Quarterback Show Doesn't Materialize

PROVIDENCE, R.I.--It could have been the showdown of the year. But it wasn't.

Forget the 17-10 Brown win. Forget the Brown penalties and the Harvard turnovers. Forget the fact that neither quarterback figured into the scoring.

What really made the difference Saturday at Brown Stadium was that Brown senior quarterback James Perry won, and Harvard senior quarterback Brad Wilford didn't.

Both players entered the game with strong seasons under their belts. Perry was enjoying a season of 215-of-333 passing for 2319 yards and 22 touchdowns. Before the game, Wilford was 118-of-201 for 1418 yards and seven touchdowns, respectable for a team that had been leading the league in rushing offense.

Perry boosted his Ivy passing records to 8551 yards, 720 completions and 69 touchdowns and is the league's all-time passer.

Wilford lived in the shadows of classmate Rich Linden for three years but has been making a name for himself in his only season as the starter.

Neither lived up to advanced billing on Saturday.

Perry threw for 193 yards on 25-of-44 passing with one interception.

Wilford went 18-for-36 and 175 yards with an astounding four interceptions.

"It definitely wasn't the game I wanted to play," Wilford said. "I was disappointed in how I played personally and how we played as an offense."

Neither quarterback orchestrated the run-and-gun offense that earned each an Ivy League Player of the Week award during the course of the season.

After the first half, with the score tied 3-3, the quarterback duel was a virtual draw.

Wilford was 8-for-16 for 69 yards and two interceptions. Perry was 10-for-21 for 62 yards and a pick.

But to open up the second half, both quarterbacks led drives that briefly showed their potential.

Wilford, starting on the Harvard 25, threw an incompletion before connecting with senior wide receiver Terence Patterson for 26 yards to move the offense to the Brown 43. Four plays later, Wilford found freshman wide receiver Kyle Cremarosa for 14 yards, bringing Harvard to the Brown 29.

After a two-yard carry by senior running back Chris Menick, Wilford hit freshman wide receiver Carl Morris for seven yards. That set up an 11-yard Menick scoring run, the Crimson's only touchdown of the game.

In Perry's next drive, the Bears set up in a five-receiver set, hoping to take advantage of Perry's arm and quick decision-making.

"We've done that quite a bit," Brown Coach Phil Estes said. "We decided at halftime that there were some holes out there that we could take advantage of."

But Perry stuck primarily with his two main targets, freshman Chas Gessner and junior Stephen Campbell, hitting Gessner twice and Campbell thrice to march the Bears down the field from the Brown 24 to the Harvard 42.

"It's frustrating," said Harvard senior defensive end Mike Sands. "He's got a quick release. He does a great job for them."

But the Crimson defense stifled Perry on four plays, forcing a turnover on downs.

After a Crimson three-and-out, Perry got the ball again on his own 31. He then started a march down the field that ended up tying the game at 10-10.

He threw to Campbell for 19 yards to midfield, but it was called back on a false start penalty. Following an incompletion, he hit junior wideout Billy Rackley for 14 yards. After two 6-yard passes to Gessner to put Brown at the Harvard 48, he hit Campbell, Gessner and Campbell again for gains of 13, 12 and 12 yards, respectively. That set up the Brown offense at the 11-yard line, and sophomore running back Mike Malan punched the ball in on two runs.

"They were one of the best defenses we'll face," Perry said. "[But] they were a little easier in the second half."

Just not easy enough.

Faced with a strong defense, Perry's 193 yards passing and -17 yards rushing gave him 176 yards of total offense, well below the 324.43 yards of total offense he was averaging this season heading into Saturday.

"He's a great quarterback," Wilford said. "[But] it's tough to play against our defense. They got a lot of pressure on him and made it tough on him. It's just a testament to how well our defense played."

But the Harvard offense wasn't anything special, either. The offensive line, which gave up four quarterback sacks, left Wilford scrambling out of the pocket on more plays than he could shake a stick at.

After the game, Harvard Coach Tim Murphy spread the blame for Wilford's picks, two of which came at the hands of Brown sophomore defensive back Melvin Justice.

"When a quarterback throws four interceptions, it's a reflection of his protection and it's a reflection of their secondary," Murphy said. "I opened up the program just before the game and I thought, 'Who the hell is Justice?'"

It was Menick who kept the Crimson offense in the game, running 29 times for 110 yards.

Both quarterbacks have two games left to get back on track, but they face vastly different opponents. Brown plays Dartmouth and Columbia, tied for last place in the Ivy. Harvard faces Penn and Yale, two teams with winning Ivy records.

Both Penn and Yale feature strong field generals in sophomore Gavin Hoffman and senior Joe Walland, respectively, giving Wilford two more chances to show up a top Ivy quarterback.