New URI head coach Darren Rizzi takes a moment yesterday during his team’s season-opening victory over Monmouth.

The Providence Journal / Gretchen Ertl

SOUTH KINGSTOWN –– The University of Rhode Island football team has a new slogan.

New coach.

New look.

New era.

Will the results be the same?

First-year coach Darren Rizzi doesn’t think so. In fact, when he was hired in December, he vowed to return the Rams back to national prominence.

If his first game yesterday as Rhody’s head coach is an indication of things to come, URI fans are in for a treat, as Rizzi guided the Rams to a thrilling 27-24 triumph over Monmouth University.

“That was a big first game for me,” Rizzi said. “I’m very, very happy to get out of there with the results that we had. We tried to tell the guys all through camp not to be results-driven and I had to try to keep myself in that same state of mind all the way through the game. We have a sign in our locker room, right when you come in from the stadium, [that reads] ‘Live in the moment.’

“That’s really been our battle cry throughout camp and I think we were really the epitome of staying in the moment in the second half. The kids did a great job of believing that we were going to win the football game, doing their job. We call it the one-11th. I think that was the difference in the game.”

Of course, Monmouth isn’t a power in Division I-AA football, but the Rams are now 1-0 and the new-look, shotgun-spread offense that featured several four- and five-receiver sets looks like it’s going to be just as exciting as Rizzi predicted this season.

Derek Cassidy completed 18 of 31 passes for a career-high 257 yards and two touchdowns, and Shawn Leonard (6 catches, 80 yards, TD), Tolbert Evans (3 catches, 46 yards, 1 TD), and Joe Bellini (3 catches, 55 yards), were his favorite targets.

“I had a lot of fun out there today,” Cassidy said, and joked that it was the first game of his college career that his throwing shoulder was sore afterwards.

Rizzi hopes that yesterday’s victory will help change the perception of the Rams.

“I’ve been asked what I feel is the number one thing we need to do here at URI to turn this program around, and quite frankly, we need to change the culture,” Rizzi said in his inaugural press conference for the Rams. “The way we think, act, and perceive the program is going to change.

“The guys in our program right now, we are trying to get them to understand how good Rhode Island used to be in the early and mid-80s, and even when I played there (from 1988-1992) we had some success,” Rizzi said. “We cracked the top 20 a couple of times. We’re trying to get that pride back and I think it all starts with being accountable.”

Rizzi drove that issue home during spring camp and he gave all of his players blue bracelets with the words, “No Excuses” on them.

Rizzi believes that the spread offense will attract a lot of recruits, who in turn, will build a solid foundation for the team.

“The first thing we did, which was great, was we actually got a great recruiting class, probably the best recruiting class that Rhode Island has seen in a long, long time and I don’t think that’s going to change,” Rizzi said.

The better the recruits, the better the foundation will be, Rizzi said.

“We’re in the midst of building a program,” Rizzi said. “I’m not going to put all of our eggs in one basket for one year or anything like that. Once we build this program, we are going to build it on a great foundation so once we get to where we want to get to, we stay there and we are not a rollercoaster-type team. We are consistently doing well.”

URI played consistently well on offense, defense, and returning punts and kickoffs on special teams, but the Rhody kickoff unit gave up several big returns (Ayo Falae had 3 kickoff returns for 117 yards).

Rhody’s offense amassed 350 yards. Its defense, led by Matt Hansen’s career-high tying 10 tackles and one interception, intercepted two passes. And on special teams, red-shirt freshman Terence Glenn returned a kickoff 50 yards. Placekicker Louis Feinstein booted an impressive 47-yard field goal that gave URI a 17-3 lead at 9:42 of the second quarter.

Monmouth came roaring back in the second half and slashed URI’s lead to 20-17 after quarterback Brett Burke connected with Nick Romeo for a 13-yard touchdown with 5:35 remaining in the third quarter, but Cassidy answered for URI with 4:31 remaining in the game with a 22-yard touchdown pass thrown to Leonard.

Monmouth running back David Sinisi record 138 rushing yards and a touchdown.

“It’s great to get a win and be able to teach a whole lot of football from it,” Rizzi said. “We are going to see that all year because we have a young team.”

NOTE: URI senior All-American running back Joe Casey was taken off the field on a stretcher with 6:07 remaining in the first quarter after his leg collided with the helmet of a Monmouth defensive back during a 6-yard run that brought the ball down to the Hawks’ 13-yard line.

He was carted into an ambulance and taken to a South County Hospital for further treatment and Rizzi said after the game that he thinks Casey’s leg is fractured and will require surgery.

Casey had rushed the ball three times for 14 yards and he returned a kickoff for 7 yards before being injured.

Monmouth

3

0

14

7

—

24

Rhode Island

7

10

3

7

—

27

First Quarter

URI—Evans 26 pass from Cassidy (Feinstein kick), 10:20.

Monm—FG Weingart 44, 7:33.

Second Quarter

URI—Cassidy 3 run (Feinstein kick), 13:08.

URI—FG Feinstein 47, 9:42.

Third Quarter

Monm—Sinisi 11 run (Weingart kick), 13:39.

URI—FG Feinstein 27, 10:11.

Monm—Romeo 13 pass from B.Burke (Weingart kick), 5:35.

Fourth Quarter

URI—Leonard 22 pass from Cassidy (Feinstein kick), 4:31.

Monm—Yudin 14 pass from B.Burke (Weingart kick), 1:19.

A—3,220.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—Monmouth, Sinisi 21-138, Giles 6-9, B.Burke 4-0, Romeo 1-(minus 7). URI, Hughes 15-46, Lawrence 4-27, Casey 3-14, Cassidy 9-14, Johnson-Farrell 1-(minus 4),

PASSING—Monmouth, B.Burke 18-26-2-180. URI, Cassidy 18-31-0-257, Leonard 0-1-0-0.

RECEIVING—Monmouth, Nalbone 4-20, Dowens 3-30, Sinisi 3-29, Yudin 2-31, Giles 1-30, Romeo 1-13, Easley 1-10. URI, Leonard 6-80, Bellini 3-55, Evans 3-46, Bynum 3-8, Hughes 2-62, Johnson-Farrell 1-6.URI

27

Monmouth

24

Next Game

Saturday

At Fordham

6 p.m.

roblee@projo.com