UMass storms back to avenge loss to URI

KINGSTON, R.I. - On a sun-splashed afternoon that was in stark contrast to the monsoon-like conditions he was subjected to in his visit last year to his native Ocean State, Liam Coen could not have been more picture-perfect.

Despite nursing a bruised left shoulder, the senior quarterback from Newport enjoyed a triumphant homecoming by completing all but two of his 17 pass attempts for 241 yards and three touchdowns to guide the University of Massachusetts (6-2, 3-2 Colonial) to a 49-0 triumph over the Rhode Island (2-8, 0-6) before a Meade Stadium crowd of 7,201.

"Liam Coen just continues to do what he does," said UMass coach Don Brown. "And that's be efficient, run the offense, 15 of 17 [completions] . . . He was special today and, I'll also add, less than 100 percent, so taking him out in the third quarter was precautionary."

The victory not only bolstered UMass's postseason hopes but avenged a 12-6 loss to the Rams here a year ago in which Coen, playing in severe weather conditions produced by Hurricane Noel, completed 7 of 22 passes for 22 yards with two interceptions. Yesterday, Coen was a picture of efficiency. He guided the Minutemen to scores on their first six possessions, completing 88.2 percent of his passes for the second-highest completion percentage in school history behind Tim Day's 89.4 percent (17 of 19) in the 2004 opener against Delaware State.

"All I have to say this year is that there was no rain," said Coen, who departed with 13:10 left in the third quarter after he connected with Victor Cruz (7 catches, 129 yards, 2 TDs) on a 35-yard TD strike that made it 42-0.

"Honestly, I don't like going back on last year, but you saw what happened today and there was no rain," Coen said. "It wouldn't have happened last year."

Junior running back Tony Nelson rushed 12 times for 65 yards, and tallied UMass's first two touchdowns (his ninth and 10th of the season) on runs of 2 and 13 yards. The 15th-ranked Minutemen shut out the Rams by forcing three turnovers (two interceptions, one fumble), limiting URI to 19 rushing yards on 40 attempts, and ringing up eight sacks for 55 yards, including four in the first half on Derek Cassidy (13 of 24, 185 yards, two interceptions).

Josh Jennings, a 6-foot, 220-pound junior middle linebacker, intercepted Cassidy both times, the first of which set up Nelson's 2-yard TD run and the second which he returned 40 yards for a touchdown to give the Minutemen a 35-0 halftime lead.

"We tried not to give [Cassidy] a chance to breathe today and we certainly made his pass difficult," Brown said. "We played very, very solidly against the run, which made them truly one-dimensional, and then we just took care of business."

The Rams, who mustered 212 total yards, came up empty when Louis Feinstein missed first-half field goal attempts of 40 and 34 yards.

Sophomore defensive back Shane Viveiros of Fall River, Mass., preserved UMass's first shutout since a 7-0 blanking of Northeastern in 2006 when he stymied URI's two other scoring bids, sacking Cassidy for a 16-yard loss on fourth down from the UMass 5, then recovering Cassidy's fumble at the UMass 18.

"I was just trying to be a spark of energy for our team," said Viveiros.

So, too, was Coen. But once his work was done, there was nothing left for him to do but reflect on his final trip home as a collegian.

"It really doesn't get much better than that," Coen said. "Any game you can sit back and go, 'Hey, I did what I had to do and the team did what it had to do,' you feel good about yourself and you feel good about the way you finished."

Michael Vega can be reached at vega@globe.com.