Football: Hartigan plowing through opposing defenses

All running backs get hit. Few hit back.

Brown's Nick Hartigan, however, is one who does.

The 6'2", 195-pound bruiser will lead the Bears (2-4, 1-2 Ivy) Saturday in defending their home field against the Penn football team (6-0, 3-0).

"You watch the tape on this kid, and he's a tough runner," Penn linebacker Ric San Doval said. "He breaks the first tackle. It takes more than one person to bring him down."

With 879 yards on 150 carries, Hartigan is the Ancient Eight's leading rusher. He's only once failed to top the century mark this season, and he's surpassed 200 yards on two occasions.

Last weekend, Hartigan exploded for 201 yards in a 21-7 win over Cornell. It was his sixth rushing touchdown of the year. He has also grabbed one receiving score.

Despite his gaudy numbers, the sophomore running back came into the season a relative unknown. In his rookie campaign, he carried the ball once for four yards.

"He just kind of came out of nowhere," Penn coach Al Bagnoli said. "We had our Ivy League preseason conference back in August, their coach got up and said, 'I think we've [discovered] a pretty good tailback during spring football.' He was talking about Hartigan. We went back and said, 'Hartigan? Who's this kid?'"

They know now.

Hartigan is the bread and butter of the Brown offense. He's ushered in the transition from the pass-oriented Chas Gessner years, to the smashmouth Hartigan era.

"The past three or four years they had Gessner," San Doval said of the former All-Ivy receiver who caught 114 passes in 2002. "He was their go-to guy -- they could pass the ball. They don't have Gessner anymore, so it's on the shoulders of this kid."

That's not to say the Bears are one-dimensional. Against Rhode Island, Brown quarterback Kyle Slager put the ball up 54 times, completing 37 passes for 357 yards.

But Bagnoli said that, like Penn, Brown doesn't want to force the ball through the air. They'd rather dictate the game's tempo with a steady ground game.

"They've always had the ability that, if they want to play wide open, they can do it," he said. "They have some other kids that can make some plays.

"But you take that game away, [and] they think their best chances are with a much more balanced attack. Most of their big plays have come off of big runs, as opposed to long passes."

Hartigan has deceptive speed. Last weekend he broke off a 65-yarder for a score.

And even if the Bears abandon the run, Hartigan is a factor. Out of the backfield, he has gained 148 yards per catch on 14 receptions this season.

Bagnoli used the words "durable," "tough" and "complete" to describe Brown's premier ball carrier. He said that it will take sound tackling and a complete defensive effort to win the matchup.

Any breakdowns, and Hartigan could take over the game.

"It all starts up front," Bagnoli said. "Our down kids have to play well, our linebackers have to be active and our secondary guys, when he does break it, have to be firm tacklers.

"He's made some big plays when he's gotten into the second and third level, and they haven't done a great job of trying to tackle him. To the degree we can tackle him on the second and third level -- when they block our down guys -- will determine what kind of game he has."

There remains one other way to rein Hartigan in -- keep him off the field. Penn running back Sam Mathews will be key to accomplishing that goal.

Mathews' 782 rushing yards are second behind Hartigan in the league, so this is his prime chance to overtake the leader.

Whomever has the better day could very well determine the outcome of the game.

"If Sam Mathews comes out as the No. 1 rusher and we come out with a 'W,' then the defense did their job," San Doval said. "If Sam comes out [on top], that means our offensive line did the job and the defense stepped up.

"If he doesn't, then [the result] may be switched around a little bit."

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