Football: Status quo restored for pass-happy Bears

Anyone who's surprised that 2-4 Brown's passing attack leads the conference in touchdowns, has the third-fewest interceptions and leads the entire FCS in passing yards hasn't been around the Ivy League very long.

Or at least not before 2003.

Ever since Phil Estes took over in 1998, his Bears have run an offense that spreads out the defense and then picks it apart.

"They've always done that, that's kind of been their M.O., their passing attack," Penn coach Al Bagnoli said. "Really, from the time I've been here, pretty much they've been much more pass-first, run-second."

In 1998, Brown used 470 yards from quarterback James Perry, and hundred-yard performances from three receivers to knock off Ivy-champion Penn for the first and only time that year, 58-51.

Thanks also to six rushing touchdowns by Penn's Jim Finn, that game was the highest scoring in league history, and the 30-28 fourth quarter is still the highest in NCAA history.

In that game, Brown attempted 53 passes compared to 15 runs. That strategy worked the next year as well - the Bears grabbed a share of the Ivy championship, but left the team with a 2-8 record in 2002.

Then something happened that the Bears did not intend, causing them to totally revamp their philosophy. They accidentally recruited one of the best running backs in recent Ivy history in Nick Hartigan.

"We always thought that Nick was a step slow, and I just remember his high-school coach saying to us 'the one thing is he's deceptively fast.'" Estes said.

He certainly had no idea that Hartigan would be able to rush for over 4,000 yards in three years starting in 2003, and rake in 47 rushing touchdowns.

"We've always thrown the football, it's just that when we had Hartigan, we just had to turn our offense into what worked best, and that was controlling the football and running it," Estes said.

As far as life after Hartigan, current quarterback Mike Dougherty has taken control of the classic Estes offense. He's already thrown for 2,045 yards as well as 14 touchdowns and only six interceptions.

"As far as our gameplan, it's really versatile, we can really do what we want," Dougherty said. "Sometimes we can go four or five wide, other times we can go two-tight end sets, two backs and one wideout."

Dougherty, like any quarterback, enjoys throwing a lot but admits, "I'd really like to have a more balanced attack."

Brown is second in the Ivies with 31.3 points per game, but its record isn't as pretty.

"It's nice, but 2-4 isn't good, and I'd rather be 6-0 than have 2,000 yards any day of the week," Dougherty said.

The spread offense worked in the late '90s with Ivy Players of the Year Sean Morey (1997) and James Perry (1999), but hasn't put wins on the board post-Hartigan - going 5-11.

Dougherty may break some of the records held by Perry, his quarterback coach. But when his defense is allowing 33 points per game, his chances of repeating the Bears' 1999 and 2005 titles will be slim.

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