URI quarterback Derek Cassidy threw five touchdown passes against Brown last Saturday.

The journal / Gretchen Ertl

Coach Darren Rizzi and Derek Cassidy were driving to Boston Wednesday morning so Cassidy could pick up the New England Football Writers Gold Helmet Award for his performance in the University of Rhode Island’s 37-13 victory over Brown last week. He had been named the Colonial Athletic Association offensive player of the week on Monday.

Cassidy, an option quarterback the last two years, was amazed that he had thrown five touchdown passes against the Bears, an accomplishment exceeded at URI only by Hall of Famer Tom Ehrhardt, who threw eight TD passes against Connecticut in 1985.

“Coach,” he said at one point, “I threw five touchdown passes all last year, and I equaled that in one game.”

The pass is back at URI, as Rizzi promised when he got the job last December, but the surprise is the passer. Cassidy, an adept runner, had to prove he could throw the ball well, often and better than D.J. Stefkovich, a junior who passed for 4,200 yards and 52 touchdowns in high school.

So far, Cassidy has exceeded all expectations.

He passed for 298 yards against Brown, giving him 1,628 this season, the most in the Colonial Athletic Association. He leads with 11 TD passes.

“I never thought Derek would pick it up that fast. Each week he is getting a little better,” Rizzi said yesterday.

Cassidy is getting better at spotting his second and third options, and 11 different Rams have caught at least one pass. Eight were on the receiving end against Brown. Freshman Brandon Johnson-Farrell leads the list with 34 receptions. Joe Bellini of Burrillville has 26 catches, Jimmy Hughes 23, Shawn Leonard 19 and Tolbert Evans of Wakefield 15.

“Our receiving corps has turned out to be a strength of the team, and I never would have guessed that. Leonard, Bellini, Johnson-Farrell, they are getting more comfortable, and Derek is getting more comfortable with them. And Hughes can take a five-yard dump pass and turn it into a 70-yard touchdown,” Rizzi said.

Cassidy and the Rams (2-4, 0-2) will take their aerial show on the road for a 3 p.m. date with Towson (2-4, 0-2) tomorrow, a perfect opportunity to capitalize on the momentum they generated in their Governor’s Cup triumph. Towson is coming off a 35-17 loss to Northeastern. URI has a good chance to win this game, but Rizzi is wary because Rhody has been one of the worst road teams in the CAA for five or six years, and has been shut out at Fordham and Boston College this year.

“Our battle cry this week is we have to win a conference game on the road,” Rizzi said.

•While the Rams are battling in Maryland, Brown (2-1) will be at Holy Cross (1-2) in Worcester looking for its offense. Many observers expected the Bears (2-1) to field one of the best offensive units in the Ivy League, but it hasn’t happened since the first quarter of the season-opener against Stony Brook, when Brown scored on its first two possessions, amassed 157 yards and set up its third consecutive score on the second play of the second quarter.

The Bears did score 24 points against a good Harvard defense, but slumped to 13 at URI.

Brown is tied with Penn for sixth in the Ivy League in scoring (18 ppg), is seventh in total offense (311 ypg) and rushing offense (85.3), is tied with Columbia for seventh in passing offense (225.7) and is last in first downs (48).

The Bears have two of the top three receivers in the league in Buddy Farnham (25-273) and Bobby Sewall (24-290), but they have caught only three touchdown passes between them. They have scored two of Brown’s four rushing TDs.

Brown’s defense, fifth in the league overall (314 ypg) but last against the pass (244), misses cornerback Darrell Harrison, a senior who is recovering from a torn ACL suffered in the preseason scrimmage against Columbia. He has eschewed surgery in the hope that rest will heal the injury.

He would like to play this season because a year from now he could be working for J.P. Morgan Chase Manhattan in New York.

•Bryant (3-2) returns from an open date and will visit Marist (1-5), a future Northeast Conference opponent. The Bulldogs defeated Wagner two weeks ago for their first win over a Division I opponent. Marist lost a 21-17 heartbreaker to Bucknell last week on a touchdown with 1:03 to play. Bryant’s Jerell Smith is rushing for 123.2 yards per game, and quarterback Jay Graber is completing 55.2 percent of his passes.

•In Division III, Salve Regina (2-2, 1-1) will host Nichols (2-3, 0-2) while UMass-Dartmouth (3-2, 1-1) visits Western New England (0-5, 0-2). UMD’s J.T. Harold won the Division II/III Gold Helmet Award for his 187-yard, four-touchdown performance in the Corsairs’ 51-20 victory over MIT.

mszostak@projo.com