Rhode Island Beats Maine 14-13 in Overtime After Blocked Extra Point and Buchanan Walk-Off Touchdown

Maine had a field goal in its pocket in overtime. A 30-yarder from Samuel Tremblay split the uprights, and the Black Bears were three points up with Rhode Island still to come. Then a flag came in, Maine took the penalty instead of the points, and about two minutes later the whole decision was sitting in the end zone at Centreville Bank Stadium.

Rhode Island beat Maine 14-13 in overtime on Halloween afternoon in Pawtucket. Maine scored a touchdown on the first possession of overtime, Rhode Island's P. Conserve blocked the extra point, and on the Rams' second snap Alex McClelland lofted a 25-yard touchdown pass to Marquis Buchanan. Ty Groff's extra point won it.

The Rams improved to 5-4 and 2-3 in the CAA and bounced back from a 38-21 home loss to UAlbany a week earlier. Maine fell to 1-8 and 1-5 in league play. That is eight straight losses for the Black Bears, and this one will sting more than any of the others.

A first half of missed chances

For most of the afternoon, this looked like a game Maine was going to win on volume. The Black Bears finished with 22 first downs to Rhode Island's 9, outgained the Rams 352 to 212 and held the ball for 35:32. The trouble was what happened at the end of drives.

Maine's opening possession reached the Rhode Island 23 before a false start turned fourth-and-4 into fourth-and-9, and Caden Drezek's throw fell incomplete. In the second quarter, a 33-yard completion from Drezek to Keyon Concepcion set up first down at the Rhode Island 27, and the drive got as far as the 17 before stalling. Tremblay's 34-yard field goal try missed with 9:06 left in the half.

Rhode Island had its own empty trip. Brayden Richardson broke a 50-yard run on the very next snap after the miss, but the Rams came up a yard short on fourth-and-10 at the Maine 30 and gave it back.

The 84-yard swing

The first points of the game came from the Rhode Island defense, and they came at the worst possible moment for Maine.

The Black Bears got the ball back at their own 26 with under two minutes to go in the half and moved it with short, efficient throws. Drezek found Ty'ee Stephens for 10 yards to the Rhode Island 39, and Maine was in range to at least steal a field goal. On the next play, Tyson Grimm stepped in front of a Drezek pass at the Rhode Island 16 and ran it back 84 yards for a touchdown with 32 seconds left in the half. Instead of 3-0 Maine, it was 7-0 Rhode Island at the break.

In a game that finished 14-13, that was a 10-point swing on one throw.

Maine keeps knocking

The third quarter was more of the same. Maine went for it on fourth-and-10 at the Rhode Island 37, and Trey Lubin broke up the throw. On the next snap, the Maine defense gave the ball right back when J. Brown forced a fumble by Will Dixon and Mike Hamilton recovered at the Rhode Island 36. The Black Bears could not cash that one in either. Grimm sacked Eddie Buehler on third down, and Maine punted.

The next Maine drive ended the same way. Rhode Island's Case Mankins and M. Avery sacked Drezek on back-to-back passing downs, turning a promising possession inside the Rams' 25 into fourth-and-25, and a delay of game made it fourth-and-30.

Rashawn Marshall finally broke through early in the fourth quarter. After a Rhode Island punt gave Maine the ball near midfield, Buehler hit Connor Hepperlen twice along the sideline, Marshall ground out a 9-yard run for a first down, and then Marshall took a handoff up the middle and went 25 yards for the tying touchdown with 12:48 to go. Tremblay's extra point made it 7-7.

The turning point

Maine had the better of the field position battle the rest of the way and still could not finish.

With 6:03 left and the ball at the Rhode Island 42, Marshall ripped off a 7-yard run, but Sam Ofurie punched the ball out and Rohan Davy recovered. The Black Bears got one more look late in regulation, taking over at the Rhode Island 40 with 1:49 left after Kye Pressley sacked McClelland at the Rams' 4 and forced a short punt. Maine gained 4 yards in three plays, was flagged for delay of game on fourth down and punted it into the end zone.

Then came overtime. Maine went first and got to the Rhode Island 12, where Grimm broke up a third-down throw intended for Concepcion. Tremblay's 30-yard field goal was good, but Rhode Island's Andre DePina-Gray was flagged for a personal foul on the kick. Maine accepted, took the points off the board and got a first-and-goal at the 6.

On paper, it was the aggressive call, and it almost looked brilliant. Malik McNeely ran 5 yards to the 1, and Nick Laughlin pushed in on the next play to put Maine up 13-7. Then Conserve got a hand on Tremblay's extra point.

Rhode Island needed a touchdown and an extra point, and it needed only two snaps. McClelland was stopped for no gain on first down. On second-and-10 from the 25, McClelland looked deep down the left side for Buchanan, who caught it at the goal line for the touchdown. Groff's kick sent the Rams home winners.

Davy, Grimm and the Rhode Island defense

The Rams won this game with an offense that managed 212 yards and went 2-of-13 on third down. That should tell you who carried it.

Davy was everywhere, finishing with 19 tackles, 14 of them solo, a sack and the fumble recovery that ended Maine's best fourth-quarter threat. Grimm did a bit of everything: the pick-six, a sack, two quarterback hurries and the pass breakup that pushed Maine to the field goal try in overtime. Ofurie added 10 tackles and forced the Marshall fumble.

Buchanan was the only consistent piece of the passing game, with nine catches for 107 yards and the game winner. McClelland finished 11-of-19 for 110 yards and the touchdown. Richardson ran 19 times for 92 yards, and 50 of those came on one carry.

Marshall carried Maine

For Maine, Marshall deserved a better ending. The running back carried 25 times for 139 yards and scored the tying touchdown. Laughlin added 62 yards on 12 carries and the overtime score.

Drezek completed 21 of 34 passes for 149 yards, but the interception was the most expensive throw of the day. On defense, Sam Oppenheimer had eight tackles, Noah Carpenter had seven and Chris Bacon had 2.5 tackles for loss. Anthony Pecorella averaged 44.4 yards on seven punts and pinned Rhode Island inside its 20 four times.

The numbers that tell the story

Maine converted 8 of 20 third downs. Rhode Island converted 2 of 13. Maine ran 90 plays. Rhode Island ran 54. Most days, that profile wins by double digits.

The other column explains why it did not. Maine went 0-for-2 on fourth down, missed a field goal, lost a fumble in Rhode Island territory and threw a pick that went the other way for a touchdown. Both teams had two turnovers. Rhode Island scored seven points off one of Maine's. Maine scored zero off either of Rhode Island's. Every drive is in the ESPN box score (opens in a new tab).

What it means

For Rhode Island, this was a game that could have sent the season sideways. A week after the home loss to UAlbany, the Rams were outplayed for long stretches and still found a way, and a 5-4 record keeps a winning season very much in play. Next up is a trip to New Hampshire on Nov. 7, followed by Towson at home and a finale at Bryant.

For Maine, the skid reaches eight, one week after a 35-6 Homecoming loss to Campbell. This was a far better performance than that one, which almost makes it worse. The Black Bears still have a trip to UAlbany on Nov. 14 and a home finale against New Hampshire on Nov. 21 to find a second win.

The last word

Taking three points off the board in overtime is going to get second-guessed all week in Orono. It was a defensible call, and Maine did get the touchdown it wanted. It just did not get the extra point, and Rhode Island did not need more than two plays to make the choice look expensive. A game Maine controlled by almost every measure ended with Buchanan holding the ball in the end zone, and the Rams found another way to win ugly.

Sources: ESPN box score and play-by-play, the Fox Sports game page and Rhode Island Athletics schedule information. More college football coverage on Undrafted.

Photos: Rhode Island Athletics (file photo from Oct. 24, 2026).