Football analysis: Bears get momentum early, pressure Anderson

Princeton (2-3, 1-1) began its first drive with favorable field position after Bears’ placekicker Robert Ranney’s opening kickoff bounced out of bounds, putting the Tigers at their own 40-yard line to start the game. Despite driving deep inside the red zone, however, the Tigers were unable to cross the goal line. Junior placekicker Ben Bologna punched an 18-yard field goal through the uprights, and the Tigers had a 3-0 lead that would prove to be their only lead of the game.

Head coach Roger Hughes pointed to Princeton’s inability to strike on the first drive of the game as an early indication that things weren’t going to go right for his team.

“We got the ball down on the one and didn’t score,” Hughes said. “There is just no excuse for that. Anytime you can score on the first drive, it’s great momentum.”

On the other side of the ball, Brown quarterback Mike Dougherty established himself as a passing and running threat on the Bears’ first drive.

After a 34-yard keep by Dougherty got the Bears in the red zone, running back Dereck Knight crossed the goal line for a six-yard touchdown, giving Brown a 7-3 lead and momentum the Bears did not relinquish.

From the outset, senior quarterback and tri-captain Brian Anderson was pressured by Brown’s front seven and never looked comfortable in the pocket.

Bears head coach Phil Estes recognized that his defense’s success in hurrying Anderson out of the pocket was a difference-maker.

“We wanted to put a body on him,” Estes said. “We wanted to put pressure on him. We did that.”

Hughes also noted that the opposition’s ability to put pressure on Anderson early was expected.

“I wasn’t surprised by the pass rush,” Hughes said. “We just didn’t do a good job of understanding where they were coming from.”

Aside from the significant pressure on Anderson in the early part of the game, the senior’s early exit from the matchup also helped propel the Bears to their second Ancient Eight victory of the season.

During the first quarter, Anderson injured his right shoulder. Hughes noted that it became obvious in the third quarter that Anderson was not looking like himself, leading to the decision to take him out of the game.

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Anderson’s replacements were also unable to elude the Bears’ incessant pass rush. The duo of junior Dan Kopolovich, who also starts as a defensive back, and freshman Tommy Wornham only gained 12 yards through the air. Kopolovich took responsibility for his performance in the game as one of Anderson’s substitutes.

“You are supposed to be able to come in and make plays, and I just wasn’t able to do that [Saturday],” he said.

In a game in which the Orange and Black had more drives than points, tallying 10 points on 12 attempts, touchdowns were hard to come by.

As the game went on, the Tigers’ front seven was able to break through the Bears’ offensive line and get to Dougherty, sacking him twice. Despite the pressure from Princeton’s defense, though, Dougherty was still able to march his team down the field and put points on the board. Wide receiver Buddy Farnham had an especially successful outing, catching six passes for 79 yards, amassing another 124 yards on the ground and scoring a touchdown.

Though Dougherty’s performance this week was nowhere near his Ivy League-record 526-yard performance in a losing effort to Holy Cross on Oct. 11, he was effective enough in the pocket to lead his team to a sizeable victory, completing 14 of 27 passes for 181 yards.

At the end of the day, Brown’s ability to dictate the pace of the game with its successful blitz packages and the fact that Princeton’s offense stalled, especially after Anderson left the game, resulted in the three-touchdown difference.

After the game, Hughes noted that the Bears beat Princeton in every statistical aspect of the matchup, especially on offense where Brown accumulated 340 yards of total offense to the Tigers’ 197.

“Brown beat us in every category,” Hughes said. “It just wasn’t our day.”

Despite the loss, it is still early in the Ivy League season, and the Tigers must bounce back quickly to prepare for their matchup against Harvard on Saturday, Oct. 25.

Hughes is confident that, though his starting quarterback went down in a tough loss, his team will be able to move on.

“All we can do is play one at a time,” Hughes said. “If we start to fray a little bit, we have no chance. But I believe the character of this team will show through.”