Coming off of their biggest win of the year against Penn last weekend, the football team (3-5, 1-4 Ivy League) was unable to keep their momentum rolling, losing to Yale (6-2, 4-1) in a 69-17 blowout Saturday.
Yale’s 69 points marks the most Brown has allowed in a game in program history and the most the Bulldogs have scored since 1929, according to Brown Athletics.
“Credit to Yale — they played very well and we played very poorly, which you just can’t do against a team like that,” said Head Coach James Perry ’00. “We’ll go back and watch the film and look for ways to get better, and I know the team will be hungry to do that.”
Yale was firing on all cylinders from the start, jumping out to a commanding 17-0 lead in the first quarter. But the Bulldogs put the game beyond Bruno’s reach in the second quarter, as Yale scored 35 points — 14 more than Brown has allowed in any other quarter this season. The Bears also allowed three offensive touchdowns and two defensive touchdowns in the quarter — one off a fumble recovery and the other following an interception.
Yale’s elite running game was on full display at the center of their offensive outburst. The Bulldogs, whose 226.1 rushing yards per game currently ranks ninth in the Football Championship Subdivision and first in the Ivy League by more than 60 yards on average, tallied 340 against the Bears’ defense, who have allowed the most rushing yards per game of any team in the Ivy League.
“Definitely we came out with more fire last week, more energy,” defensive back Jalen Fisher ’23 said. “We got a little bit too complacent in practice and it showed.”
Bruno struggled on the offensive side as well, scoring just three points in the first half and one touchdown in each of the final two quarters to finish with a total of 17 points. The Bears’ touchdowns were scored by wide receiver Wes Rockett ’23 and running back Allen Smith ’22.5, who also ran for a season-high 76 yards on the afternoon.
“We didn't play (as) the best version of ourselves and that led to that outcome that we had,” Smith said. “Yale has a great team. (They) played hard.”
The Bears entered the game without primary quarterback Jake Willcox ’24, who was sidelined due to injury. Backup QB Aidan Gilman ’23, who was named the Ivy Offensive Player of the Week for his performance against Penn last weekend, went 24-for-36 with 150 passing yards. Gilman was eventually replaced in the fourth quarter by Will Jarvis ’25, who saw his first action of the season as quarterback and threw his first career touchdown.
The Bears now have just two games on their schedule remaining against Ivy opponents Columbia and Dartmouth. Next week’s Senior Day matchup against the Lions will mark the Bears’ last game at Brown Stadium this season and will be available to stream on ESPN+.
This loss against Yale “was an anomaly. That is not Brown Football,” Perry said. “Columbia’s going to be a very good football team, so it’ll be incumbent upon us to practice like it and make the changes from today that are gonna be required to play better.”
“The team is really just encouraged by the fact that we are able to play really good football and beat really good teams” like Penn, Smith said. “We’ll look to bounce back and finish the schedule on a high note.”
Linus is a sports editor from New York City. He is a junior concentrating in English, and when he's out of The Herald office you can find him rooting for the Mets, watching Star Wars or listening to The Beach Boys.
