Michael Dougherty '09 was named the Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week after breaking Ivy League records for total passing yards and total offense in a game. Dougherty threw 60 times completing 41 of those passes, and ended the day with 526 passing yards. The previous Ivy League record, set in 1981, was 501 passing yards. His 41 completions also rank fourth all-time at Brown. With an additional 12 rushing yards, Dougherty's 538 yards of total offense also eclipsed the Ivy League record for total offensive yards in a game, breaking the previous mark of 504 yards set in 1982. No Brown player had ever eclipsed 500 total yards of offense before Dougherty's feat last weekend. Dougherty now ranks fifth in the nation in completions, while claiming the ninth spot nationally for passing yards and total offense.
For Dougherty's record-breaking performance, the Herald has named him our Athlete of the Week.
Herald: How long have you been playing football, and what made you start playing? Dougherty: I started playing tackle football in 5th grade, and just thought it would be fun to get out there and hit people.
Why did you become a quarterback? I actually started out as an offensive and defensive lineman for two years because there was a weight limit. I was one of the biggest guys, but then my coach found out I could throw and gave me a shot at QB.
Do you have a favorite NFL team? Who and why? The Dolphins. I'm from South Florida, so it's my home team.
Did you have any football idols growing up? As a Dolphins fan, I always liked Dan Marino.
What was the biggest factor in your record-setting weekend?The offensive line giving me a ton of time and receivers getting open and making great catches... throwing it 60 times helps too though.
Were you expecting to throw the ball as much as you did on Saturday? I knew we were going to throw it a lot because they were weak against the pass, and we had success throwing against them last year. We were also playing from behind, so we needed to get big plays and quick scores.
What does the team need to do to get back on the winning track? We just need to cut out the mental mistakes. We're physically talented enough to win every game, we just need to mentally be prepared to do it.
How does it feel to have broken a 27-year-old Ivy record and a 6-year-old Brown record? It doesn't really mean a whole lot if we didn't win. We should have put up more yards and, more importantly, more points. We came away with field goals when we should have been scoring touchdowns on key drives, and we can't have that.
How is the team preparing to take on Princeton this weekend? We're just focusing on what we do best and getting ready for the home stretch of our Ivy League schedule and staying on top of the league.
Dougherty and the rest of the football team will be traveling to Princeton, NJ this Saturday to take on Ivy League rival, the Princeton Tigers. Brown is looking for their second Ivy League win after beating Harvard three weeks ago in the opening weekend of conference play.
