Football Tops No. 8/10 Rhode Island 28-21 in Historic Governor’s Cup

Friday, October 3

Pawtucket, R.I.

7 p.m.

Brown University

2-1 , 0-1

Rhode Island

4-2 , 2-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Rhode Island

Brown

Photo by: Chip DeLorenzo

Football Tops No. 8/10 Rhode Island 28-21 in Historic Governor’s Cup

10/4/2025 12:11:00 AM | Football

Box Score Photo Gallery

PAWTUCKET, R.I. – The Brown football team earned a huge 28-21 win on Friday night over No. 8/10 Rhode Island to take home the Governor's Cup in the first-ever football game at the brand new Centreville Bank Stadium in Pawtucket.

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 22 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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