While it is too early to label it a season-changing win, the football team's 30-27 overtime victory at the University of Pennsylvania on Saturday was inspiring nonetheless. After blowing an early 10-point lead and trailing by the same deficit at the start of the fourth quarter, Brown (2-2 Ivy League, 3-4 overall) showed the resolve of a champion.
"I suppose I would put it up there as one of those character wins," said Head Coach Phil Estes. "We were playing a very good football team at (their) home and at their homecoming. It's great that this team can come together like they are right now and not be fazed by all the other things happening around them."
Estes attributed the turnaround to the maturity of the seniors on the team. Though they may not have stepped up as leaders early in the season, they have come to embrace their role as examples for the younger players to follow.
"The difference is that the seniors have really taken control of the team, and I don't think they had in the beginning of the season," Estes said. "They were doing their job, but they weren't pushing others to come together as a team. The seniors have really grabbed this team to say, 'We still have a chance, we just have to put it together.'"
With the score tied at 27-27, Penn got the ball first in overtime and moved it to Brown's 9-yard line. For the second time of the day, the kicking game let Penn down as Derek Zoch missed the ensuing field goal try from 26 yards out.
On Bruno's overtime possession, the offense moved the ball to the Penn 17, setting Steve Morgan '08 up for a 35-yard attempt. The kick sailed wide left, but an offsides penalty on the Quakers gave the Bears a first down and another chance. Three plays later, Morgan's attempt from 25 sailed true, sending Brown home with a 30-27 victory.
The Bears began the game by scoring on their first possession, something they also did the week before against Cornell. Quarterback and tri-captain Joe DiGiacomo '07 was 4-of-6 for 55 yards on the 13-play, 57-yard drive, which culminated in a 36-yard field goal from Morgan and made it 3-0 with 9:46 left in the opening quarter.
That first drive set the tone for the rest of the quarter, as Bruno dominated in time of possession. On its second drive, the offense drove 93 yards in 14 plays, consuming 6:14. Tailback Akin Oyalowo '07 scored from 9 yards out on the first play of the second quarter to make it 10-0.
"We came out like gangbusters and moved the football and they seemed to be asleep in the first quarter," Estes said. "It was the way you want to move a football around, and we made a lot of big plays."
The rest of the second quarter belonged to the Quakers though. On the drive following the Bears' first touchdown, quarterback Robert Irvin found his rhythm, completing 6 of 7 passes for 76 yards and hitting Billy May from 6 yards for the touchdown. The extra point was blocked, making the score 10-6 with 13:11 left in the half.
A series of mistakes by the Bears offset their fabulous start. Matt Nuzzo '09 fumbled while briefly spelling DiGiacomo, and his miscue was returned 18 yards for a touchdown by Penn safety Scott Williams, giving the Quakers a 13-10 lead four minutes before halftime.
Williams frustrated the Bears one more time before the half with an interception at Brown's 23-yard line. Despite the difficult position in which it was placed, the defense held steady. Bruno held Penn to a field-goal attempt, which the Bears blocked to keep the score 13-10 at intermission.
"The defense just did a great job. Some of the situations we put them in were not the greatest in the world, but there was no pointing the fingers and all that stuff," Estes said. "They went out there (and embraced) the challenge. Before the half we had thrown the pick, and (Defensive Coordinator Mike Kelleher) said that we have to hold them to a field goal and not let them in the end zone. We did better than that, holding them to a field goal and blocking it."
Midway through the third quarter, the Quakers extended their lead to 20-10 when Joe Sandberg scored from 10 yards out. Brown, however, would counter with 12 seconds left in the quarter. DiGiacomo found receiver Paul Raymond '08 on a slant that Raymond took in from 44 yards out, cutting the deficit to 20-17.
The momentum swung right back to the hosts on the ensuing kickoff, as Chris Wynn returned the kick 98 yards for a touchdown that made it 27-17 to start the fourth quarter. While such a play might have been the nail in Brown's coffin earlier in the season, it would not signal the end of Saturday's game.
"Just the way things were happening, you easily could have watched our guys give up and just say, 'We're not going to win at Penn just like it happened before,'" Estes said. "Nobody gave up, and everyone was just working hard to get this victory."
Following Wynn's touchdown, DiGiacomo coolly guided a seven-play, 68-yard drive that ended in Morgan's second field goal of the day, making it 27-20 with 13:21 left to play.
The next drive would not be nearly as successful. Bruno took a gamble and went for it on fourth-and-one on its own 23, a move that did not pay off when Dereck Knight '08 was stuffed for no gain.
Despite the setback, the defense came up with a big play, just as it had to end the first half. Under heavy pressure, Irvin went for the end zone on the first play of Penn's drive, only to be picked off by Max Mullenax '08.
"We stayed in our coverage, (Herald Staff Writer) Justin Amoah ('07) forces the quarterback to throw it and Max Mullenax picks it off," Estes said. "It showed that we're never out of it (if) we just keep plugging."
With a new lease on life, the offense took advantage of its second opportunity to tie the game. The offense moved 80 yards in 14 plays, none of which was bigger than a 12-yard reception by Bobby Sewall '10 on fourth-and-nine to keep the drive alive.
"I thought Bobby Sewall was playing like a veteran, and I don't think he gets flustered at all," Estes said. "When it (was) fourth-and-nine, he catches a slant and gets whacked but holds on to it. You think a rookie is scared to death and saying, 'Oh crap he's coming my way,' but he was pretty excited about it."
Three plays after Sewall's big grab, Lonnie Hill '07 hauled in an 11-yard touchdown pass from DiGiacomo that tied the game at 27-27. As big as the touchdown was for Brown, it meant even more for Hill, whose mother, Christine, passed away the previous Sunday.
"The guy that obviously was the toughest was Lonnie Hill. He had minimal practice but he played an inspired game," Estes said. "For Lonnie to come out and have the great focus that he did to make the big plays shows how important this was for him. He got the game ball from his teammates afterwards, and he dedicated this game to his mom."
The big difference in the game was Bruno's ability to convert on third- and fourth-down situations to sustain drives. None of the Bears' scoring drives in regulation were less than 57 yards, and Brown had a 12-minute advantage in time of possession over Penn.
"Here we are converting on fourth down and third-and-long, and that's something we haven't been great at," Estes said. "It was nice for Joe to go out there and find the right receiver. It's always great to grind a drive out like that because it wears their defense down and keeps our defense rested."
With Brown at .500, the win gives the Bears momentum heading into next Saturday's clash at home against Yale, the only undefeated team left in the Ancient Eight standings.
"It just has to be what we've been doing where we focus on just one game," Estes said. "As long as you buy into the team concept, take the opportunities you get and make something with them you're going to find success someway somehow."
