Scouting Brown

The Miracle Worker: Phil Estes

There may be no greater evidence of the talents of Brown Head Coach Phil Estes than the 2012 season.

Estes and the Bears lost dynamite QB Kyle Newhall-Caballero and a host of great receivers to graduation. He lost RB Spiro Theodosi four games into the season to yet another injury. His team has lost deflating games to Harvard, Princeton, and Penn and bounced back each time with wins the following weeks. 

In a word, Phil Estes perseveres. 

He perseveres despite weak administration support and the poorest facilities in the Ivies. 

How is he doing it this year?

Offense

First, he's getting a pretty good season out of QB Patrick Donnelly who's throwing for 226 yards per game and has a decent 12 TD's to 9 INT's ratio. 

He's getting a great season from big WR Tellef Lundevall who's grabbing more than seven passes a game for a 10-yard average per catch.

He's getting a super season from an offensive line that has allowed just 11 sacks and has somehow helped the Bears average 138 rushing yards per game despite the lack of a star runner. 

Not too shabby. 

No, the 21 points per game average is not the kind of number we're used to seeing from the juggernaut Brown offense. But it's solid.

The running back who appears to be the go-to guy on the ground these days is senior Jeffrey Izon, who has been getting eight or nine carries per game since Theodosi went down. But don't sleep on Jordan Reisner who exploded against Cornell for 193 yards a few weeks ago. 

The other big offensive weapon is WR Jonah Fay, a senior who averages a healthy 13.7 yards per catch and has three TD's. He may be especially motivated Saturday to make up for a crushing drop against the Lions last year that probably cost Brown a TD. 

Defense

This is a much improved unit and it's not like last year's Bear defense was bad. 

Brown has the second best rushing defense in the league, despite giving up a ton of yards to Dartmouth's Dominic Pierre last week. 

The stars on the defensive line at Michael Yules and Ross Walthall, who have 23.5 tackles for a loss between them and Yules has five sacks. 

The Brown linebacking crew is the real deal. Steve Zambetti, Adewole Oyalowo, and sophomore rising star Daniel Giovacchini who has 56 tackles and 12 tackles for a loss.

The Bear defensive backs are not too shabby either. AJ Cruz is finally a senior and still one of the best if not the best DB in the Ivies. He has help from Reed Watne and Anthony Franciosi who are also seniors. 

In short, if this team has the Brown offense we've been used to seeing the last several years, the 2012 Bears would probably be 8-1 and playing for a title. This defense has done little to let the club down.

Special Teams

Kicker Alex Norocea is probably the best in the Ivies. He's a perfect 24-24 on PAT's and 9-11 on FG's with a 46-yarder and a 4-5 mark on kicks of 40 or more. 

But after that, the usually fearsome Brown special teams aren't very special this season.

Punter Nathaniel Meyer is just average, kickoff specialist Grant Senne usually doesn't kick it inside the 10, and the punt and kick returners haven't really lit up the field this year.