Fordham University Football is finding the first win of the season to be quite elusive.
A return to the friendly confines of Jack Coffey Field on the Rose Hill campus bred hope and excitement about a return to form in front of their loyal home fans. Instead, the Rams’ struggles continued, falling 27-21 to Stony Brook University in front of a packed Homecoming crowd.
While an 0-3 start to the 2024 season is worrying for a Fordham squad picked to finish third in the Patriot League preseason polls, the biggest potential loss had nothing to do with the final score. After junior CJ Montes exited early in the third quarter with an injury, the Rams now face major questions surrounding the status of their starting quarterback.
Coming off a turnover-ridden 33-3 loss to Central Connecticut State University the previous week, Fordham would look to clean it up against a Stony Brook University team that they defeated 26-7 last season.
Stony Brook did a lot of losing last year, ending the season dead last in the CAA with an 0-10 record that led the Seawolves to fire their coach of 16 years, Chuck Priore. Now at the helm was the 31-year-old Billy Cosh, the second-youngest coach in all of Division 1 football.
Cosh’s work had already begun to bear fruit as Stony Brook defeated Stonehill College 37-10 in Week 2, the program’s first win in six hundred and seventy two calendar days. Now he was looking to stack wins against a Fordham team that had struggled out to gate, ranking second to last in the conference in scoring offense and defense while allowing the second-most sacks in all of FCS football.
Neither side came out firing to start with the two squads trading punts and the Fordham defense picking up their first sack of the season thanks to a blitz from the secondary by junior Alex Kemper.
The Rams got on the board first with an 11-yard Montes rushing touchdown, keeping it himself on a read option to excite the crowd and give Fordham a 7-0 lead with two minutes left in the first quarter.
Stony Brook responded quickly, taking a 10-7 lead with just under 10 minutes left in the half.
The Fordham offense struggled following the Montes touchdown, unable to pick up a single first down on the next two drives. But in a game-defining trend last Saturday, the defense was ready to pick them up.
With backup quarterback Tyler Knoop entering the game after some early struggles from Marshall, senior defensive end Matt Jaworski batted up his third down pass. It landed in the arms of junior lineman Peter Chaloub, who took it six yards to the house for a pick six and the first touchdown of his collegiate career.
Marshall re-entered and, with help from a 29-yard, one-handed catch from junior Dez Williams, took the Seawolves all the way down the field, capping off the drive by handing it off to senior Roland Dempster for a 1-yard touchdown that put Stony Brook back on top 17-14 inside two minutes.
Getting the ball back, the Rams elected to go for it on fourth-and-8 with 46 seconds left from the Stony Brook 41, but the Seawolves sacked Montes for the fourth time that half. Marshall then orchestrated yet another drive inside the red zone, setting up a 32-year field goal for junior Enda Kirby. Fortunately for the Rams, Kirby’s kick rattled off the upright and bounced out, keeping the deficit at three going into half.
The Rams returned from halftime looking for a more inspiring effort from their offense. But on just their second snap of the third quarter, Montes was sacked for the fifth time — and this one proved to be costly.
Montes would stay on the ground and had to be helped off the field with an apparent lower-body injury. He headed into the injury tent and did not return for the remainder of the game.
Unable to convert on third down, Fordham punted two snaps later, again putting the pressure back on their defense. Once again, they were up for the task.
Kemper continued a phenomenal day, intercepting Marshall and returning it 55 yards to the house, the second pick six of the day for the Rams. Kemper’s second career touchdown gave Fordham a 21-17 lead, one they took into the fourth quarter.
But they wouldn’t be able to keep it. Stony Brook sophomore Brandon Boria rushed for a 6-yard score that gave the Seawolves a 24-21 lead early in the fourth.
Both sides traded three and outs before junior Jack Capaldi, now in as quarterback for the injured Montes, threw his first career interception, setting up a 40-yard field goal for Kirby.
Now the Rams needed a touchdown. And they’d get awfully close.
A 41-yard grab by sophomore wide receiver KJ Reed brought Fordham inside the red zone. A defensive pass interference on the following play moved them all the way inside the five. And on what looked to be his iconic homecoming moment, senior running back Julius Loughridge punched in a 4-yard touchdown, surpassing 100 yards on the day.
But both the touchdown and the yards were negated by a holding penalty, moving the Rams back to the 14. Two plays later, Capaldi tried to loft a pass down the middle for a wide-open Loughridge, who looked poised, once again, to score the game-tying touchdown.
Instead, senior linebacker AJ Roberts leapt into the air and batted up Capaldi’s throw, which fell into the hands of defensive lineman Rushawn Lawrence.
Capaldi’s second interception of the day ended up being the backbreaker. The defense forced a punt, but Capaldi was unable to connect on a few open deep looks, and the Rams turned it over on downs. Stony Brook ran out the clock and sealed a 27-21 victory.
Fordham falls to 0-3, one of 20 schools in the FCS still winless through Week 3 of the college football slate. To put it bluntly, they’ll find it hard to win games if they can’t find a solution to their offensive woes.
After allowing seven sacks against Stony Brook, the Rams have now allowed a mind-boggling 21 sacks through three games. It’s tied with Austin Peay University for the most in all of D1 football. No other programs have allowed more than 14.
To put that into perspective, Fordham allowed 29 sacks in 12 games last season, a mark that was second-worst in the Patriot League. In 2022, they led the Patriot League with the fewest sacks allowed, surrendering only 20.
The Rams have developed a reputation for boasting a high-powered offense, predicated on a high-tempo, vertical attack. But as of right now, they’re averaging just 13.7 points per game (101 out of 115 FCS teams) and 161.7 passing yards per game.
Keep in mind that just last season, Fordham finished with the 12th-best passing offense in the entire FCS, thanks to a Patriot League-leading 3,000 passing yards and 26 touchdown passes from Montes. Even despite his early struggles, if Montes misses any amount of time, it’s a devastating blow to an offense that hasn’t found its footing.
On a positive note, Fordham’s defense deserves endless praise for their valiant effort in the homecoming loss. The offensive struggles left the defense out there for a whopping 36 minutes and 12 seconds, compared to the Rams’ 23:48, but nonetheless, they came up with countless third down and fourth down stops while accounting for all of Fordham’s scoring after the first quarter.
In a delightful turn, Kemper is playing some of the best football of his career. The junior missed all of last season with an injury but has returned to the field this year and looks better than ever. On top of his pick-six, Kemper recorded seven tackles, two for loss, a sack and two pass breakups.
Graduate student linebacker Mike Courtney recorded a game-high 12 tackles while sophomore John Scott III recorded the first sack of his collegiate career.
Jaworski may still be searching for his first sack of the season after being named the Patriot League Preseason Defensive Player of the Year in August, but he’s having no trouble getting to the quarterback. The senior recorded a career-high six quarterback hurries against Stony Brook. He leads the Patriot League with 12 — no other defender has more than four.
Loughridge was unable to reach 100-plus rushing yards for a third consecutive day, falling just short at 99. However, he’s still the Patriot League’s leading rusher with 338 yards and 112.7 per game, the only running back in the conference averaging over 100.
Fordham is back on the road next Saturday, Sept. 21 for a battle in the Ivy League with Dartmouth College. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. as the Rams look to avoid falling to 0-4.
