Despite a meek first half in which they put up zero points, the Brown football team (3-1, 0-1 Ivy) roared back at Bryant (2-5, 0-3 Coastal Athletic Association) in the second half on Friday night to steal a 29-19 victory. The in-state contest between the Bears and the Bulldogs was decided by more than one score for the first time since 2013.
The statement win at Bryant, combined with their upset against URI in the Governor’s Cup last week, gives Brown the right to call themselves unofficial state champions –– a feat they hadn’t accomplished in the preceding seven years. Sweeping the other two Division I teams in the state, Bruno stands alone on the highest perch of Rhode Island collegiate football.
The 2025 Bears are no strangers to drama –– every one of their games this season held its fair share of significance. The season opener’s 46-0 win against Georgetown was Brown’s largest margin of victory since 2013, yet the highly anticipated Harvard vs. Brown clash culminated in a 41-7 collapse. And in the Governor’s Cup last week, the Bears clinched their first victory against a national top-10 opponent since 1981.
Maybe it’s fitting, then, that the Bears’ bumpy ride refused to settle into a smooth win on Friday.
“At Brown, we don’t want things to be easy,” Head Coach James Perry ’00 said at a post-game press conference. “Coming from behind is an opportunity. I think the kids showed great resilience.”
The opening drives gave away no hints of the offensive production to come for either side. Instead, a defensive skirmish emerged. On the game’s very first series, quarterback James Murphy ’27 was hit as he released a deep ball toward the red zone, resulting in a Bryant interception.
The Bears and the Bulldogs traded punts on their next two possessions before Bruno recorded a sudden turnover of their own. On a run up the middle, Bryant running back Dylan Kedzior coughed up the football at the line of scrimmage. When the resulting pile of white, black and gold finally disentangled, it was Brown defensive lineman Ike Odimegwu ’27 who secured the ball.
Unlike the Bears, Bryant's offense managed to push through their opponent's defense in the first half.
But Bruno was unable to build on the momentum. The ensuing drive ended in disappointment when Murphy was sacked on a long fourth-down conversion attempt at Bryant’s 29-yard line.
Unlike the Bears, Bryant managed to capitalize on their opponent’s turnover. The Bulldogs methodically marched 63 yards down the field in 7 plays and capped their drive off with a 14-yard touchdown run by tailback Elijah Elliott.
The extra point attempt from Bryant kicker Nicholas Stoyanovich, though, sailed wide right, holding Bryant’s advantage to 6.
But after giving up a touchdown, the defense came up with a turnover during their next appearance. On a deep 40-yard shot to the left sideline, Brown cornerback Elias Archie ’26 was in one-on-one coverage against Bryant’s Zyheem Collick. Swiveling to position his body towards the underthrown pass, Archie — who also recorded a pick against URI — dove for the ball and collected it before it could touch the turf.
But yet again, Brown’s offense looked lost after their defense delivered, and after advancing only 23 yards, they punted once more. Capitalizing on the change of possession, Bryant’s offense embarked on a 92-yard journey into the end zone, forcing Murphy and company to sit and wait for over 7 minutes in game time. The Bulldogs hammered the Bruno defense with deft runs, pushing Brown’s defensive line further and further toward their own end zone.
After 11 plays, a worn-down Bears defensive unit succumbed to a 1-yard punch-in by Elliott in which no defensive lineman managed to shake their blocker. A wayward throw by Bryant quarterback Jaden Keefner on the 2-point conversion kept the score at 12-0.
Brown’s defense trudged to the bench, and the offense emerged for a 2-minute drive that would need to be perfect in order to give the Bears any points and momentum going into halftime. But once more, the offensive unit failed to rise to the occasion, and after a swift 3-and-out, Brown entered the locker room unsettled and adrift.
But if the Bulldogs dominated the first half, it was Bruno who commanded the second.
As if they had been shot out of a cannon, the Bears began their post-halftime quest, determined to make this match competitive. Bryant got the ball first, and they could only move the ball 3 yards — 89 less than their last drive — before punting. Brown’s defense stuffed 2 runs up the gut and broke up a pass over the middle with relative ease, giving the Bears’ offense a chance to cut into Bryant’s lead.
For the first time all game, the offense stepped up. Two strong runs by 2024 Ivy League Rookie of the Year Matt Childs ’28 created first down opportunities. Only a few plays later, from Bryant’s 47-yard line, Murphy delivered a missile over the middle to an in-stride Trevor Foley ’28 on a slant route. The pass sliced through the Bulldogs, creating a lane to the goal line which Foley had no problem taking advantage of. Outstripping Bryant’s secondary by multiple paces for his first career touchdown, the 6-foot-3-inch receiver changed the game with one sprint.
A lesser opponent may have been resigned to Brown’s second-half momentum, but Bryant would not give up so easily.
Now, the momentum was squarely swinging toward the Brown sideline. Bruno’s defense refused to back down, stopping three straight Bulldog runs to force another three-and-out.
Brown’s next drive was nothing like its predecessor’s quick strike, but it was just as effective. Mixing running and passing plays, Bruno worked down to Bryant’s 22-yard line before Murphy threw a short screen pass to Levi Linowes ’27. The 240-pound tight end barreled down the right sideline like a freight train, throwing off would-be tacklers and diving toward the goal line. In the end, the referees marked the ball just 1 yard short of a touchdown. From a pistol formation, Murphy handed the ball off to Childs, who willed himself through the crowd into the end zone.
Perry seemed intent on pressuring the Bulldogs while he had the advantage, calling for a 2-point conversion. Backup quarterback Will Currid ’28 rolled out of the pocket to his left, and the southpaw sent the ball right back to Linowes to push Bruno’s advantage to 15-12.
By now, there had been four drives in the second half — two hasty punts for Bryant and two convincing touchdowns for Brown. A lesser opponent may have been resigned to Brown’s momentum, but Bryant would not give up so easily.
The Bulldog offense quickly worked downfield in a manner reminiscent of their first half precision. Once they reached Brown’s 16-yard line, Keefner delivered a high-arcing dart toward the left boundary of the end zone. Bulldog receiver Aldrich Doe, leaping and contorting his lengthy frame, snatched the ball out of the night sky and nimbly tapped his left toes on the green, in-bounds for a touchdown. A successful point-after kick made the score 19-15 — advantage Bryant.
After the two teams traded scoreless possessions, Solomon Miller ’26 caught a deep 50-50 ball near the right sideline, where he ripped the ball out of a Bryant defensive back’s hands. A targeting penalty on Bryant’s Lonnie Rice led to his ejection and moved the ball to Bryant’s 11-yard line. Finally, Childs punched in yet another goal line score.
After yet another stop by the defense, Murphy’s offense trotted back out with a chance to put the contest out of reach –– and that’s exactly what they did. An unrelenting running back committee of Childs and Qwentin Brown ’26, powered by the offensive line, moved the ball down the field. Then, at Bryant’s 26-yard line, the game’s signature play materialized.
Murphy handed the ball off to Qwentin Brown from the shotgun, who ran straight up the middle and appeared to have been stalled by Bryant’s defensive front. But Bruno’s offensive line had other plans. In an amazing display of strength, three linemen, clad in white and brown, served as Qwentin Brown’s personal security detail, literally pulling him over 10 yards past the black and gold danger and clearing his way to the end zone.
“The offensive line has no quit,” Childs said at a post-game press conference. “Without (the offensive line), there’s no pass game, there’s no run game and I think they go sometimes uncredited with most of our success. Those guys are the oil to our engine.”
Another successful point-after kick made the score 29-19. With a little more than 4 minutes left in the game, the Bulldogs launched a final attack. But on a fourth-and-9, the Bruno defensive line broke through, forcing an incompletion and sending Bryant’s offense off for the last time. The Bears walked away with the 29-19 victory.
“The way we prepared makes me really proud, because seeing us stick with it, it’s hard to do,” Perry said. “We played a really good team, a really talented team, and just stuck together. That’s as good a half as you can have.”
Looking ahead, the Bears have six straight Ivy League matchups scheduled to close the regular season. They will host Princeton (2-2, 1-0) on Saturday at noon.
