After last week's offensive explosion, the football team showcased its defense in Saturday's 20-13 win at the University of Rhode Island. With the win, Brown retook possession of the Governor's Cup, which had been in Kingston for the past three years.
"We have a brand new trophy case we just built, and it's going to look nice there," said Head Coach Phil Estes.
Offensive lineman and co-captain Will Burroughs '05 voiced similar elation.
"It feels awesome," said Burroughs. "We had talked about it since my freshman year, and to come out, win the game and have the defense play as they did is just great."
At the very beginning, it seemed as if Bruno's chances of avenging last year's 27-9 loss were slim as its first three drives ended in turnovers. Joe DiGiacomo '07 threw two interceptions, and his fumble was scooped up by Virgil Gray of URI, who ran it back 34 yards for a touchdown to give URI an early 7-0 lead.
"I thought the way that game started that we were going to be their best offense for a while," Estes said. "We were handing it to them and creating opportunities for them and putting our defense in such a tough situation to get out of, but they did time after time."
Without stellar defensive play, the Bears could have been out of the game early. Linebacker Anjel Gutierrez '05 came up big for the Bears on URI's first drive, sacking URI quarterback Jayson Davis to set up a long missed field goal.
"It felt good to finally get (Davis)," said Gutierrez. "Our defensive coordinator just had a great game plan to keep putting pressure on him and make him pitch the ball because he is very dangerous with the ball in his hands."
The defense continued to step up for the Bears later in the quarter as Scott Epperson '05 knocked the ball out of Davis' hands and Gutierrez recovered it, giving Bruno control at its own 41.
On the ensuing possession, the Bears handed the ball off to tailback Nick Hartigan '06, who shredded the URI defense for 59 yards on four straight plays, ending it with a 10-yard run to paydirt.
"(URI) pretty much shut me down last year, but fortunately we were able to get it going this year," Hartigan said. "The line did a great job. They are not going to get tired no matter how many carries I have. Their job every day is to block, and it's just my job to stay hunkered behind them."
The Brown passing offense started to come to life in the second quarter as DiGiacomo connected on four of five passes for 48 yards on an 80-yard drive. Eating up just over five minutes, the drive was capped off by Hartigan's second rushing touchdown of the day.
URI quickly responded with a rushing touchdown by Jason Ham. However, Bryan Giannecchini missed the extra point, keeping Brown ahead 14-13.
Despite the touchdown, Ham was a non-factor, gaining just 21 yards on 10 carries, down from his season average of 111 per game.
Brown got the ball down to the URI 1-yard line with less than a minute left but was forced to settle for a Steve Morgan '08 field goal, giving Bruno a 17-13 halftime lead.
The second half proved to be all defense as Bruno stayed patient and shut the Rams out the rest of the game.
"It's about being disciplined," said cornerback Gavin Logan '07. "Every bone in your body wants to come up and make a play on the ball, but the second you do, (Davis) is pulling up and lobbing it over your head."
Logan, a South Kingston native, made the most of his homecoming, recording eight tackles. Gutierrez had a solid day, registering 1.5 sacks, 4 tackles and a fumble recovery. Linebacker Tim Cotter '06 was also a factor, recording 12 tackles.
Davis, who finished with 109 rushing yards on 18 carries, was knocked out of the game in the middle of the third quarter.
Davis was not the only victim of injury as Brown defensive tackle Pat Curran '06 suffered an ankle sprain after being chop blocked from behind.
The loss of Curran was lessened by Hartigan's ability to eat up yards and the clock as the Bears dominated time of possession. Hartigan was an immoveable force all day, rushing 39 times for 161 yards. Also impressive was backup running back Akin Oyalowo '07, who gained 25 yards on four carries late in the second half.
DiGiacomo, meanwhile, seemed to have come back to Earth after two great games to start his collegiate career, but despite three interceptions and just 121 passing yards, Estes was not concerned.
"He's a good quarterback," Estes said. "He's going to have games like this. I told him it's a great thing you had the three interceptions and we still won because he doesn't worry about them anymore. So much has been made about the fact that he has no turnovers. Well, he made them and its better to get them out of his system this way."
Overall, the Brown defense held a URI rushing attack that was averaging 365.7 yards per game to just 221, letting up just one rushing touchdown to a team that had 14 through three games.
Estes viewed the dominance as a sign that there were no lasting effects from the Harvard game.
"The great thing is the way we lost the game last week and to bring the guys back and beat a terrific team like Rhode Island," Estes said. "And for the defense to play the way they played. Especially when it starts off the way it starts off. You could easily go into a panic. But they didn't. They stepped up and they made big plays. It just shows you that they are maturing."
