As the last 60 seconds ticked off the clock and Brown's sideline erupted into massive celebration, Head Coach Phil Estes finally relaxed.
His Bears had just dominated No. 25 University of Pennsylvania 34-20, breaking into a four-way tie for first place in the Ivy League at 3-1 (6-1 overall) and handing the Quakers their first loss in league play. Yet it was not until the final series, on which Bruno was able to run out the clock, that Estes could soak in what his squad had just done.
"That was a great team effort on defense," Estes said. "They came to play and they played their asses off. Zak (DeOssie '07) was all over that field and he made big play after big play. Listen, our guys came to play, they wanted to hit. That's where you gauge your program from (whether you can beat teams like Penn)."
Behind the defense's most complete performance of the season and another outstanding effort - 167 yards on 39 carries - by running back and tri-captain Nick Hartigan '06, the Bears broke a five-game losing streak to the Quakers and established themselves as candidates for this year's class of the Ivy League.
Penn had entered the game with the Ancient Eight's top scoring offense at 37.7 points per game and defense at 15.8 points allowed per game. The Quakers also boasted the nation's top-ranked run defense, having allowed only 49.2 yards per game - just last week the entire Yale team managed to gain minus-16 yards against the Quakers first-string defense. As if that were not enough, Penn running back Sam Mathews had rung up five touchdowns over the previous two weeks and the Quakers had just entered the national polls.
None of those statistics mattered on Saturday. The Bears' front seven shut down Mathews and the running game, limiting the Quakers to only 110 yards on the ground. The Penn air attack fared even worse, as quarterback Bryan Walker completed only 15 of 38 passes for just 193 yards. Walker was also forced into two interceptions, the first by Tim Cotter '06 and the other by Jamie Gasparella '06, thanks in part to the constant pressure provided by the Bears' pass rushers.
"We really did a tremendous job today up front," Gasparella said. "I felt that their quarterback was really uncomfortable today because of our defensive pressure. I don't think his receiver was open at all (on my interception). And like Coach said, Zak was all over the place today and it's great to have someone like that."
DeOssie made 13 tackles and forced a crucial fumble, but it was his first-quarter stop on a scrambling Walker that set the tone of the game for Brown when it looked like Penn might have seized the momentum.
After Cotter's interception on the third play from scrimmage, Steve Morgan '08 kicked a 47-yard field goal, the fifth-longest in Brown history. Morgan later set the record for most field goals in a season with a 28-yard boot in the fourth quarter, his 15th. The Quakers then moved the ball from their own 25-yard line to Brown's 8 before missing a 27-yard field goal.
With good field position near midfield on Penn's next possession, Walker had the entire right side of the field open and took off to run on second down. As he scrambled to his right, DeOssie broke from his position near the middle of the field and before Walker could turn the corner, DeOssie grabbed him from behind with two hands and hauled him to the turf for no gain.
On the very next play, Gasparella blew up a swing pass to the strong side of the field, breaking on the ball before it was released and throwing his body at the Penn wide receiver's legs for an eight-yard loss. The Bears defense never relinquished the control over the Penn offense that it exhibited in the first 15 minutes of play.
"A, we got behind. ... B, we had an awful lot of penalties that made first-and-10's into first-and-15's, and we had enough negative plays that we couldn't run the football," said Penn Head Coach Al Bagnoli of his team's uncharacteristic rushing total.
At one point in the second half, Penn ran 17 plays and moved the ball a total of minus-11 yards, failing to take advantage of field position that was often inside Brown territory.
"We could not get out of our end zone, so we were giving them great field position," Estes said. "Even with our defense stopping them they were punting us back inside the 10-yard line."
With the defense stymieing the Quaker offense, the Bears turned the game over to Hartigan. Brown placed the ball in his hands throughout the second half, as it became clear that its normal quick-passing game was out of rhythm.
Hartigan was his usual self, running over and around anyone who got in his path on his way to two more scores and his 20th career 100-yard performance. In what has become a weekly routine, Hartigan left the opposing coach impressed.
"He has been remarkably durable," Bagnoli said. "I can't remember a guy who has carried as many times as he has and is still productive. The key is to contain him because you can't stop him. Nobody has."
The best run of the day, however, belonged to quarterback Joe DiGiacomo '07. On a broken pass play in the second quarter, DiGiacomo tucked the ball and took off up the middle of the field. He juked a linebacker and then broke three tackles before diving to the pylon in the left corner of the end zone. His score pushed the lead to 17-0, and the Quakers never got closer than 10 points the rest of the way.
Brown's focus now shifts to Saturday's match-up with Yale, a game that will go a long way in determining whether the Bears can claim their first league championship since 1999. With Dartmouth and Columbia - a combined 1-7 in the league - rounding out Brown's schedule, a defeat of the Bulldogs would most likely knock one of the four 3-1 teams out of the picture.
"I think it would have been very easy for us to toss in the towel after the Harvard (loss) and say, 'There goes the championship,' " Gasparella said. "But it's a credit to the coaching staff - especially Coach Estes - and to the senior leadership on this team to say, 'Hey, every week is the most important game of your life.' We're going out every week to win the Ivy League championship, and that mindset has gotten us to this point and we've got some unfinished business to take care of the next three weeks."
