After an 0-2 start to its 2009 season, the football team is aware of the importance of a strong start to this fall's campaign. The Bears' journey starts Saturday with a clash against the Stony Brook Seawolves in a rematch of last year's 21-20 loss, a defeat that has left a "bad taste in our mouth up to this point," according to starting quarterback and tri-captain Kyle Newhall-Caballero '11.
"We felt awful after the game at Stony Brook last year," Newhall-Caballero wrote in an e-mail to The Herald. "We made plays but we did not make enough to earn a win that game."
Running back Zach Tronti '11 shared the sentiment that last year's loss has stuck with the team, but wrote in an e-mail that he sees Saturday's game as not only a chance to "get revenge … but also (to) set the tone for the entire season."
For Tronti, a member of the 2009 All-Ivy second team, the first game of the season could not come soon enough. The senior back has been working all offseason to return healthy from a "disappointing" ACL injury that cut short his junior season after eight games.
"I've been full go ever since the first day of camp," Tronti wrote. "I'm excited to just get back out on the field with my teammates and play as hard as I can to help us win a championship."
Winning a championship is a long journey, though, and early games this season will prove key to building the foundation for a successful year — a belief that the team strongly holds.
"It's a lot easier to keep positive momentum rolling than it is to battle through a rough start, so a strong first game is critical," Newhall-Caballero wrote.
The first team All-Ivy quarterback explained that this being his last season as Bear is a motivating factor as well.
"As a senior, you have a completely different perspective on things," he wrote. "We take a lot of pride in this being our year. We want people to look at and admire the 2010 football season, and it all starts with our first game this Saturday."
But who are these Seawolves that handed Brown a single-point defeat a year ago? Having clashed with Stony Brook during the past two seasons, Bruno regards the Long Island squad as a familiar foe.
"Stony Brook is a big and physical football team," Tronti wrote. "They are athletic and quick on defense."
The Seawolves boasted a 6-5 record in 2009 on their way to claiming the Big South Conference title. While this is the first game of the season for Brown, Stony Brook is 1-1 in 2010 and is coming off a win over American International. In their opening game, the Seawolves fell convincingly to Big East giants South Florida in a lopsided 59-14 defeat.
Finally, the 2010 football season has arrived, and the Bears are hungry for a title run. The team knows that it all starts here.
"We'll have to overcome any first game jitters early on and get back to playing Brown football, something that our entire team has been waiting to unveil for a while," Newhall-Caballero wrote.
Expect the Bears to come out firing Saturday, looking to set the tone early for the team's 133rd year of intercollegiate football. Kickoff is set for 12:30 p.m.
