Rhode Island: “Solid Win”
Following its upset of then-No.1 Villanova, the No. 4 Tribe (5-1, 3-1 CAA) did not disappoint in its next game over fall break. The College outplayed Rhode Island en route to a 26-7 victory.
“It was a good solid win for us,” Head Coach Jimmye Laycock ’70 said. “We got some other guys involved in our offense with Courtland [Marriner] and Terrence [Riggins] running the ball.”
Marriner and Riggins had identical numbers, as both backs had ten carries and one touchdown apiece. Although he did not reach the endzone against the Rams, starting tailback Jonathan Grimes’ 85-yard rushing performance helped him set the school’s all-purpose yardage record with 4,658.
Nevertheless, the Tribe was not mistake-free. The offense stalled early and redshirt freshman kicker Drake Kuhn missed three of his five field goal attempts.
“I thought we played very hard, and pretty well,” Laycock said. “Not as well as we had played the week before, but pretty well.”
Bye Week
Coaches and players alike used last week to take a little bit of time to regroup and re-energize during the bye week.
“It couldn’t have come at any better time,” sophomore linebacker Jabrel Mines said. “It really has given us the opportunity to get real healthy for the big game we are about to have.”
Laycock, however, emphasized that although the Tribe did not take the field on Saturday, it was not considered an off-week. The team held three practices — one in shorts and two in pads. Goals included giving more reps to players that haven’t seen much action, while letting the overworked players heal.
“Some guys, we wanted to get their legs back under them — give them some time where they could get a little bounce back in their legs,” Laycock said.
Next Up: Delaware
Saturday, the Tribe will face No. 2 Delaware in what promises to be an exciting homecoming matchup. The College has won the past two meetings between the two squads, but the Blue Hens lead the all-time series 20-14.
“We’ve had some great, great games in the past with Delaware, it’s a great tradition,” Laycock said. “It’s a great rivalry.”
Delaware’s success this season could stem from the fact that the team returns a number of role player’s from last year’s team. Along with NFL-caliber quarterback Pat Devlin, the Blue Hens have knocked down notable CAA powers Richmond and James Madison this season, amassing a perfect 4-0 record in the conference, and a 7-0 record overall.
Laycock hopes that the extra rest and practice the Tribe obtained during its off week will propel it to a victory against the Blue Hens.
“Hopefully we’ll play a little bit better and hopefully we’ll have a little more depth in our lineup than we’ve had the last few weeks,” Laycock said.
Mines agreed, and looks forward to the intensity of the game.
“This is probably going to be one of the biggest games crowd-wise and everything of the season,” Mines said. “If you’re not ready for this one, I don’t know why you play football.”
