
Football Tops No. 8/10 Rhode Island 28-21 in Historic Governor’s Cup
10/4/2025 12:11:00 AM | Football
It is the first win for the Bears in the Governor's Cup rivalry with URI since 2017, Brown's first win over a ranked opponent since 2009, and the first win over a nationally ranked top-10 opponent since they defeated URI in 1981.
The Bears defense forced four huge turnovers, including a game-sealing interception in the final minute by junior Miles Brophy, and senior Elias Archie had a hand in each of the other three with an interception to set up Brown's first touchdown, a forced fumble at the goal line, and a fumble recovery.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Rhode Island native Ty Pezza set a career-high with 93 receiving yards on eight catches and a touchdown.
- Junior quarterback James Murphy was 20-for-27 passing for 201 yards and two touchdowns.
- Sophomore running back Matt Childs ran for 64 yards on two carries and scored two touchdowns.
- Junior Jackson Bennett ran for a career-high 45 yards on seven carries.
- Junior Michael Nesbit added six catches for 52 yards.
- Senior Solomon Miller added a receiving touchdown.
- John Perdue and Brophy tied for a team-leading 8.0 tackles.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Brown started fast with a big interception by Archie deep in URI territory on Rhody's third play from scrimmage, returning it to the 10-yard line, which set up a six-yard scoring run by Childs at 13:11.
- After a personal foul penalty on Brown after a third down stop, Rhody tied the score on the next play with a six-yard touchdown pass at the 9:26 mark.
- Brown retook the lead 14-7 with a long 75-yard drive that featured a pair of fourth down conversions and ended with Pezza pulling in the ball over the defender in the back corner of the end zone for an 18-yard reception at 2:15. Pezza also had a key 16-yard catch on third down near midfield to extend the drive.
- The Rams tied it up with a seven-play, 74-yard drive, capped by a 30-yard pass from Devin Farrell to Omari Walker at 9:25.
- Brown answered back with an 11-play, 75-yard drive with another three-yard scoring run by Childs to take a 21-14 lead with 5:41 left until halftime. The drive was highlighted by a big 19-yard pass to Pezza that moved the ball to the three-yard line.
- Early in the third quarter, Archie forced a huge fumble at the one-yard line that rolled out of the end zone to take a touchdown off the board for URI for his second forced turnover of the night and preserved the seven-point Brown lead.
- The Bears stretched the lead to two touchdowns with an eight-yard pass from Murphy to Miller, who rolled to his right and patiently hit Miller inside the five, who weaved his way into the end zone for the score at 4:36 that made it 28-14, capping a 17-play, 80-yard drive in 7:11.
- After both teams exchanged missed field goals, Nevaeh Gattis forced a huge URI fumble near midfield, and Archie fell on it for Brown's third takeaway of the night with 10:29 to play.
- The Rams pulled within 28-21 with 4:11 to go on a two-yard pass, then forced a Brown punt with 1:55 to go that put the Rhody at its own 10.
- Rhody drove to midfield with just over 30 seconds left before Brophy jumped the route in the middle of the field around the 30-yard line to seal the win with his first career interception.
Up next, the Bears will travel to Bryant next Friday night, October 10 for another in-state showdown against the Bulldogs. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
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Team Stats

URI 0, BRW 7
BRW - Childs,Matt 6 yd run (Crabtree,Drew kick), 2 plays, 10 yards, TOP 00:30

URI 7, BRW 7
URI - Buchanan,Marquis 6 yd pass from Farrell,Devin (White,Garth kick) 8 plays, 59 yards, TOP 03:37

URI 7, BRW 14
BRW - Pezza,Ty 18 yd pass from Murphy,James (Crabtree,Drew kick) 15 plays, 75 yards, TOP 07:11

URI 14, BRW 14
URI - Walker,Omari 30 yd pass from Farrell,Devin (White,Garth kick) 7 plays, 74 yards, TOP 03:45

URI 14, BRW 21
BRW - Childs,Matt 3 yd run (Crabtree,Drew kick), 9 plays, 75 yards, TOP 03:44

URI 14, BRW 28
BRW - Miller,Solomon 8 yd pass from Murphy,James (Crabtree,Drew kick) 16 plays, 80 yards, TOP 07:11

URI 21, BRW 28
URI - Smith,Matt 2 yd pass from Farrell,Devin (White,Garth kick) 10 plays, 80 yards, TOP 03:57