THE BASICS
No. 21/23 Rhode Island (0-0, 0-0 CAA Football) at Georgia State (0-0, 0-0 Sun Belt)
Kickoff: Thursday, Aug. 31, 7 p.m. EST
Live Stats | Audio: Varsity Network | Video: ESPN+ | Game Notes
 

RHODE ISLAND VS. GEORGIA STATE - SERIES NOTES

• The season opener will be the second-ever meeting between Rhode Island and Georgia State.
• Both teams were members of CAA Football the last time they faced off, which happened in 2012 at Meade Stadium. 
• The Panthers scored at least one touchdown in all four quarters, claiming a 41-7 victory.
• The 2012 season was the only one in which Georgia State competed in the CAA, as the team moved to the Sun Belt Conference in 2013 and has remained in it since. 
• Center Parc Stadium has been the home of the Panthers since 2017. 
• Originally built for the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics, it was later converted to Turner Field and utilized by the Atlanta Braves before being purchase by Georgia State. 

2023 CAPTAINS

• The Rams announced last week that Sebastian Delasoudas, Evan Stewart, Brent Jackson and Lorenzo Thompson will serve as team captains for the 2023 season.
• Delasoudas earned the honor for the fourth-straight year, having first been selected as a redshirt sophomore in 2020.
• Stewart has been a top-two tackler for the team since 2021 and earned All-CAA Football Third Team honors a season ago.
• A key transfer from Bucknell, Jackson has been with the program since January and will look to make his mark after a 2022 campaign that saw him earn Second Team All-Patriot League honors.
• Thompson has started 26 straight games at left tackle and will look for another all-conference season, having received a Third Team nod in 2022.

RAMS LOOKING FOR FOURTH STRAIGHT WINNING SEASON

• Rhode Island went 7-4 for the second straight year in 2022.
• The seven victories are the highest win total in two decades, dating back to an 8-3 record in 2001.
• Head coach Jim Fleming has a chance to become just the third coach in program history with four consecutive winning seasons, joining Hal Kopp and Bob Griffin
• Kopp did it from 1952-55, going 25-6-2 over that span. Griffin was 33-14 from 1982-85.
• Fleming has four winning seasons in the last five years, going 6-5 in 2018, 2-1 in the COVID-19-shortened 2020-21 Spring season, and then 7-4 in both 2021 and 2022.
• Fleming is one of five coaches with three or more winning seasons in Kingston.
• Frank Keaney had seven winning seasons in 21 years. Bob Griffin had seven winning seasons in 17 years.
• Hal Kopp (1950, 1952-55) was above .500 four times in five years, and Marshall Tyler had three winning seasons in 10 years (1898-1901, 1903-08).

RHODE ISLAND VS. FBS OPPONENTS

• A victory over Georgia State would be Rhode Island's second over an FBS opponent in the Jim Fleming era. 
• The lone win in that span came two years ago, when the Rams went to Massachusetts and defeated their hosts 35-22.
• Quarterback Kasim Hill and running back Jaylen Smith led the offense against the Minutemen.
• Hill passed for 169 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 32 yards and two touchdowns, while Smith had his first career 100-yard rushing game, gaining 111 yards on 16 carries, including his first career rushing touchdown. 
• The touchdown came on a 72-yard run.
• Linebacker Evan Stewart, a redshirt freshman at the time, recorded a team-best seven tackles.
• The win at Massachusetts was URI's second over an FBS team all-time, as the team beat Connecticut 26-21 in 2000, UConn's first season at the FBS level.