By Jack McLoone
It looked like Fordham Football’s matchup against #12 Eastern Washington was going to be a tight one after the first quarter. It ended in a much more lopsided affair, with the Eagles running away with it, 56-21.
“Just like [the team is], I’m disappointed. Losing is not fun, losing is not acceptable,” said head coach Andrew Breiner. “I told them that–for the most part–I was proud of the way they fought.”
The big story coming into the game was the absence of senior running back Chase Edmonds. He sprained his ankle late in the first half against Central Connecticut State University and was not ready to go for this one.
Along with the injury to Edmonds, there have been multiple injuries on the offensive line along with backup running back, senior Jarred Brevard, last game.
“Obviously we’re dealing with some adversity right now,” said Breiner. “But this football team is going to fight through that adversity.”
Adding to the already depleted Fordham roster, the weather was a hindrance as well. It was a hot one, topping out around 80 degrees and humid. The Rams had multiple players leave with cramps, but Breiner would not use that as an excuse considering the heat affected Eastern Washington as well.
Both teams traded ineffective drives for the first part of the quarter, including an Eastern Washington fumble that was recovered by Fordham sophomore defensive back Jesse Bramble.
EWU broke onto the scoreboard first when quarterback Gage Gubrud scrambled his way into the end zone for six at the 4:52 mark. While there were plenty of NFL scouts on hand to see Edmonds, Gubrud, who set an FCS record for passing yards last season with 5,160 yards, was worth seeing in his own right. And they saw a lot of him, as he finished with 399 yards and three touchdowns on 29-41 passing. He also had two interceptions.
“When you’re playing a quarterback like that, you have to be exact,” said Breiner. “Because if anything is out of place, if you’re wrong by a foot, they’re gonna make you pay for it.”
The Rams answered back late in the quarter. After an interception by junior safety Antonio Jackson, graduate student quarterback Kevin Anderson hit junior wideout Jonathan Lumley for 19- and 43-yard receptions. They capped off the drive on a 5-yard touchdown reception by junior receiver Corey Caddle.
From that point on, it got out of hand in a hurry. The Eagles ripped off 28 unanswered points before the Rams scored another touchdown in the middle of the third quarter. Fordham really struggled on offense in the second quarter. It had -3 yards of offense in the quarter, thanks in large part to Anderson taking three huge sacks, losing 22 yards in that quarter alone.
After the Rams scored to make it 35-14 halfway through the third, the Eagles answered right back. A 38-yard completion from Gubrud put the Eagles deep in Fordham territory immediately, and then Antoine Custer went up the middle basically untouched for a 22-yard touchdown.
The Rams struggled on offense all game, with Anderson getting hit for 10 sacks. There was one drive in the middle of the third quarter where he was sacked on all three plays. The drive started on the 25-yard line and ended with a punt from the one.
According to Breiner, the Rams simply did not block well enough to protect their quarterback.
Fordham scored one more time, early in the fourth quarter. Anderson dropped a beautiful ball into the corner of the end zone for Caddle to make it 42-21.
On the next Eastern Washington drive, with 14:06 left in the fourth quarter, Bramble recovered his second fumble of the day, giving Fordham a chance. That drive ended in a failed fourth-and-8 conversion. The Eagles scored twice more before the game ended.
Anderson finished 17-28 for just 191 yards, but had two touchdowns. Lumley had eight catches for 119 yards, while Caddle had five for 50 and two touchdowns.
On the ground, sophomore D’Angeleo Palladino had 62 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries in his first game back from injury. And in his first career start, freshman Zach Davis had 50 yards on 17 carries. Since the NCAA counts sacks against rushing yardage, Anderson ended with -80 rushing yards.
The Rams forced five turnovers on the day. Besides Bramble’s two fumble recoveries, Jackson ended up with two interceptions, while freshman defensive lineman Deandre Carter also came down with one.
“I think we, at times, played really, really well on the defensive side of the ball,” said Breiner. “I thought that it was positive to see Jonathan Lumley go make some plays. There’ll be positives. There are always positives and we’ll build off of those and we’ll learn from the things that didn’t go well.”
The Rams are in similar territory to where they were following the Army loss: In need of a win on the road following a big loss to a highly-touted program. They will be at Bryant University next Saturday, Sept. 23. Kickoff is at 1 p.m.
