What a week for University of Rhode Island athletics. Victory for football and women’s and men’s soccer. Conference honors for outstanding performances. And a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a long-overdue outdoor track facility.
Go, Rhody!!
Let’s start last Saturday. Buoyed by a victory over Brown and a week off, the football team barreled down I-95 to New Haven for an afternoon at the historic Yale Bowl. The 61,446-seat Yale Bowl. The scene of countless renditions of Cole Porter’s 1913 hit “Bulldog,” as in “Bulldog! Bulldog! Bow, wow, wow, Eli Yale . . . our team can never fail.”
URI Rams had never played Yale and were not intimidated by the No. 23-ranked Bulldogs or the ghosts of Eli heroes past. Boola boola? Not on this day. Rhode Island thrashed Yale, 41-23, with locals leading the way.
Third-year quarterback Alex McClelland from Barrington, making just his second start, completed 11 of 16 passes for 285 yards and four touchdowns. He led the Rhody running game with 92 yards and earned Coastal Athletic Association offensive player of the week honors.
“That’s a great tribute to him. I thought well deserved, well earned,” Jim Fleming said on the CAA weekly coaches conference call.
A Rhode Islander starting at quarterback for the Rams is unusual. The last was Bob Bentsen, a second-team All-State QB from Warwick Vets. He started 25 games at URI from 2011 to 2013 and finished fourth in program history with 4,359 yards and 25 touchdowns.
Before Bentsen, Steve Holland, a 1987 All-Stater from Narragansett, led the team. He called signals during the lean seasons of 1991 and 1992.
This year, McClelland was third on the depth chart behind returning starter Devin Farrell and backup Tyler Budge in training camp. He had redshirted in 2024 and appeared in five games in 2025. URI shared the CAA championship in 2024 and won it outright last season.
McClelland moved up when Farrell continued his slow recovery from off-season foot surgery and Budge started. He took over in the Brown game after Budge struggled with turnovers. The Rams beat Brown, 13-10.
“It’s been an interesting process for our quarterback situation, how it’s unfolded during the course of the year,” Fleming said. “Alex obviously has put together two good games back to back that we feel good about, and we’re looking forward to (seeing) him continue to improve.”
McClelland used the extra week of practice to work on passing.
“His emphasis during the course of the off week was we wanted to get better on the deep ball work and that worked out very very well with him. He dropped a couple of dimes there, operated the offense and then to throw in (92) yards rushing doesn’t hurt,” Fleming said. “He was really a big problem for Yale’s defense and obviously led us to a victory. Coaches came up with good plans in terms of how to shake people free, but you got to be able to deliver the ball, and Mac did spectacular.”
McClelland completed a 58-yard touchdown pass to Jamall Mensah on URI’s fourth play from scrimmage. Later in the first quarter, he connected with Marquis Buchanan for a 79-yard catch-and-run touchdown. In the third quarter, he found Buchanan deep down the middle for a 37-yard score. And in the fourth, he launched a 35-yard beauty down the right side to Sean Byrd in the end zone for a touchdown.
“I was even surprised on the Byrd touchdown,” Fleming said. “Just came in and dropped it over his left shoulder and caught it one-handed. It was pretty impressive, but the ball was on the money. A lot of credit to the quarterback, the coaches and the pass game coordination. I thought that was excellent. . . . I couldn’t be more happy for (McClelland) and for us. Another Rhode Island kid made good.”
Other local heroes included Buchanan, the All-America wide receiver from Providence and Classical High, who caught seven passes for 193 yards, his career high, and the two touchdowns. On defense, senior defensive back Andre DePina-Gray made 10 tackles, and fellow senior linebacker Moses Meus made nine, one for a loss. They played together at St. Raphael Academy in Pawtucket. Defensive lineman Case Mankins from nearby North Attleboro, Mass., made seven stops.
McClelland is old school when it comes to college sports. He chose URI as a preferred walk-on — meaning Fleming wanted him but did not have a scholarship available — after leading Barrington High School to a state championship in 2023. He impressed enough with the scout team in 2024 to receive a full ride at the end of that season. He did not leap through the transfer portal for a chance to play elsewhere.
“It was definitely my first major goal to earn a scholarship,” he told Josh Bickford of the Barrington Times in December 2024. “That’s a sign that they trust you, that you can be a helping hand to the program. . . I didn’t start as a freshman, but I never let it stop me. I never let it change my work ethic. As a matter of fact, it probably made me work harder.”
McClelland and the Rams (4-3, 1-2) will play Albany (4-3, 2-1) Saturday at noon at Centreville Bank Stadium in Pawtucket.
Soccer
Women’s soccer first-year Molly Merkel is the Atlantic-10 rookie of the week. She scored twice in her first career multi-goal game in the 4-1 win over St. Joseph’s last Saturday, Rhody’s fifth win in its last six games. URI (7-4-4, 5-1-1) play at George Mason (8-4-3, 4-2-1) Thursday night.
The URI men clinched an Atlantic-10 playoff berth with their 5-0 shutout of La Salle last Saturday night. They are 7-8-0, 5-2-0 after losing to Dayton, 3-2, Wednesday night.
Track and Field
The final URI headline of the week was the opening of the new, long-overdue outdoor track. University dignitaries attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday morning.
Track and field is URI's most successful athletics program, but runners and jumpers haven't had a home meet in 31 years because of poor track conditions. The last meet was the URI Invitational on April 1, 1995. The next meet will be the Ocean State Cup for all Rhode Island colleges on April 3, 2027.
The new track features nine lanes; a grass infield; runways and pits for jumps and pole vault; throwing areas; a digital scoreboard; bleacher seating for 200 spectators; and a press box.
The track is unnamed, so here’s a suggestion for President Marc Parlange and Athletics Director Pat Lyons: The John Copeland/Laurie Feit-Melnick Track and Field Complex.
This is a no-brainer.
Copeland coached track at URI for 39 years (1982-2021). His teams won 25 A-10 titles, and he was named Coach of the Year 22 times.
Feit-Melnick is in her 35th year as coach of the URI women. Her teams have won nine A-10 titles, and she has earned nine coach-of-the-year awards.
The new track took a year to build. Funding came from a $65.8 million state allocation in 2024 specifically for improvements to athletics facilities at URI. Completed projects include the resurfacing of Bill Beck Field (baseball) and Tootell Aquatics Center. The East Grandstand replacement at Meade Stadium began after the 2025 season and should be finished for the 2027 season.
“This facility is one of the finest in the Northeast and beyond and is the result of the collaboration of President Parlange, Governor McKee, former AD Thorr Bjorn, design firm CHA, DiGregorio Construction and URI's Capital Programs Design and Delivery Team,” Feit-Melnick wrote in an email.
“This is not just a tremendous addition to our current and future athletes, but to the entire Athletic Department, the URI Community and the State of Rhode Island. We are so excited to host the first outdoor meet on April 3rd, 2027. In the near future, we look forward to hosting the A10 Outdoor Championships, the Rhode Island Interscholastic League state meet, and the Rhode Island Special Olympics in addition to camps and clinics,” she wrote.
Bryant football is winning again
Bryant may be the biggest surprise in CAA football after two poor seasons. The Bulldogs (5-2, 3-0) are tied for second in the league. They have won four of their last five games and will play Stony Brook (4-3, 2-1) Saturday at 2 in Smithfield. Bryant beat Maine, 17-14, last Saturday at Orono.
Linebacker Drake Lusk is the CAA co-defensive player of the week after 12 tackles against Maine. He had a strip sack and two fumble recoveries. He leads the Bryant defense with 60 tackles.
Brown is close
Brown (2-3, 0-2) will look for its first Ivy League win when Cornell (3-2, 1-1) comes to town Saturday for a noon kickoff. The Bears are 13 points from an undefeated season. They lost to Harvard by four, URI by three and Princeton by six. Except for their 28-13 victory over Bryant, they have struggled to score.
