It wasn’t a very good day statistically for the University of Maine football team in its Colonial Athletic Association game against cellar-dweller Rhode Island on Saturday afternoon.
But the Black Bears made enough big plays on both sides of the ball to grind out a hard-fought, 28-21 victory over the Rams at Meade Stadium.
UMaine won its fourth straight game and improved to 4-3 overall, 3-1 in the CAA. Click here for UMaine’s highlights of the game.
UMaine (4-3 overall, 3-1 CAA) won its fourth consecutive game and has won the last 10 meetings against Rhode Island. But five of the last seven have been decided by 10 points or fewer.
UMaine senior quarterback Dan Collins, who entered the game with a 53 percent completion rate, completed just 43.3 percent of his passes (13-for-30) but did throw two touchdown passes to Micah Wright, including a game-winning, 43-yarder with 6:35 remaining.
The determined Rams (1-7, 0-5 CAA) marched down the field in search of a tying touchdown and reached the UMaine 18 after successfully converting a pair of fourth-down plays.
But UMaine junior strong safety Jason Matovu intercepted a deflected pass on the last play of the game to preserve the triumph.
It was UMaine’s fifth interception of the afternoon.
“I saw the ball go in the air, I knew the game was coming down to the wire and I knew I had to make a play,” said Matovu. “I think Sheff (linebacker Sterling Sheffield) ripped the ball free at the last second. I saw the ball, my eyes lit up and I caught the ball.”
URI went 4-for-4 on fourth-down conversions after having entered the game with a league-low 0-for-6 coming into the game. The Rams also racked up 430 yards of total offense, nearly 200 more than their league-low average of 237.6 per game.
“I’m extremely happy with the win,” said UMaine coach Joe Harasymiak. “The bottom line is we’ve found ways to win games the last four. I’d like to see us make it easier on ourselves but that’s the CAA. There are no easy games. We have to keep battling to the end.”
The Rams rallied from a seven-point deficit for the third time on redshirt freshman Jordan Vazzano’s 65-yard TD pass to Aaron Parker with 10:32 left in the game. It was URI’s longest play from scrimmage this season.
But after the teams swapped punts, UMaine took over at its own 45-yard line. After Zaire Williams ran for 12 yards, Collins found the streaking Wright racing down the right side and hit him perfectly in stride to break the 21-21 tie.
“We were in hurry-up tempo. We had a good coverage we liked, Micah ran a great route and he beat his guy,” said Collins. “I just waited for him to win his route and I threw it.”
“Their (defensive back) was playing off me but I felt like I could run by him. I had done it earlier in the game,” said Wright. “I told Dan and I ran as fast as I could.”
The Black Bears held the Rams on the ensuing drive and got the ball on its own 15-yard line with 5:57 left.
Josh Mack carried the ball five straight times for 45 yards to eat up some valuable clock and move the ball downfield. However, he received a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on his last run and the drive eventually stalled with URI taking over at its own 24-yard line with 2:02 left.
A six-yard pass from Vazzano to Parker on fourth-and-five and a 21-yarder to Harold Buckner III on fourth-and-9 extended the drive and Vazzano then threw a 25-yard pass to Marven Beauvais to the UM-18 with 18 seconds left.
After Vazzano spiked the ball to stop the clock Matovu’s interception sewed up the win.
Mack opened the scoring with a 65-yard run on the game’s first series but Vazzano tied it with a 25-yard pass to Beauvais early in the second quarter.
UMaine took a 14-7 lead into the intermission when Collins tossed a 9-yard pass to Wright.
Vazzano tied it with 4:29 left in the third quarter with a 5-yard run that capped an 11-play, 58-yard drive.
But sophomore defensive end Connor Walsh’s first career interception turned into six points as he rambled 48 yards down the sideline after Kayshawn Wilson deflected a Vazzano pass.
That came with 38 seconds left in the third quarter.
“We needed to create turnovers. That’s the main reason we won the game,” said UMaine senior defensive lineman Pat Ricard, who forced a couple of errant passes with his pressure.
Mack ran the ball 11 times for 115 yards, his second 100-yard rushing game this season. Williams gained 50 yards on 10 carries and Wright caught seven passes for 97 yards and the two TDs. Christophe Mulumba Tshimanga had a team-high seven tackles and Taji Lowe had six.
Vazzano (20-for-47) threw for a career-high 347 yards with two TDs and five interceptions. Buckner III had nine catches for 141 yards. D.J. Stewart had a game-high 10 tackles for URI.
UMaine visits William and Mary next Saturday at 3:30 p.m.