WILLIAMSBURG, KY – The RV University of the Cumberlands football team returns to the Burg for its 2025 home opener on Saturday, squaring off with the Bluefield Rams in a non-conference matchup. The Patriots enter at 1-0 after a dominant 45-11 road win over Union Commonwealth, while the Rams also opened their season with a win, downing Thomas 31-20 behind a strong defensive showing.

Building Momentum
UC exploded for 486 yards of offense in its season opener, led by quarterback Drew Gregg's 342 passing yards and four touchdowns plus a rushing score as well. He becomes the first Patriot QB to throw for over 300 yards in over 5 years. The defense added three interceptions and seven tackles for loss to keep Union in check. The Pats look to build off this momentum into this week's contest.
 
Head Coach Shan Housekeeper stressed that this week is about turning a good start into continued progress. "I definitely thought we'd improved in our execution… The objective is to make some massive improvements between week one and two and our hope is we can continue to push the fundamentals and push the execution."
 
Last season UC took down the Rams in their season opener by a score of 31-9. UC overcame adversity early as they trailed 9-7 but responded with 24 second-half points while shutting down the Rams offensive attack. He also emphasized starting fast in front of the home crowd saying, "Playing at home, you want to start out fast… our conditioning and physical preparation should help us get stronger as the game moves, but clearly, we want to start better."
 
Handling the Rams
Bluefield leaned on its ground game in Week 1, rushing for 168 yards with three different players finding the end zone. Running back Abdul Kaloko led the way with 58 yards and a touchdown.

"They really wanted to establish the run… they ran a lot of power," said Housekeeper. "We've got to be really tight in our fits and take that away. And then when they drop back, we've got to make the quarterback uncomfortable."

UC's defense accumulated one sack and three QB hurries last week, and consistently forced the opposing QB out of the pocket. Hunter Zirkle led the charge with 6 tackles, 2 TFL and two of the three QB hurries. Victor Edwards recorded the Patriots lone sack of the game while D'Lante Overstreet added 1.5 TFL as well.

The Rams defense made waves against Thomas as they piled up 14 tackles for loss and four sacks. "Defensively, they're aggressive. They're really big on the defensive line, with nice length at corner. We've got to push those linemen to run a lot, get them moving, and play to our strengths with a very intelligent quarterback who can get us in good situations."
 
Explosive Plays
Prior to the season, Coach Housekeeper stressed the importance of big plays to his team, on both sides of the ball. In game one, UC produced four plays longer than its longest gain from last season, including touchdown passes of 66 yards to Juan Bullard and 51 yards to Cade Lamb. "I think Cade and Juan are guys that were with us last year but have really made some tremendous growth… it was fun to see those explosive plays come alive. "Housekeeper added that the offense took advantage of defensive looks. "When a defense has to defend horizontally the full width and the vertical width, that's going to start getting people out of that run box… they paid on the perimeter and then down the field."
 
On the flip side, the Rams had two completions of over 30 yards with a 40-yard reception as their longest of the game. UC will look to tighten up defensively and not allow any explosive plays that could swing the momentum of the contest.
 
Favorable Field Position
The Patriots special teams unit had a fantastic first outing, converting an onside kick, a fake punt for a first down, and dominating the field position game on both ends. UC averaged 39 yards per kickoff return between Ronye Watson and Adam Foulk, while Watson also accumulated 58 punt return yards on three attempts.
 
Job Matossian also played a major factor in UC's field position with a pair of punts averaging 57 yards. The senior pinned the Bulldogs inside their own 20 once, and nailed a 35-yard field goal. Cole Ruehling kicked off seven times, and the Patriots kickoff squad limited their opponents to just 10 return yards per kickoff as well.
 
Kickoff is set for 7 PM ET on Saturday at James H. Taylor, II Stadium. Live stats will be available here with live video here.
 
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