Football Falls at #24 Bryant

The Central Connecticut football team fell to the #24 Bryant Bulldogs on Saturday in Smithfield, Rhode Island.  The Blue Devils (2-7, 0-4 NEC) scored first and went into the half tied with the nationally ranked Bulldogs (7-1, 3-0 NEC), but Bryant pulled away with four second half touchdowns.

Bryant's Ricardo McCary broke the game open in the second half with 193 yards and three rushing touchdowns on seven attempts.  He finished with 243 yards on 12 rushes.

The Blue Devils scored early in the second quarter on a 21-yard field goal by sophomore Ed Groth.  The big play of the scoring drive was a 32-yard run by redshirt freshman Quinn Fleeting that setup first and goal at the Bryant eight.

Bryant answered with a field goal on the final play of the second quarter.  The Bulldogs started the drive at the CCSU 43 and had a long rushing play into the end zone called back because of a taunting penalty.

Bryant also had a field goal attempt on its first drive, but the kick missed wide.

The Bulldogs grabbed a 10-3 lead with 8:20 left in the third quarter on a 82-yard touchdown run by Ricardo McCray.  McCray went straight up the middle, splitting the defense and then running up the right sideline.

Another long run by McCray setup a first and goal for the Bulldogs, which was capped by a rushing touchdown by McCray on fourth and one.

The Bulldogs would add another score late in the fourth quarter after a fumble gave the Bryant a short field.

Fleeting had his first career start at quarterback and finished 8-of-13 passing for 32 yards and an interception.

Sophomore running back Darius Cohen came off the bench and rushed 12 times for 73 yards.

Defensively, the Blue Devils were led in tackles by seniors Chris Abner and Andrew Murdock.  Abner and sophomore Asia Bolling also combined on a sack in the first half.

On special teams, Groth was one-of-one on field goal attempts.  Sophomore Jevon Elmore blocked a field goal, his second blocked kick of the season.

Bryant posted 352 rushing yards on 43 attempts.  The Bulldogs had 389 yards of total offense.  CCSU had just 152 yards of offense.

The Blue Devils return to action next Saturday at Arute Field against intrastate rival Sacred Heart.  Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.  The game can be seen live on NECFrontrow.com and heard on Fox Sports Radio 1410 and the iHeart Radio app.