In front of a packed Family Weekend crowd at Brown Stadium, the football team (3-2, 0-2 Ivy) was handed a 40-21 loss by Princeton (3-2, 2-0) on Saturday. The Tigers scored 23 unanswered points in the second and third quarters to pull firmly ahead of the Bears.
After two consecutive wins against in-state opponents University of Rhode Island and Bryant, Brown was riding a wave of momentum as they headed into their second Ivy League game of the season. Their second adversary, the Tigers, loomed large in their path, having dispatched Bruno in eight of the last 10 seasons.
“I’m really proud of the stretch of football that we’ve played leading into today,” Head Coach James Perry ’00 said in a post-game press conference. “There were some moments where we played well, but we did not execute at a typical Brown level.”
As the opening whistle blew at Richard Gouse Field, numerous families and alums peered down from the bleachers, eager to see a suspense-filled contest. For the first quarter and a half at least, that’s exactly what they got.
Princeton’s offense took the field first, and on the very first play, Princeton quarterback Kai Colón pushed the ball 19 yards upfield. Over the next 10 plays, the Tigers marched 63 yards to set up a first-and-goal situation.
With only 3 yards to give, Brown’s defense pushed back. After allowing the Tigers to advance the length of the field, the Bears held them out of the end zone for three straight plays, but finally succumbed on the fourth down.
From an empty backfield, Colón threw a tall, 1-on-1 ball to the left side of the end zone, where Princeton receiver Jackson Green snatched it out of the sky, giving the Tigers the first lead of the game.
Bruno’s offense looked sharp early as quarterback James Murphy ’27 fired off three straight completions to get Brown across their own 30-yard line. But on fourth down, Malcolm Flynn ’28 sent a high-arcing punt the Tigers’ way.
Bouncing off the turf, the ball careened forward, ricocheting off an unsuspecting Princeton return man. Without missing a beat, Stefano Montella ’27 seized the ball, breathing new life into Bruno’s drive.
Running back Matt Childs ’28 took hold of the golden opportunity. Breaking several tackles from orange-and-white defenders, the 2024 Ivy League Rookie of the Year outran his opponents 27 yards to the goal line to tie the game.
After Princeton went 3-and-out, the Bears had a chance to claim the lead. Instead, they handed the opportunity right back. Princeton defensive back Nasir Hill tipped a bullet by Murphy into the waiting hands of linebacker Jalen Jones, who returned the ball up to the Brown 21-yard line.
Facing a shortened field, Brown’s defense refused to let Princeton reach the red zone, and after 3 unsuccessful plays, the Tigers had to settle for a 37-yard field goal.
Back on the field, the Bears looked to rebound from the interception. The drive started with a bang, after Childs scrambled for 15 yards off a screen pass and Murphy connected with Levi Linowes ’27 for 14 yards more, pushing Brown into Princeton’s territory.
As the end zones switched for the second quarter, though, it seemed that the Princeton defense switched its mentality as well. The Tigers slowed Bruno’s rapid progress to a crawl, and at the 36-yard line, Princeton forced a fourth-and-five situation. But with the possession on the line, Murphy found Linowes again for a first down. Just 6 plays later, the Bears, now at Princeton’s 1-yard line, faced another dangerous fourth down.
With the crowd on their feet, Brown pushed through once more. Running back Qwentin Brown ’26 walked a direct snap into the end zone, and a successful point-after took the score to 14-10, putting Bruno in the lead for the first time in the game.
Preserving the advantage, Brown’s defense delivered on the next possession. Four plays into the drive, Colón launched a deep ball toward the end zone into a man-on-man situation, but Colón’s receiver tripped in an effort to catch the ball.
Meanwhile, Brown cornerback Kalyl Lindsey ’27 remained sure-footed. Catapulting himself into the air, Lindsey stretched his frame to its limits to corral the ball before it could fall to the turf. The thrilling play sent the Family Weekend crowd into a state of rapture.
Up to this point, the supporters had been treated to a heavyweight title fight, with Brown and Princeton trading blows. But from here on out, the match turned decidedly one-sided.
Bruno began to trip up. A false start by left tackle Charlie Pietrosante ’27 led to a disappointingly short punt by Flynn. Next, the defensive unit allowed an effortless 5-play touchdown drive, capped by a 20-yard catch by speedy Princeton receiver Josh Robinson. The Tigers reclaimed the lead, 17-14.
After the Bears turned the ball over on fourth down, Princeton scored a field goal with less than 20 seconds left in the half. The disappointed Bears entered the locker room down by 6.
“We knew (Princeton was) a very good football team, and they played like it,” Perry said. “Today, we didn’t play our best. Bottom line, we’ve got some good players who were making some plays, but not enough, and it just (didn’t) let up.”
When the Bears emerged from the break, they launched a promising first drive, but when Murphy aimed for the end zone, he fired an errant pass straight into the arms of a Tiger defensive back.
Though the Brown defense stuffed Princeton’s offense on the subsequent drive, the special teams unit committed another costly error.
A low punt bounded toward return man Najih Rahman ’27, who couldn’t read the bounces and muffed the punt. As it ricocheted away, eager Tigers pounced upon the ball, marking Bruno’s second turnover in the half’s first 4 minutes.
Princeton’s offense deftly mixed passing and running plays down to the Brown 1-yard line, where backup quarterback Asher Weiner punched it in on a designed run.
The drive’s final two plays –– a 25-yard dash and a 12-yard touchdown rumble –– displayed the ease with which Princeton was carving up the Bears.
Though Brown scored on their next drive, it did little to raise the Bears’ spirits. Even after Childs recorded his second rushing touchdown of the contest, Princeton’s lead still sat at 12.
Brown’s defense, resolved to put up a fight, created one more opportunity for their offensive unit, demanding a punt from Princeton. But the final nail awaited Murphy as his wayward lob from the Bears’ 5-yard line was easily snagged by Princeton’s Hill –– marking another Murphy interception.
Reflecting on Murphy’s pick-riddled day, Perry said, “James is a mature kid who’s played some really good football this year ... but we got to solve that problem.” Addressing the turnovers will “be a point of emphasis” moving forward, Perry added.
In just two plays, the Tigers struck once more, taking the tally to 40-21, where it finished.
Bruno will look to bounce back when they take on Cornell (1-4, 0-2) in Ithaca this Saturday.
Perry called the matchup against the Big Red an “an unbelievable opportunity,” noting that the Bears haven’t gone on a true overnight away trip so far this season.
