Charlie McKeeman.

From there, the URI defense took over. The Rhody D held Brown scoreless the rest of the way (Brown’s only other TD came via a pick-six) while the Rams offense — while inconsistent at times — made enough plays to win. And those second half struggles? They evaporated today: Rhode Island outscored Brown 21-0 in the final 30 minutes to seal this one.

And the guy who really closed this one out? Junior running back Harold Cooper, who is officially BACK after an ankle injury hampered him through most of the first four games. Cooper broke two huge runs — both in the fourth quarter — to put the final nail in the coffin. Here’s the one that iced it.

Cooper finished the afternoon with 135 yards and two TDs on the ground as he was huge for the Rams down the stretch.

So yeah, this one feels pretty good. And the Governor’s Cup is now back where it belongs. We’ll have much more coming up tomorrow.

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