Rhode Island Scores 28 in the Fourth, Beats Elon 31-10
Rhode Island scored 28 points in the fourth quarter. Before that, the game was 3-3. Final: 31-10, and the 21-point margin was built entirely in the last 15 minutes.
Elon got on the board first with a 46-yard Luke Barnes field goal late in the second quarter, and Josh Hamel answered from 51 yards midway through the third. That was it for the first three quarters, a tie game at 3-3 with no touchdowns on either side. Then Terrence Campbell ran it in from a yard out with 10:50 left, Tyler Budge found Marquis Buchanan from 7 yards out at 5:51, and 33 seconds later Mitchell Garner returned an interception 30 yards for a touchdown. Three scores in just over five minutes and it was 24-3.
The pick-six was one of four Elon interceptions, and Elon also lost a fumble, five giveaways against one for Rhode Island. That matters because Elon ran 41 times for 123 yards and was not far behind in total yards, 306 to 286. Take the Garner return off the board and Rhode Island still wins 24-10, so the pick-six is not the whole story. Elon did cut it to 24-10 on a 35-yard TJ Crews IV pass to Zimere Winston with 3:53 left, but Budge hit Aboraa Kwarteng from 3 yards with 0:55 to go to put a bow on it.
Rhode Island is 2-0 and Elon is 1-1. The Rams defense also sacked Elon four times.
For fantasy, Budge led all scorers at 22.5, Kwarteng had his best game of the year at 15.7, and Elon's Kamerin McDowell-Moore carried 23 times for 117 yards in a losing cause.