Fordhams kicks off Year 2 of the Joe Moorhead Era Thursday night, playing host to Rhode Island in a game that, on the surface, appears to heavily favor the Rams.
Fordham returns most of the core of its prolific offense from a season ago, in which the Rams went 6-5 — a five-win improvement from 2011.
The Rams will lean on an attack spearheaded by preseason All-American running back Carlton Koonce, who broke the school's single-season rushing mark last season. Newly minted starting quarterback Michael Nebrich, whose 2012 season was cut short by a torn ACL, will have two all-Americans to throw to in wide receiver Brian Wetzel and tight end Dan Light.
On the other hand, Rhode Island is coming off an 0-11 season, in which it was outscored by nearly 30 points per game. Rhode Island also lost its top three receivers to graduation.
Despite the apparent mismatch, Moorhead has urged his players not to look past Rhode Island, because a key clash with Villanova Sept. 7 could turn tonight's contest into a "trap game" of sorts.
"Right now, we're two teams that are both 0-0," the Forham coach said. "Rhode Island played in one of the toughest, if not the toughest, conference in FCS football [the Colonial Athletic Association].
"They brought a couple of guys back who were injured and missed the entire season last year on the defensive side of the ball, and they've added some 1-A transfers and some junior college kids. They're a hungry team, and they're going to come out with something to prove."
Last year, Fordham opened its season with a 55-0 drubbing of Lock Haven, which set the tone for a vastly improved season. Moorhead said getting off to a good start tonight will have a similar effect.
"It's imperative in Week 1 to come out and lay a solid foundation for the season," he said. "You want to execute on both sides of the ball.
"Offensively, you want to limit your turnovers, and defensively, you want to create them. The teams that don't turn the ball over give themselves an opportunity to win. Hopefully the way we perform will be a good springboard into the upcoming part of the season."
Moorhead said he is happy with his team's progress and enters the game confident.
"I think the kids put in a tremendous amount of effort and made very positive strides in camp," he said. "The thing that we've preached is that we're going to win the game with our preparation, effort and execution. Since the [Rhode Island] preparation has begun, we've improved every practice."
Nevertheless, there is still room for improvement, and it is Moorhead's hope the kinks will iron themselves out throughout both the game and the season.
"I think the big thing that we're looking for is consistency across the board," he said. "You can't come out and play well for stretches of the game and then tail off. We have to play at a high level of effort and execution for the entire game. That's something that we're improving on, and will continue to improve on throughout the season."
jdemarzo@nypost.com
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