Rhode Island Player Quotes
Carrier Dome, Syracuse, NY
Sophomore running back Jason Ham on why URI had offensive success in the first half:
"Our coaches talked to us before the game about coming out and matching Syracuse's intensity…matching their speed of play. There's a difference between I-A and I-AA. I thought we did a pretty good job of doing that in the first half."
"Once you make a mistake against a team like this, the scoreboard runs up on you."
Ham on his 103 rushing yards:
"That's a credit to the front line. They worked hard. If you saw some of those runs, it was wide open. I ran the ball, but I didn't get touched."
"The offensive line worked hard and got off the ball. They matched the intensity of Syracuse's defensive line."
Ham on the change of quarterbacks from the first to second half:
"Jayson is a playmaker. He is an athletic kid. We needed him in there."
"Jayson came in and adapted faster than anyone I have ever seen. He picked up our offense really quickly."
Sophomore offensive lineman Brandon Wenz:
"We came out with great enthusiasm to start the game. I think they were surprised with our style of offense…the way we fire off the ball and the way we get up the field."
Wenz on going up against SU's defensive line:
"To be honest, I didn't feel like they were all that much bigger than Hofstra's d-line last week."
QB Jayson Davis on the game:
"We had a chance – my injury definitely was turning point, I think. The coaches did a great job at making my reads easy. We weren't doing anything special – just running our basic plays."
(Davis said that he injured his shoulder at the end of the first half.)
DB Marc Zlotek on the game:
"The offense made money plays, and our defense couldn't come up with any. With our offense moving the ball, if we could have made a couple of stops, we could have won this game."
"Their offense outplayed us and outschemed us – and we just didn't play with enough heart."
