Despite conditions at kickoff that threatened to flood the field and drench the few spectators in the stands, the men's football team poured on the points in a 35-7 drubbing of the University of Albany on Saturday behind an expected powerful rushing attack and a surprisingly effective passing attack.
Even from the opening drive, the Bears passing offense, led by new quarterback Joe DiGiacomo '07, showed that they were not content to play second fiddle to the bruising rushing attack led by Nick Hartigan '06.
After Rashad Collins '06 returned the opening kickoff to the Brown's 37-yard-line, the Bears went immediately to Hartigan, their most dependable offensive option during the 2003 season. Five consecutive runs from Hartigan moved the Bears 22 yards to Albany's 43-yard-line, where the drive seemed to stall.
Facing third and six, the Bears came out in the shotgun. On the ensuing play, the offensive line successfully picked up Albany's blitz and DiGiacomo hit tight end David Turner '05, who raced into the end zone for an easy touchdown, giving the Bears a 7-0 lead.
For DiGiacomo, it was his first career completion and touchdown pass.
"The rain really helped, because it slowed everybody down," said DiGiacomo, who was 14 of 20 for 245 yards and two touchdowns. "It took the pressure off me because no one was expecting me to be able to come out and throw."
Albany came out and scored on the ensuing possession, marching 76 yards on 14 plays. The Bears defense looked unaccustomed to facing an option-based offense as Albany quarterback Nicholas Bazan picked up big chunks of yardage on the ground.
After that shaky first drive, the defense buckled down and held Albany to just 33 yards on 24 carries the last three quarters, compared to 15 for 70 in the first quarter.
"Coming into the game we knew they had some big horses up front," said defensive tackle Pat Curran '06, who recorded 11 tackles, two for a loss, and one sack in the game. "The rain slowed them down, but it took us the first scoring drive to get used to it. Once we got used to it, things went fine."
Brown's next score culminated an eight-play, 45-yard drive capped off by a 13-yard one-handed catch by Turner in the end zone. DiGiacomo continued to show veteran-like poise in the pocket, completing both of his passes on the drive, including a 26-yard pass to receiver Jarret Schreck '06.
Bruno nearly added another score before the half as Schreck (4 catches, 76 yards) pulled in a last second heave from DiGiacomo, but the referee ruled that he had caught the ball out of bounds.
Turner also had a near score in the third quarter as he tried to vault over Schreck and an Albany defender, landing just short at the two-yard line. Hartigan finished the job on the next play, giving the Bears a 21-7 lead with 11:32 left in the third.
Hartigan picked up his second touchdown just a few minutes later, running it in from the three with 2:54 left in the third.
The Bears' defense continued to cause problems for the Albany offense as they were more effective in pressuring Bazan. On top of three sacks, two from linebacker Dan Doublin '05 and one for Curran, the Bears had numerous quarterback hurries. The Bears also did a good job getting in the offensive backfield as Curran and Doublin both had two stops behind the line. Defensive end James Frazier '06 also had a big impact, recovering a fumble in the third quarter in addition to registering six tackles for the game.
With a 28-7 lead, Head Coach Phil Estes started to give his starters a rest, giving some carries to running backs Akin Oyalowo '07 and Brandon Markey '07. Both were successful as Oyalowo rushed five times for 31 yards and Markey scored his first career touchdown to make it 35-7.
For the rest of the game, Albany did not threaten to score ,and Estes played backup quarterbacks Matt Hostetler '06 and Anthony Vita '07.
"I thought that it was a great start, a great first game, especially with the weather," said Estes, who is now 2-0 lifetime against Albany. "I love that (DiGiacomo) inserted his own personality into the offense and that it wasn't just the Nick Hartigan offense."
Turner, DiGiacomo's favorite target, was named player of the game after catching six passes for 136 yards and two touchdowns.
"(DiGiacomo) was throwing them perfect all day today," Turner said. "He was putting them only where I could have caught them."
While not headline-grabbing, Hartigan's 26 carries for 93 yards clearly wore down the Albany defense and helped make things easier for his understudies later in the game.
"Hartigan is just a bull running the ball," said Albany Head Coach Bob Ford. "I don't know if you can ever stop a kid like that because he's so big and strong and runs downhill pretty well. We knew they were going to give him the ball 30 times and hoped he wouldn't break a big one."
While things seemed to go well for the Bears, their penchant for untimely penalties could have easily changed the game. A Hartigan touchdown run was called back for a hold, only to have Turner catch his second touchdown pass on the next play. Later in the game, an interception by safety Craig Young '05 (11 tackles) was voided due to a roughing the passer call. The Bears made up for it on the next play as Frazier recovered a fumble to give Bruno the ball back.
Another potential concern was pass protection. The offensive line surrendered four sacks to a pass rush that had recorded only three sacks in the previous two games.
"That is always a concern," Estes said. "But a lot of what we were doing was play action, part of it was the conditions, and it is up to the QB to get the ball off in some situations."
While Estes was pleased with the win, he was quick to point out things to improve before the team faces Harvard University on Saturday.
"I like the way we came out, but we had a lot of penalties that should not have happened," Estes said. "We have to play 10 times better against Harvard."
