URI dominates Brown to reclaim Governor's Cup
KINGSTON — It’s hard to set firsts in a rivalry as long and storied as the one between URI and Brown football. The No. 17 Rams still somehow found a way to rewrite the record books on Saturday, taking the 103rd Governor’s Cup by a score of 48-0.
It is the first time the Rams have ever shut out the Bears, and the wide margin of victory beats out their previous-best by a full 20 points.
“Governor’s Cup is a significant game, it’s a critical
rivalry,” URI head coach Jim Fleming said following his team’s fourth win of the year.
“We’ve had knockdown, drag outs with Brown before. [Coming into today] we had lost three out of four to them since we got here.
“I said last night to them, ‘what would JMU do to this team?’. I think they responded to that very well.”
The No. 2 James Madison Dukes likely would have had similar success against the now 1-3 Bears.
URI quarterback Vito Priore threw for 310 yards and four touchdowns filling in for the injured JaJuan Lawson. As a team, the Rams outgained Brown, 580-127.
“Vito is a guy who came here as a partial-scholarship player,” Fleming said.
“He earned himself a full scholarship and then he battled his tail off to be able to earn the second-team spot. There was never a conversation about who was going to start the game in the absence of JaJuan. It was Vito.”
“The emotions were high, but I was prepared,” Priore said. “
We knew the looks we were going to get and we have really good receivers. Those guys got open and they made it easy on me today.”
Early on in the win, the Rams opted to play it safe on offense, handing the ball off and only asking Priore to throw short screen passes. The training wheels quickly came off however, and the sophomore responded by slinging touchdown passes to three different wideouts.
He threw the first two touchdowns of his career to cousins Aaron Parker and Isaiah Coulter in the second quarter.
His second connection in the end zone with Parker gave the senior receiver his first-ever multiple TD game.
“I couldn’t be happier for Vito,” Fleming said. “I don’t know how he comes in as cool as he does, I would’ve been making diamonds. He came and balled out.”
“I’ve always been of the mindset that when you prepare for something, you don’t get nervous,” said the stoic Priore.
“I was prepared and I wasn’t nervous at all.”
The Ram defense was equally as dominant in the lopsided win. Cumberland High grad Andre Bibeault led the way with a pair of sacks; a breakthrough performance for the sophomore who was playing in front of a very friendly home crowd.
“I think there definitely is,” something extra to the game against Brown, he said. “I had 30 or 40 members of my family here. I wanted to prepare harder than ever this week.
“I couldn’t have done it without playing next to [L.B.] Mack, [Brandon] Ginnetti and all those guys. I’m glad they played the way they did because it opened up stuff for everyone else.”
The Rhody defense compiled seven total sacks against the Bears, who looked hapless at every turn. Mack and Ginnetti both had a single sack, while Nas Jones was the leading tackler with seven stops.
A non-conference win over a struggling Brown University football team isn’t going to move the needle on a national level, but for the coaches and players, a win over their main in-state rival is as personal and important as it gets.
“There’s something we play for,” Fleming said of the Governor's Cup. “It’s the public school versus the private. It’s Providence versus South County. It’s all the internal things that happen within this state.”
“It’s a great feeling,” added Cranston East grad Marven Beauvais, who had nine catches for 105 yards and a touchdown.
“You look up in the crowd and you see family, friends. Everybody you know is coming out to support you against another Rhode Island team.”
“This is a quality football program,” Fleming said.
“One that is worthy of every bit of investment. We carry the anchor for a reason. It’s for this state.
“It’s not Brown, it’s not PC, we are the University of Rhode Island.”
Priore’s tremendous debut start brought the Governor’s Cup back to Kingston, and it looks like the Rams might have to lean on the youngster for a few more clutch performances.
“JaJuan, we knew it was a significant problem after we had the MRI last Saturday,” Fleming said.
“We’re hoping for a speedy recovery. I wasn’t lying, but I wasn’t telling a great truth [when I said Lawson was day-to-day].”
The Rams face Maine next Saturday, marking the first time they’ve played at home in consecutive weeks this season. If Priore has to continue filling Lawson’s big shoes? No problem, says Beauvais.
“Me and Vito have been cool since we got here. We all know what Vito can do, we all know he can play. If he gets in, he’ll do the job.”