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Rhode Island Football beats Brown, 31-21, in the annual Governor's Cup game

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Rhode Island Football beats Brown, 31-21, in the annual Governor's Cup game

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SOUTH KINGSTOWN – Saturday afternoon brought something unprecedented in the long football history of Brown and the University of Rhode Island.

The Rams won their sixth straight meeting in a series that dates back to 1909, and they needed a second-half surge to do so.

No. 19 URI finished with 17 unanswered points on a beautiful fall day at Meade Stadium. Shawn Harris Jr. gave the Rams the lead for good and Devin Farrell took the honors with the game-winning drive, paving the way for a 31-21 win.

URI once again retained the Governor's Cup – it has called Kingston home since 2018. The Bears couldn't find the end zone after an opening play that left the game tied 14-14 in the third quarter. Qwentin Brown's 1-yard smash up the middle was the last real highlight for the visitors, falling in front of a sellout crowd of 5,773 fans.

“That’s the difference in a well-played football game — four or five plays and who gets the chance to make them,” URI coach Jim Fleming said. “I’m just grateful that our guys hung in there.”

Harris zipped a jet sweep 45 yards around right end to give the Rams a 24-21 lead with 12:22 left. Farrell ran a 5-yard keeper around left end, capping a day in which the URI quarterback totaled 309 yards and two touchdowns. The Bears lost to an in-state opponent for the second straight year after suffering a 42-35 home loss to Bryant last week and another loss here.

“You know you’re playing a great team,” Brown coach James Perry said. “They will take advantage of your misfortunes, and they have.”

The Rams played some instructive complementary football in the second half. A stop on fourth down at their own 33 led to a scoring drive. A blocked field goal by Gabe Salomons — a 37-yard attempt by Christopher Maron that would have tied the game — set the table for another. URI won for the fourth straight year and remains perfect against FCS opponents at the halfway point of its 2024 season.

“We knew it was crisis time,” Salomons said. “We knew we had to get it. We answered the bell.”

It was a bumpy ride for the Rams in the first 36 minutes. Farrell's early interception of Noble Cooper III and Jordan DeLucia's subsequent 4-yard touchdown run gave Brown the lead within the first two minutes. Just before halftime, the Bears had another choice: Tim Malo caught a soft Farrell pass over the middle in his own end zone.

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Brown football coach James Perry is talking about a loss to URI in the Governor's Cup

The Rhode Island Rams defeated the Brown Bears 31-21 on Saturday in the annual Governor's Cup football game. This year's competition took place at URI.

Brown (2-2) got the kickoff in the second half, and what looked like a bit of a deficit on the final URI drive before halftime turned into a lead. The Bears were sharp, rushing 75 yards on 14 plays and securing a 21-14 lead early in the third quarter. The Rams needed a comeback, which has become common practice after winning five of their first six games for the second time in four years.

“We played really, really hard football,” Perry said. “We’ve obviously had quite a gauntlet here.”

Brown missed a fourth-place opportunity with less than nine minutes left, and Salomons showed a big hand to keep URI in the lead. The Rams generated a strong forward push and the senior linebacker was a few yards in the backfield when he touched the ball. It was the second of four consecutive defensive stops by URI that ended the game.

“I’m grateful for the guys inside,” Salomons said. “They were the ones who broke down the field goal block unit and gave me scoring space to throw.”

The Rams took the lead with 8:44 minutes to play and got most of it after halftime. Farrell hit Marquis Buchanan for two conversions on third down, part of a strong receiving day for the former Classical star. Buchanan caught all nine of his targets for 107 yards and a touchdown, another top receiver that hurt the Bears as standout defensive back Isaiah Reed (left ankle) remained out.

“It’s just communication on the sidelines,” Buchanan said. “We had talked about a few things.”

Before graduation, Brown will play six straight games in the Ivy League, including next week at Princeton. URI remains in the hunt for an FCS playoff berth and will visit New Hampshire, a proverbial graveyard for the Rams since a 10-7 win over the Wildcats in 1995. URI has lost its last 12 trips to Durham, including three of the last four by a field goal.

“It would be a lot more convenient to get it done a little earlier,” Fleming said. “But we’ll take them any way we can get them.”

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