Yale hosts the Brown Bears tomorrow night at 8 PM ET at the Bowl. You can watch the game live on television on NBC Sports Network.
Brown enters the contest at 2-5 overall and 0-4 in the Ivy League as the sole Ivy League squad that has been mathematically eliminated from earning a share of the title. Last week, Brown dropped a home game to Penn 17-7, but was able to find success on defense in the second half. On Penn’s first offensive play of the game, Brown committed a cardinal sin as they did not cover Justin Watson. Watson snagged the ball and ran untouched all the way to pay dirt. Midway through the first period, Watson would score again to make it 14-0. From that point on, Brown played stingy defense and outscored Penn 7-3, yet it was not enough to mount a comeback.
Nicholas Duncan started at QB for the Bears last week and went 13/25 for a paltry 89 yards. Connecticut native Thomas Linta is slated to start this week and leads the Bears in total passing for the season with 59 completions for 677 yards and 5 touchdowns. Linta was able to move the ball effectively on the Elis last year in a sloppy loss to Brown. Freshman Darius Daies leads Brown’s rushing attack and has gained 244 yards on just 48 rushes. Jakob Prall and Jaelon Blandburg are sure-handed wideouts that have 383 yards and 213 yards receiving respectively for the season. LJ Harriott is a talented athlete that can play Wildcat QB, RB or WR. Harriott torched us last year on a long run, so containing him will be an emphasis this week. Brown utilizes a fast paced spread offense with various trick plays to keep defenses honest. Screens, reverses, double passes and fake field goals should be expected. With Phil Estes on the hot seat currently, expect him to pull out all the stops to try to beat Yale.
On defense, DE Dewey Jarvis is the star of the show. Jarvis has 49 tackles, 6 sacks, and 4 forced fumbles on the season. The defensive line is solid all around with DT Michael Hoecht (25 tackles, 2 sacks) and DE Keegan O’Hern (17 tackles, 4 sacks) constantly disrupting plays. Connor Coughlin is a talented free safety, but overall the linebackers and defensive backs should be exploited by the high-powered Yale offense. This is a Brown defense that gave up 45 points to Harvard, 53 points to Princeton and 34 points to Cornell. The recent defensive success versus Penn cannot be overlooked, but Reno needs to find the weak spots and get the offense rolling early against Brown.
Keys to the Game:
- Contain Dewey Jarvis
- Continue dominating on the defensive front
- Play sound defense in the secondary with an eye out for gimmick plays
- Get Rawlings in rhythm early
- Convert on field goals and extra points
5 replies on “Brown Preview”
The last two – and only – night games at the Bowl resulted in blowouts by Penn last year and Harvard the year before. We should better this time, especially if the team follows Tony’s mantra of “one play at a time.” That’s the best prevention for a “trap” game.
Stay focused Blue. Richard Patrick is correct in reflecting Reno’s mantra “one play at a time,win that play!
Stay healthy Bulldogs as we come down the stretch.
I’m worried about this game. Don’t look ahead. Don’t take Brown lightly.
Night games at the Bowl stink
I know that you don’t want to run up the score, but don’t you
need to see if Conte could actually run the offense (other
than handing off) in case Rawlings goes down? So far, no sign that this is true. Is there no better back up QB?