700 yards... in a one game? (Scouting Brown)

Bobby Sewell, Brown's new "Mr. Everything" (CREDIT: Brown Athletics)


In last week's 59-35 win over Dartmouth, Brown gained 619 total yards on offense. You read that right: 619 YARDS!!! Put that up against a Columbia team that's the most generous in the Ivies this season and you have a possible recipe for some serious gains.

Bear Head Coach Phil Estes is back to his old tricks again, running a pass-happy offense and grinding out the points in big chunks. Remember it was Estes who took former coach Mark Whipple's passing philosophy and ran with it in the late 1990's. That got derailed a bit when Nick Hartigan came around and made running the ball a lot more attractive.

After suffering through four years of the erratic Joe DiGiacomo at QB, Estes must be kicking himself for not starting current signal-caller Michael Dougherty sooner. Dougherty is a junior now and he's having a fine season, with a .581 completion percentage and 18 TD passes. He does have 10 interceptions, but he's still making a case to be the 1st team All Ivy QB this season.

It helps to have the kind of receiving corps Doughtery has to throw to. Sophomore Buddy Farnham has the most catches with 73 for 830 yards and nine TD's. But I think senior Paul Raymond, (49 catches for 899 yards and 4 TD's), is more dangerous, and I expect him to be especially motivated for his final game.

And then there's Bobby Sewell. The sophomore has been impressive all season, but last week against the Big Green he absolutley played like he was from another galaxy. He ran for four TD's and THREW for another one in that Bear win. He's mostly a receiver, but he has 32 carries this season for 224 yards and six touchdowns.

The offensive line has had a great year. Without a really strong running back, Brown is still gaining over 100 yards per game on the ground. Meanwhile, they've only given up 10 sacks. Bear fans must be drooling over their team's future provided something can be done about the defense.

The "D" is giving up close to 200 yards per game on the ground and almost 270 yards per game through the air. The lowest points allowed total in a game they've had this season is 17, (even Columbia can boast better than that... they only gave up 7 points against Marist). And a lot of their defensive stats were deceivingly skewed by the horrible weather at Yale Bowl two weeks ago when the Bears walked away with a respectable-looking 17-7 loss.

Another issue is Brown's ability to win on the road. So far this season, they haven't, going 0-3.

All signs point to a high-scoring game this Saturday, as the weather looks like it will cooperate. (Forecast as of now is 46 degrees and partly sunny).