The football team was unable to capitalize on a golden opportunity to get back into the Ivy League title race on Saturday, dropping a tough 27-24 decision to Ancient Eight frontrunner Yale.
The Bears had a 24-17 advantage heading into the fourth quarter, but the visiting Bulldogs showed why they are undefeated in league play, scoring 10 unanswered points to escape from Providence with a win.
The loss mathematically eliminates the Bears (3-5, 2-3 Ivy League) from winning the league title.
"This win typified our season," said Yale Head Coach Jack Siedlecki. "It was a great football game, and we kept playing hard and kept hanging in there. We found a way to win the game, and that's all that counts."
Just one week after an impressive 340-yard, two-touchdown pass performance at the University of Pennsylvania, quarterback and tri-captain Joe DiGiacomo '07 struggled, throwing for just 134 yards and four interceptions - in only 16 pass attempts.
"Offensively, it just wasn't there (for Joe) today," said Head Coach Phil Estes. "He put a lot on himself and just wasn't making the right reads. He's a good quarterback and he does a good job, and he's going to have to bounce back for us."
DiGiacomo's struggles started on Brown's first offensive series. On just the second play from scrimmage, he overthrew Paul Raymond '08 for his first interception, but the Brown defense forced a three-and-out on Yale's ensuing drive to negate the turnover.
On its second offensive series, Yale took advantage of great field position at Brown's 49-yard line to score first. Following some hard running from tailback Mike McLeod, kicker Alan Kimball nailed a 35-yard field goal to make it 3-0 with 5:31 remaining in the opening quarter.
Yale extended its lead to 10-0 on Brown's first play following the Kimball field goal. Bulldog linebacker Bobby Abare read DiGiacomo's pass to tight end Colin Cloherty '09 perfectly, intercepting it and returning it for a touchdown. It would be the first of three interceptions on the day for Abare.
"The credit goes to the defensive line, which did a good job of getting pressure (on DiGiacomo)," Abare said when asked about his turnovers. "On that first one, (Defensive Coordinator Rick) Flanders told me that the tight end runs an out, and I jumped on it."
Just when Bruno needed a confidence boost, tri-captain Brandon Markey '07 delivered. After being limited by a shoulder injury in the previous two games, Markey left his mark on this one, running by everyone on a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to make it 10-7 with 4:30 left in the first.
Although Yale scored at the start of the second quarter to make it 17-7, the Bears went into halftime with a lead. Briefly showing glimpses of his form from the previous week, DiGiacomo hit wide receiver Lonnie Hill '07 on a 32-yard bomb to cut the deficit to 17-14 just three minutes into the second quarter.
Nine minutes later, tailback Akin Oyalowo '07 put the finishing touches on a nine-play, 92-yard drive with an 11-yard touchdown run to make it 21-17 Brown, a score that held up before the break. Despite forcing four first-half turnovers - three DiGiacomo interceptions and a fumbled punt by Markey - the Bulldogs trailed at halftime.
"We didn't take advantage of all those opportunities," Siedlecki said. "You're saying (to yourself), 'Hey, we should have gotten more scores than we did.'"
In the third quarter, Brown's running game began asserting itself. On its only possession of the third quarter, the Bears offense ate 9:17 off the clock during a drive that took 16 plays - 12 of which were Markey or Oyalowo runs - and went 77 yards.
"It was the same kind of defense we saw last week (against the University of Pennsylvania)," Markey said. "I saw some nice holes, and we had the same type of success."
However, an illegal snap penalty late in the drive prevented the offense from punching the ball in for six, and Brown had to settle for a Steve Morgan '08 field goal to make it 24-17 with 1:25 remaining in the quarter.
"We're on the 5-yard line, we get a miscue and before you know it we're kicking a field goal," Estes said. "You have to come away with six points there."
On its first drive of the final quarter, the Bears again stuck with the ground game, moving from their own 10-yard line to their 40 on five straight runs. But on third-and-long, DiGiacomo dropped back to pass and threw his final interception three minutes into the quarter - the third to Abare - and the tide started to turn.
"Bobby has become a catalyst and is a kid who just energizes this team," Siedlecki said of his linebacker. "That kid is going to play until the last second, and it's contagious."
Yale capitalized on the turnover with a 23-yard field goal to make it 24-20 with 8:03 remaining. After its defense forced Brown into a three-and-out, Yale got a desperately needed big play on offense.
On a quick out from quarterback Matt Polhemus, wide receiver Ashley Wright evaded a tackle and scampered 71 yards down the sideline to the Brown five. Two plays later, McLeod plowed into the end zone from three yards out, giving Yale a 27-24 lead with 3:27 left.
"They were really bailing deep on us and forced us to throw the short routes," Wright said. "Eventually we had to make someone miss, and that's what happened. D.J. Shooter had a great block down field, and that's what sprung me."
The Bears had one more opportunity to either tie or win the game. DiGiacomo led the offense down to the Yale 32, but Morgan's 50-yard field goal attempt sailed wide right, sealing Bruno's fate.
"I would have liked us to make some more plays to get it closer, but we were going to kick it (even if) we got stuffed right there," Estes said. "Steve hit that (well) and just kicked it right."
While he was proud of how his team played, Estes said there was no silver lining to such a tough loss.
"We needed to win that football game, and we had so many things going for us," he said. "A loss is a loss and it sucks, especially when you know when you can go back and say, 'If we had done this, if we had done that...'"
The Bears will try to bounce back from the setback when they travel to Dartmouth next Saturday.
