Monmouth football: No. 14 Rhode Island looms as daunting test, great opportunity for Hawks

Rhode Island is embracing the “Beast of the East” moniker, with wins over Maine, New Hampshire, Brown and Holy Cross so far. The Rams, winners of six straight, sit tied atop the CAA standings, while ranking in the top-15 of both major FCS polls with a 7-1 record.

And Meade Stadium in Kingston, Rhode Island will have a sellout crowd of 6,600 on hand Saturday afternoon to greet Monmouth.

That’s the thing about the CAA. With each disappointment, and Saturday’s home loss to Towson was just that, comes an opportunity.

A daunting one for Monmouth (4-4, 2-2 CAA), but an opportunity nonetheless as the Hawks enter a four-game season-ending stretch that continues on the road at New Hampshire, at home against No. 13 Villanova, before closing the regular season at No. 20 Stony Brook.

Opportunities, for sure. The question is whether the Hawks can take advantage.

“Our early season schedule, while it was very difficult, especially those first three games, it has prepared them in a great way for conference play,” said Monmouth head coach Kevin Callahan.

More: Monmouth football falls to Towson, 26-14, as coaching decision backfires in fourth quarter

Monmouth’s best has been pretty good this season. There was the program’s first-ever win over an FBS program, taking down FIU in Miami. Dominating wins against Maine and Bryant, along with a 63-point outburst against Fordham, showed the full scope of the Hawks’ high-powered offense, ranked No. 2 nationally.

Derek Robertson, who lost to Rhode Island as Maine’s quarterback last season, is ranked No. 1 nationally in average passing yards-per-game at 322.4, having energized the Monmouth aerial attack.

“He has been very successful at both spots, and he has some great tools to work with at Monmouth,” said Rhode Island coach Jim Fleming. “I think their receivers are some of the best. They catch it, they run it, they have a big back, their numbers are staggering.”

But Towson exposed some weaknesses in a 26-14 win, making the Hawks’ offense one-dimensional by shutting down the running game, while methodically scoring on three straight possessions to open the second half before running the final six minutes off the clock.

The Rams, whose only loss came in Week 2 at Minnesota, have only beaten one team by more than two touchdowns during their current winning streak, which includes a double-overtime win at Hampton.  

“They’re a veteran team, they’re experienced, they’re talented and they obviously know how to win tight games,” Callahan said. “You look at each of the games they’ve played, they’re not running away from people. They know how to play it tight to the vest and then pull it out at the end. We know we’ll have our work cut out for us with what looks like the best team we’ve played all year.

“They do a great job of limiting explosive plays, and they’re holding their opponents to three scores a game. They have not given up a lot of points. The other thing that jumps out is they are an excellent second half team. They have a tremendous advantage in the third and fourth quarter in games.”