By Bill Koch
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Four days after accepting an invitation to join the Big East Conference, the University of Cincinnati football team celebrated Saturday by struggling to get past a mediocre Division I-AA team.

PHOTO GALLERY

Photos of Saturday's game

The Bearcats (5-4) shook loose from a 17-17 halftime tie and beat Rhode Island 31-24 before 14,006 fans at Nippert Stadium.

The Rams (3-7) have lost five in a row. They were beaten by Fordham 63-28 and by Delaware 55-10, but they gave the Big East-bound Bearcats all they could handle.

"We're happy we won," UC coach Rick Minter said. "That's all we can say."

UC, which blocked two Rhode Island field goal attempts - one by Daven Holly, the other by Zach Norton - ran out the clock with an 11-play drive that ended at the Rhode Island 3-yard-line.

Defensive end Trent Cole, UC's second-leading tackler, left the game in the first quarter with a sprained right ankle and did not return.

UC's defense surrendered 429 yards to Rhode Island's option offense, which accounted for 371 yards on the ground.

But the UC offense, which has struggled for most of the season, responded to the challenge with a season-high 560 yards of its own.

Quarterback Gino Guidugli completed 20 of 28 passes for 332 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. It was his first 300-yard passing game since the Sept. 20 Temple game.

The Bearcats received standout performances from two players who might have found their niche at UC after initially being moved from their natural positions.

Redshirt sophomore Carl Jones, who spent his first two years as a wide receiver and defensive back, asked during the offseason to move back to his natural position of running back, where he had gained 1,441 yards as a senior in high school.

With first-string running back Richard Hall sitting out the first three quarters with a nagging injury to his foot, Jones rushed for a career-high 187 yards on 27 carries.

Jones didn't know until he showed up for the game that he was going to start.

"I played running back my whole life before I got here," Jones said. "I knew for a fact that I could play running back in Division I."

Wide receiver Thaddeus Lewis caught seven passes for 78 yards and one touchdown, the first of his career. Like Jones, he had been a star on offense in high school, only to be switched to defense when he got to UC.

When the Bearcats' wide receivers continued to struggle this season, he got the chance to catch passes again.

"We had a lot of seniors at receiver already," Lewis said, "so the best thing for me to do was play corner last year. This year, it was already in the plans for me to play receiver, then we had the mishaps at receiver (and) it was the best idea to bring me back over."

Unfortunately for Lewis, who's a senior, he has only three games left in his college career.

Rhode Island	17	0	0	7-24
Cincinnati	10	7	7	7-31

First Quarter

URI-FG Laisle 41, 10:44

Cin-Ross 64 pass from Guidugli (Manfredini kick), 9:56

URI-Williams 50 pass from Davis (Laisle kick), 9:32

Cin-FG Manfredini 25, 6:54

URI-Davis 20 run (Laisle kick), 1:56.

Second Quarter

Cin-Thomas 55 pass from Guidugli (Manfredini kick), 6:07.

Third Quarter

Cin-Lewis 13 pass from Guidugli (Manfredini kick), 9:48.

Fourth Quarter

Cin-Hall 1 run (Manfredini kick), 7:01

URI-Williams 1 run (Laisle kick), 5:43.

A-14,006.

	URI	Cin
First downs	21	24
Rushes-yards	60-371	42-228
Passing	58	332
Comp-Att-Int	2-5-0	20-28-1
Return Yards	11	6
Punts-Avg.	2-43.0	1-48.0
Fumbles-Lost	3-0	1-1
Penalties-Yards	3-15	7-50
Time of Possession	28:42	31:18

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING-Rhode Island, Ham 30-168, Davis 14-103, Williams 10-47, Green 4-39, Brown 1-18, Poole 1-(minus 4). Cincinnati, Jones 27-187, Hall 6-21, Vann 3-14, Koester 2-6, Guidugli 2-4, Team 2-(minus 4).

PASSING-Rhode Island, Davis 2-5-0-58. Cincinnati, Guidugli 20-28-1-332.

RECEIVING-Rhode Island, Williams 2-58. Cincinnati, Lewis 7-78, Murray 4-53, Ross 2-86, Thomas 2-59, Hart 2-24, Jones 1-13, Vann 1-11, Dawley 1-8.