Brown takes control of trenches and defeats Penn football, 21-13

Penn football wide receiver Danny Ferens threw his hands on his helmet in disbelief, staring at the perfect throw from quarterback Alek Torgersen that was now bouncing benignly on the turf.

He had just dropped what would have been a game-tying touchdown, the second sure-fire scoring opportunity that the Quakers had bungled in a three play span midway through the third quarter against Brown.

Minutes later, the Bears would resume doing what they had been doing best all day: manhandling the line of scrimmage with an efficient running game and choking the life out of Penn in a 21-13 victory.

A bitterly cold rain drove much of the anticipated homecoming crowd away — attendance was down 61 percent compared to last year’s game against Princeton — and the Quakers (1-6, 1-3 Ivy) didn’t give the several thousands that braved the rain many reasons to cheer in the early going.

Penn punted on its opening four possessions and only truly came to life on its final drive of the first half, when Torgersen orchestrated a 65- yard drive that ended with backup quarterback Adam Strouss plunging in from a yard out to cut a 14-0 Bears lead in half just 39 seconds before the break.

The Bears (4-3, 2-2) were able to match the Red and Blue’s effort on the ground, and then some, as the driving rain wound up producing an unlikely hero. Backup quarterback Seth Rosenbauer — who only had 18 carries entering Saturday’s contest — tore Penn’s front seven to shreds, rushing for 206 yards on 30 attempts and adding two short touchdowns.

“I don’t know if anybody expected that I would get 30 carries,” he said. “But the weather ended up like that.”

“You’re as good as your down linemen allow you to be at times,” Penn coach Al Bagnoli added. “And today I thought they dominated us up front, and that was really the difference in the game .”

In contrast, the Quakers were only able to pick up 37 yards on 23 attempts, resulting in a pitiful 1.6 yards per carry average. Forced to throw, Torgersen completed 30 of 47 passes, but at the price of absorbing a number of huge hits from Brown defensive end Henry Bumpus .

Brown starting quarterback Marcus Fuller had a solid day in his own right given the conditions, throwing a beautiful strike to Reiley Higgins for a 36 yard touchdown in the second quarter and completing 14 of 27 passes.

But Penn’s much-maligned secondary had one of its strongest games of the season. Senior cornerback Kevin Ijoma , who was benched during last week’s 43-21 loss against Yale, nearly had an interception and kept a rotating assignment of Brown receivers mostly quiet. The Beras avoid senior cornerback Dan Wilk for much of the afternoon.

Once again, though, Penn’s defense failed to force a turnover — it hasn’t generated a takeaway in Ivy play — and the Quakers’ offense was unable to do much with the opportunities it was able to create for itself.

Two plays before Ferens’ drop, Torgersen badly underthrew freshman receiver Justin Watson when there was nary a Brown defender within 10 yards of him. And after Rosenbauer’s rushing touchdown off a fumbled snap made it 21-7, the Quakers were stopped inside the one-yard line on fourth and goal.

“This is about as frustrated as I’ve been all season,” Bagnoli said. “We certainly can play better. I’m frustrated that I can’t get this team to take the next step and continually build upon [things] week to week.

“So I’m as frustrated as I’ve been in a long time.”

Penn was able to pick up a window dressing touchdown with 37 seconds to play when Torgersen hit Watson for a 22-yard score, but the snap on the extra point went awry, and the Bears recovered the ensuing onside kick.

Brown has now beaten the Red and Blue three times in the last four years, holding Penn to a combined 13 points in those triumphs.

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