To commemorate the 10th anniversary of UMass' Division I-AA
Championship in 1998, I'm rerunning the game story from each game from
that season in its corresponding week this year. I'll add some
commentary on the old articles in in italics. 

Samuel, defense work a miracle

KINGSTON, R.I. - Rhode Island quarterback Jeff Weaver didn't see University of Massachusetts linebacker Khari Samuel moving over into pass coverage until the ball was out of his hand.

The ball bounced off Samuel's gloves to his chest before nestling firmly back in his hands, and he was off to the races. Before Samuel even completed his untouched 20-yard run into the endzone, Ram fans were already headed for the exits.

The touchdown capped another come-from-behind win for the No. 12 Minutemen, who left the Ocean State on the winning end of a 23-13 football game.

"When I wear gloves, I can't catch," Samuel said. "I just had to stop it first and juggle it. I caught it and I tried to run the best I could. Just lucky I guess."

The Minuteman victory, coupled with Connecticut's 59-17 loss to Delaware, puts the Minutemen (7-2, 5-1) alone atop the Atlantic 10's New England Division, and in the driver's seat to win the league title with just two games remaining. A league title would bring an automatic bid to the NCAA Division 1-AA playoffs.

Richmond, which leads the Mid-Atlantic Division, has the same conference record as UMass, but if both teams win their last two games, the Minutemen own the tie-breaker, because they beat the Spiders 22-17 on Sept. 12.

"I thought our defense played outstanding," Whipple said. "I thought it was very apropos for Khari to pick the last pass off and kind of ice the game that way."

Samuel, who was named the Atlantic 10's Defensive Player of the Week, also broke the UMass record for solo tackles with 269 for his career.

"We have confidence in ourselves," Samuel said. "We knew if we just kept plugging and believing in each other and the things we were running that things would come out for the best."

The Minutemen won despite a tough afternoon for quarterback Todd Bankhead, who threw four interceptions and was sacked five times. It also marked the second straight game in which he did not throw a touchdown pass.

"Todd obviously struggled," Whipple said. "He threw the ball all right but just made four bad decisions, just bad reads."

While Bankhead struggled, sophomore tailback Marcel Shipp continued his string of brilliance. After being held to just 60 yards in UMass' scoreless first half, Shipp carried the Minutemen on his back for 109 yards after intermission to finish with 169, his seventh consecutive game with more than 100 yards.

Shipp needs only 184 yards in his final two games to tie the UMass single season rushing mark of 1,631 set by Garry Pearson in 1982.

The game adhered perfectly to the URI game plan in the first half. The Rams kept pressure on Bankhead, sacking him twice and forcing him into two interceptions; more important, they never let the UMass offense deliver a big play.

On offense the hosts controlled the clock in the first half, riding James Jenkins for 98 yards and a touchdown.

Both teams missed field goals in the first quarter, leaving the game scoreless after the first 15 minutes. Rhody kicker Matt Walker put the Rams ahead with a 26-yard field goal midway through the second quarter and URI extended the lead to 10-0 at halftime on a 55-yard TD sprint up the middle by Jenkins.

The second half didn't offer much promise early for the Minutemen. Their first drive ended on a Bankhead interception and their second sputtered before punter Andy Maclay booted the ball away.

Over the course of the game the Rams were flagged three times for 15-yard personal foul penalties, including one for extra-curricular saliva that got Ram lineman Miguel Viera ejected in the game's closing minutes.

Their second personal foul turned a 12-yard run by Shipp into a 27-yard gain, giving the Minutemen the ball at the URI 24. Two runs and one reception by Matt Jordan moved the Minutemen to the 4-yard-line, where Bankhead ran a naked bootleg into the endzone. Jason Cherry missed the point-after, leaving the Rams ahead 10-6.

After Matt Walker missed a 36-yard field goal, Bankhead let him off the hook. Ron Iannotti picked off the UMass QB's next pass and returned it to the UMass 16. The Minutemen defense held, however, forcing the Rams to settle for a 27-yard field goal.

Freshman Adrian Zullo grabbed the momentum back for UMass. Taking the kickoff at his own 1-yard line, the speedster raced up the right sideline before being knocked out of bounds 58 yards later at the Rhode Island 41.

Shipp took it from there, gaining 34 of the necessary yards himself on three carries, including a 15-yarder that tied the game, 13-13.

The Minutemen defense held again, forcing the Rams to punt four plays later. With Bankhead directing his best drive of the day, the Minutemen moved the ball to the URI 8-yard line, where Cherry chipped home a 26-yard field goal that put UMass ahead to stay, 16-13.

"I was really proud of the way Jason stepped up on the field goal and really drilled it," Whipple said.

...10 years since that day...