After three consecutive losses, the football team (1-3, 0-1) will try to start its remaining six Ivy League games on the right foot when it hosts Princeton this Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
After earning Ivy League Offensive and Special Teams Players of the Week honors despite Brown's 48-37 loss to the College of the Holy Cross, quarterback Michael Dougherty '09 and kicker Steve Morgan '08 will look to carry the Bears to victory this weekend.
Dougherty was recognized as the Offensive Player of the Week after completing 42 of 65 passes for 422 yards and two touchdowns in only the fourth start of his collegiate career. The 65 passing attempts broke a Brown record formerly held by current quarterbacks and receivers coach James Perry '00.
"It's a nice honor," Dougherty said. "But we didn't get the game, so it's hard to be happy about it."
Morgan '08 was named Special Teams Player of the Week in recognition of his three field goals and four extra points. Morgan eclipsed the previous Ivy League record for kicking points on a 30-yard field goal with 10:44 to go in the second quarter. The senior finished the day with a total of 240 points for his career.
"It was nice to not have to think about breaking the record anymore," Morgan said. "People were talking about it for a while, so I'm glad it's over."
Morgan also was recently named a semifinalist for the 2007 Draddy Trophy, a National Scholar-Athlete Award presented by HealthSouth and the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame. The finalists will be announced later this month, and the winner will be announced in December.
Behind Dougherty's excellent play at quarterback, the Brown offense has averaged 39.5 points over the last two games, with Dougherty passing for over 400 yards in each game. A deep receiving corps has also emerged as tight end Colin Cloherty '09 and wideouts Buddy Farnham '10, Paul Raymond '08 and Bobby Sewall '10 all have registered 100-yard receiving games.
Brown's passing game is ranked fourth in Division I-AA at 336.5 yards per game.
In order to record a victory this week, the team will have to be consistent on both sides of the ball. Despite the abundance of offensive talent, in each of its last two games Brown has had a possession on which it failed to score after penetrating the opponent's 10-yard line.
"We need to be more efficient in the red zone," Dougherty said. "We've been putting up a lot of yards and getting into the red zone, but we've been having trouble scoring near the end zone."
Scoring early is also a challenge for this year's squad. Against Holy Cross, the Bears' offense took a long time to hit its stride, scoring just 10 points in the first half before rebounding with a 27-point second half.
In order to snap out of the three-game skid, the defense will have to play to its full potential. Last week, the defense allowed the Holy Cross offense to score on each of its first five possessions, which led to a 31-10 halftime deficit.
In spite of its struggles, the defense has shown it has talent in a variety of areas. This season, seven different players have recorded sacks for Brown, and three players have made interceptions. But whether the Bears can turn around their season will depend largely on defensive execution and consistency.
Princeton enters this weekend's game with a 2-2 record, 0-1 in the Ivy League, after suffering a 48-27 loss to #21 Hampton University last weekend. The team's offense, which comes in averaging 27.5 points per game, features a balanced running and passing attack, both of which are led by versatile quarterback Bill Foran. But the Tigers' defense has struggled, giving up an average of 31.5 points.
This week the Bears will look to get their season back on track in their Ivy League home opener. To do so, they will need to capitalize on every offensive opportunity and make stops on defense.
"We're looking for a win," Morgan said. "We want to do better offensively, defensively and on special teams. We've made a lot of mistakes, but all the mistakes don't glare back at you if you win. At this point, the season's not lost. We have a good chance to get some wins back."
