Fordham Football: 5 Stars of Week 2 Win over Rhode Island

The 1964 Fordham Rams brought football back to Rose Hill after the school decided to drop the sport a decade earlier.

This past Saturday, one day after that 1964 team was honored, the 2014 Rams brought football back in their own way.

After a jarring 50-6 defeat a week earlier at Villanova, Fordham pummeled Rhode Island 54-7 in front of 6,979 at Jack Coffey Field.

It was a day full of solid performances on both sides of the ball. Based on what they brought to the table during what head coach Joe Moorhead said was "a great practice week," and also considering what they contributed on the field in the Rams' second win of the season, here are Fordham's five stars of the game.

Everything the Rams do, from what they say to how they play, leads back to Moorhead. What you see on the field on a Saturday is a three- to four-hour glimpse of a much bigger picture, one that starts as soon as the last game ends.

That's why it was really no surprise to those who know this team best that the Rams rebounded from the Villanova loss the way they did. As I predicted, it started in the locker room immediately after the loss.

"Obviously, it got off the tracks a little bit last week," Moorhead said. "It was certainly a performance that was unacceptable on every level. It starts with me and carries down to the kids.

"We challenged them to hang their hat on the things that have made us very successful here in two-plus years—our preparation during the week, having a great practice week and understanding that little things play a part in it. That gives you the opportunity to come out on game day and give great effort and execute your scheme."

That's what the Rams did on Saturday. Moorhead admitted it wasn't perfect—14 penalties and three turnovers, for example—but they got the job done, officially putting last week's loss in the rearview mirror.

"It wasn’t clean by any stretch of the imagination, but they gave great effort during the week in practice, and we earned the right to come out here and have a chance to win," Moorhead said.

"We hit a little bit of adversity, and we fell back on our foundation and our habits," he added. "It was a great bounce-back win."

And a great credit to a coach who is responsible for that foundation.

In the opener, Chase Edmonds ran for 181 yards, the most ever by a Fordham freshman. Against Villanova, he ran for minus-five yards. In the third game of his college career, Edmonds broke the record he set two weeks earlier by running for 231 yards and four touchdowns.

Edmonds scored Fordham's first two touchdowns on runs of 16 and 10 yards, then scored on an 87-yard run on the Rams' second play from scrimmage in the third quarter. He added a 41-yard touchdown run on Fordham's next offensive possession.

When asked after the game what the team needed to improve, Edmonds said he'd like to see more of a "sense of urgency."

It wasn't about him—not the record he set or the fact that a guy barely out of high school finished a college football game with 267 all-purpose yards. It was about the Fordham Rams.

"We have to stay on track, stay focused and just keep pushing every practice, every day," Edmonds said.

Mike Nebrich's day got off to a bad start when he threw interceptions on Fordham's first two possessions.

However, he quickly put his early struggles behind him and ended up completing 22 of 38 passes for 331 yards and one touchdown. He connected with nine different receivers.

Not a bad day for sure, but when you have the type of season that Nebrich had last year, throwing for 4,380 yards and 35 touchdowns while completing 73.5 percent of your passes, you've set the bar pretty high.

Nebrich can play better. Just ask him.

"I think it’s a work in progress," Nebrich said about his performance. "I still need to be better. That second interception was a careless throw that I tried to squeeze in.

"I thought I threw the ball much better today, more accurately, but there’s always room for improvement. It’s a work in progress, but we’re getting there."

Nebrich will get there, too.

Credit has to go to the entire defensive unit for how well they played on Saturday. Jake Dixon had 11 tackles, DeAndre Slate had nine and Victor DiFusco and Austin Hancock each had eight. 

Fordham held Rhode Island to 287 total yards, and it wasn't until early in the fourth quarter that URI found the end zone.

But in a game full of big plays by the Fordham offense, Ian Williams made a couple of his own on defense. Williams, a senior co-captain, recovered a fumble in the end zone early in the third quarter to give Fordham a 31-0 lead. Then on Rhode Island's next possession he recorded a safety. Williams finished with seven tackles.

"We always want to play the best we can, individually and as a defense," Williams said. "We just have to keep it up.

"We have to continue to work."

Moorhead was impressed with what he saw from his defense, a unit that gave up 514 yards against Villanova.

"I knew our defense had this in them," he said. "I like our guys on the defensive side of the ball. Their energy level throughout the week was fantastic. You could tell they wanted to make a statement today. It was definitely a step in the right direction."

Fordham entered the season with aspirations of winning the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) title. Rhode Island entered the season in rebuilding mode.

The two programs may share the same nickname, but they're far apart in terms of talent and expectations. The Rhode Island Rams are just what the Fordham Rams needed.

This is not meant with any disrespect, but Fordham should beat Rhode Island. In fact, they should do exactly what they did on Saturday. Fordham finished with 654 total yards and broke the game open by scoring 30 points in the third quarter.

For the second time in two games, Fordham scored more than 50 points. The schedule will get tough, however. After playing at Columbia on Saturday, the Rams will start their Patriot League schedule before closing out the regular season at Army.

Win or lose, weak opponent or FCS contender, expect to see the same Fordham Rams.

"We come in, and whether it’s a win or a loss our Sunday meeting is the same," Moorhead said. "We address the things that happened in the game and talk about the things we need to do, to continue to do the good things or correct the bad things. The recipe doesn’t change."

Quotations in this article were obtained firsthand.

Charles Costello covers the Fordham Rams for Bleacher Report. A full archive of his articles can be found here. Follow him on Twitter: @CFCostello