104th edition of Rhode Island football rivalry is Saturday

URI and Brown football team captains pose with the “Governor’s Cup”, which will be contested Saturday at Brown Stadium. Brown and URI play for the cup for the 38th time, but it’s the 104th meeting of the two teams. Photo by Steve Klamkin WPRO News

By Steve Klamkin WPRO News

Two Rhode Island universities extend their long football rivalry on Saturday when Brown University and the University of Rhode Island play for the “Governor’s Cup”.

It will be the 104th meeting of the two teams, with Brown leading the series with 73 wins and two ties to URI’s 28 wins. However, the Governor’s Cup will be awarded for for the 38th time, and that series is a near-even 19-18 in favor of Brown.

In a State House ceremony Thursday, team captains posed for pictures with the cup, and the two coaches gave Gov. Gina Raimondo team shirts and other “swag”. She said she will be unable to attend Saturday’s game at Brown Stadium, which kicks off at 12:30 P.M. URI won the game last year, with a lopsided, 48-0 drubbing of Brown.

Raimondo, a college athlete who played rugby at both Harvard during her undergraduate years and while at Yale in law school offered some advice to the players.

“Win or lose on Saturday, just get out there and play your best and leave it all on the field,” Raimondo said. “By the way, you should do that every day. You should do that every day in practice, you should do that every game.”

Players took her words to heart.

“Football teaches you a lot of lessons from that,” said URI wide receiver and captain Aaron Parker. “Even like, us going through adversity right now, oh and four, you just, like she said, get up off the mat and just keep swinging,” said Parker, a senior from Maryland. Regarded as one of the best wideouts in the country, he is aiming for a career in the NFL.

Saturday’s game can be heard on our sister station, AM 790 WPRO, the pre-game show begins at 12:00 noon. 

Gov. Gina Raimondo is flanked by (from left) URI football coach Jim Fleming and Brown coach James Perry. Photo by Steve Klamkin WPRO News 

More from 630WPRO.COM