Web Update: Football flounders against Brown onslaught, falls 31-10

After a game like the football team had against Brown on Saturday, it can be difficult to find the silver lining.

Princeton (2-3 overall, 1-1 Ivy League) was defeated handily, 31-10, by Brown (3-2, 2-0) in a matchup of two of the Ivy League's top three teams.

Tiger fans may have had a sinking feeling the game was over early, as senior quarterback and tri-captain Brian Anderson left the game in the third quarter after sustaining an injury to his non-throwing shoulder early in the first half.

"It became apparent, as tough a kid as he is, that he just couldn't be effective," head coach Roger Hughes said.

Even before Anderson's early exit, though, the Tigers were in trouble. After entering halftime down only four, Princeton came out flat in the third quarter, surrendering 17 unanswered points.

Brown opened the second half by returning junior Ben Bologna's kick 33 yards to the Princeton 45. Despite the favorable field position, Brown settled for a 33-yard field goal to extend its lead to 17-10.

During the next pair of drives, the teams traded interceptions. On third and 14, Anderson's pass sailed high and was tipped twice before being picked off by Brown defensive back David Clement near midfield. Just three plays later, Brown quarterback Michael Dougherty responded in kind. The league's leading passer threw a bomb downfield, hitting junior defensive back Carlos Roque in stride and returning the ball to the Tigers.

The Tigers were unable to capitalize on the turnover, going three and out. Brown's Buddy Farnham took senior punter Ryan Coyle's punt all the way back to the Princeton 20-yard line, though, and on the next play, Dougherty found Farnham in the Tiger endzone to extend the Bears' lead to 24-10.

"I would classify [Farnham] as a warrior," Brown head coach Phil Estes said. "And he's always right in the middle of it as a receiver."

Late in the third quarter, junior quarterback and defensive back Dan Kopolovich replaced Anderson. The change at signal-caller did not help Princeton's stalled offense, as Kopolovich was sacked on third down, losing the football in the process.

Brown recovered the pigskin on the Princeton 20. Farnham ran the ball into the endzone two plays later to give the Bears a three-touchdown advantage. It was a lead they would maintain through the end of the game.

Farnham proved to be the big star for Brown, recording 285 all-purpose yards and scoring two touchdowns. One hundred and twenty-four of Farnham's yards came off punt returns, giving the Bears favorable field position for nearly every drive.

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"It's hard to play defense when you have to do it on your end of the field every time," Hughes said.

To start the game, however, Princeton was the beneficiary of good field position. The Tigers held the ball at their own 40 after Brown's opening kick trickled out of bounds. Anderson and the Princeton offense engineered a methodical drive downfield, including a 10-yard pass to senior wideout and tri-captain Adam Berry that brought the Tigers to Brown's one-yard line.

Despite their proximity to the endzone, the Tigers were unable to capitalize. Junior tailback Jordan Culbreath was stopped for no gain on consecutive plays before Anderson failed to find an open receiver on third down.

"I'm not quite sure how we got stopped on that opening drive," Hughes said. "It'll be interesting to look at the tape and see what happened ... Things just kind of snowballed from there."

The goal-line stand by the Bears forced Hughes to turn to Bologna, who put an 18-yard field goal through the uprights to give the Tigers a 3-0 lead to open the game.

Brown quickly answered, engineering a one-minute, 58-second touchdown drive punctuated by Dougherty's 34-yard run that brought the Bears down to the Princeton six-yard line. On the next play, running back Dereck Knight forced his way through the Tiger defense to put six on the board for Brown.

After shutting down Princeton on its next drive, the Brown offense picked up right where it left off. The Bears chewed up 70 yards in only 1:20, with wideout Bobby Sewall running the ball two yards into the endzone off a direct snap. After putting through the extra point, Brown held an early 14-3 lead.

The Tigers finally caught a break early in the second period when Coyle pinned Brown at its own seven-yard line. The Princeton defense contained Dougherty and forced Brown to punt from its own 18-yard line.

Beginning the Tigers' drive at their own 31, Anderson fired a strike down the middle of the field to senior wideout Will Thanheiser for 33 yards. Anderson followed that play with a 20-yard completion to sophomore wide receiver Trey Peacock to bring Princeton into the red zone. Set up in the shotgun on the next play, Anderson handed the ball off to sophomore defensive back Meko McCray, who quickly cut outside and tiptoed his way along the out-of-bounds line into the endzone to pull the Tigers within four.

Princeton, however, failed to close the gap in the second half without Anderson.

"Brown kicked our backside," Hughes said. "We just couldn't get anything going offensively."

The Brown defense held Culbreath - the league's leading rusher - to just 67 yards on 16 carries, his second-lowest total of the year.

"Going into the game, one of our main goals was to hold number 21 under 100 yards, and we did that," Estes said.

Despite the loss, Hughes remained optimistic about the Tigers' chances for the remaining games this season.

"I don't think we're three touchdowns worse than [Brown], but we played that way today," the Princeton coach said. "Clearly it wasn't our day, but who's to say it won't be the next five times we're on the field."