Elis face Bears' explosive offense, porous defense

If the Brown offense played the Brown defense, all passing records known to man would be obliterated. Quarterback Eric Webber '01 leads Div. I-AA in completions per game and is fifth in passing yards, and receiver Stephen Campbell '01 is tops in the division in receptions and receiving yards per game. More remarkable is the fact that the duo have put up these numbers without having played against the most porous passing defense in Div. I-AA—their own, which has given up more than 329 passing yards per game.

JULIA TIERNAN/YH Jim Keppel, SY '02, is a rushing and receiving threat.

To the relief of the Brown Stadium scoreboard, the above scenario will remain a mere fantasy. Instead, on Sat., Nov. 4, Webber, Campbell and company will have to contend with Yale. Last week, in the Bulldogs' 41-0 thrashing of Columbia at the Yale Bowl, strong safety Ryan LoProto, SM '02, single-handedly outscored the Lions 14-0 by running back two interceptions for touchdowns. For the game, the Bulldog secondary outgained the league-worst Lion passing offense, returning three interceptions for 115 yards while Columbia only mustered 100 yards on 39 passing plays.

On the season, the Yale defense leads the league in passing yardage allowed, pass efficiency, and interceptions. Of course, that means less in the pass-happy Ivies, in which every other team gives up more than 200 passing yards per game and ranks in the bottom half of Div. I-AA in pass yardage defense and scoring defense.

Yale captain and linebacker Pete Mazza, JE '01, said the keys to defending Brown are staying aggressive and watch out for surprise plays. "A lot of what they do is try to get you to guess and get you back on your heels," he said. "They try to run when the pass offense is out there and throw the ball when you don't expect them to." In the Bears' 56-40 shootout win over Cornell on Sat., Oct. 21, the Big Red were duped by a direct snap to Brown running back Mike Malan '02 in the first half. Malan lofted the ball for a 21-yard touchdown pass to Campbell.

The Bears racked up a league-record 690 total yards in the same game, and Malan took advantage of Cornell's Ivy-worst rushing defense to run for 234 yards and three touchdowns. After watching a tape of Fordham running back Arthur Gaskin '03 gaining 105 yards against Yale on Sat., Oct. 14—just a week after Brown dismantled the Rams, 44-17—Malan, who is third in the league in rushing with 133 yards per game, said that Brown will try to exploit this perceived weakness in Yale's rushing defense. "It was pretty surprising that Fordham was able to run like they did," Malan said. "We normally air it out, but I think we'll be more balanced this week."

As solid as the Bulldog defense has been, Yale Coach Jack Siedlecki acknowledged that the Bears' offense poses a formidable threat. "The best way to stop the Brown offense is to keep it on their bench," he said. "We must have a great game offensively." Yale running back Rashad Bartholomew, MC '01, who was averaging 155 rushing yards before missing last week's game, practiced this week and should return against Brown. With Bartholomew in tow, the Bulldogs held the edge in time of possession for the first six games of the season. First-year starting quarterback Peter Lee, TD '02, has quietly put up passing numbers comparable to those of legendary quarterback Joe Walland, TD '00, completing 64 percent of his passes and throwing 14 touchdowns to just three interceptions.

W. X-Country

Record: 5-1. 3-1 Ivy Recent Results: Won vs. Columbia, 41-0 Coming Up: Sat., Nov. 4 at Brown

Mazza has confidence in Yale's offense, but he would prefer not to get into a typical Brown shootout—in Ivy games, on average, the Bears have been outscored 45-40. "I definitely think our offense has the ability to score that many points," Mazza said, "but we don't want to get trapped in one of those types of games."

If the Bulldogs do find themselves down big at halftime, though, they may have Brown right where they want them. In the Bears' first three Ivy games this year, they were outscored by a combined 100-48 in the second half. Last week, Penn came back from an 18-point deficit in the final five minutes to beat Brown, 41-38. "I don't know what's happened to us," said Brown strong safety Bob Parisien '03 of the Bears' late-game collapses.

Last year, in the season opener at the Yale Bowl, Brown was able to come from behind with a late drive and a fluke two-point conversion, putting Yale in a must-win position for the rest of the Ivy season. This came a year after the Bulldogs shocked Brown on a last second touchdown pass by Walland. "The way we won in the last game up in their place, and the way the game was decided last year, there's not a lot of love lost between the two teams," Mazza said.

This year, after an Ivy-opening, one-point loss at Cornell on Sat., Sept. 23, the Bulldogs, in a must-win position again, have shown remarkable fortitude in winning five straight. In three of those wins, the Bulldogs were trailing in the second half. A second-half comeback against Brown would be the easiest there is—and maybe the sweetest.

Back to Sports...