Yale Puts Up Most Points Since 1930 in Win over Brown

In a game that saw a combined 1,034 yards of offense, Brown came up on the short end of a 63-38 final against Yale on Saturday afternoon at Richard Gouse Field at Brown Stadium. The 101 combined points were the most scored in a Brown game this season, while the Bears put up over 500 yards of offense for the third time this season.

With his first touchdown pass of the game to Wes Rockett, senior quarterback EJ Perry set a new Ivy League record for consecutive games with a touchdown pass, recording one for the 16th straight game dating back to Oct. 5, 2019 vs URI.

Perry also moved into fourth all-time on Brown’s career passing yards list (5,499) and fourth on the school’s list for career completions (489).

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
Perry was 21-for-37 through the air for 261 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for 74 yards on six carries, including a season-long 56-yard run to set up a field goal. Perry also caught his first pass of the season, a career-long 64-yard catch-and-run for his first career receiving touchdown.
Michael McGovern also threw two completions for 75 yards, including a 64-yard scoring strike down the left sideline to Perry in the second quarter.
Senior tailback Allen Smith rushed for 87 yards on 20 carries while scoring one touchdown, and also added 58 yards receiving on four receptions.
Four Brown receivers had at least 58 yards receiving, led by sophomore Graham Walker, who had six catches for 66 yards, four of which came on either third or fourth down conversions in the opening half.
Wes Rockett now has a team-leading eight touchdowns on the season after catching three more on Saturday as part of a five-catch, 61-yard performance.
Yale’s 63 points were the most scored by the Bulldogs in a game since they scored 66 in a game against Alfred in 1930.

HOW IT HAPPENED:
Yale struck first on their opening drive, needing two plays to go 72 yards and scoring on a 61-yard pass from Nolan Grooms to Melvin Rouse II.
Brown tied it up at the 6:44 mark after a 10-play drive, capped off by a spectacular catch by Rockett, who caught the ball behind him at the two, spun and reached across the goal line by the front left pylon while being tackled for a 24-yard touchdown catch. The drive was spurred by a 25-yard pass to Walker on 3rd-and-8, and later an 11-yard completion to Walker on 4th-and-2 from the Yale 40.
Brown jumped in front on its next drive, going 77 yards on six plays, spurred by a big 48 and catch-and run by Smith to set up first and goal ant the five. Two plays later, Perry found Rockett once again in the left side of the end zone for a five-yard scoring strike to put the Bears up by seven.
Yale responded on the ensuing drive, going 58 yards on five plays and tying the score 14-14 on a 27-yard pass from Grooms to David Pantelis in the back left side of the end zone with six seconds left in the opening quarter.
Yale regained the lead 21-14 at the 10:59 mark of the second after Joseph Shell stripped the quarterback on a rush, but the loose ball was picked up by Yale’s Pantelis at the 21-yard line and ran in from there for the go-ahead touchdown.
The Bears quickly retied the score just three plays and 43 seconds later with some trickery. Michael McGovern hit Perry, who beat the defender down the left sideline for a huge 64-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown. The play was Perry’s first reception of the season and the first Brown pass attempt by someone other than Perry this season. It was also Perry’s second career reception and his first touchdown catch.
The Bulldogs once again responded with an eight-play, 62-yard scoring drive to go back in front 28-21 on a four-yard touchdown rush up the middle at 5:37.
Yale took a 14-point lead with 3:20 left until halftime on a 60-yard pick-six off a deflected pass by Sean Guyton.
Brown embarked on another big scoring drive of nine plays, 61-yards in 2:36, capped by a 10-yard touchdown run by Smith with 37 seconds left to make it a 35-28 game heading into halftime. Prior to the score, the drive was extended by another big 10-yard catch by Walker on 4th-and-5, which got Brown into the red zone.
Yale scored right out of the gate on a 65-yard pass over the middle on their third play from scrimmage to open the second half and go back up by 14.
Once again, the Bears provided a quick answer to pull within seven once again. Following a fourth down conversion, Perry found Rockett for his third touchdown of the game on just his fourth catch, this one for 21 yards over the middle.
The Bulldogs’ defense scored their second touchdown of the day with 1:11 remaining in the third on a strip-sack deep in Brown territory resulted in a one-yard return for a touchdown to increase the lead to 49-35.
Perry uncorked a 56-yard rush, his longest of the season, on the first play following the touchdown, setting Brown up 1st-and-10 at the Yale 19-yard line. Three plays later, Christopher Maron stepped up and drilled a 36-yard field goal to trim the deficit to 49-38 with 14:49 to go in the game.
Yale came back with an eight play, 75-yard drive to take a 56-38 lead on a two-yard rush. The Bulldogs then added some insurance with one final touchdown on a five-yard run by Alston with 3:14 remaining.

QUOTES FROM THE COACH: JAMES PERRY
“We knew Yale was very good. We love playing at home and the kids were really excited to play and test themselves, and Yale met the challenge. We threw some punches at them in the first half and they handled it like the championship team that we’re aspiring to be. Our guys played and fought hard, and we’re proud of them for that. It kills me to coach guys who play and practice hard, and not win. It’s a great group. We’ll look to make the corrections and move on. We have to give Yale credit. We knew they were good and they took our best punch.”
Right now, we are a young team that plays hard and gives itself a chance to win, but makes a lot of mistakes. That’s frustrating as a coach because I want these guys to experience success. Those mistakes are expressing themselves through turnovers and some big plays. As we look to get better, which we are, at some point we need to break through there.”
“We played against a very good defensive line and you are not going to get huge seams against them. The guys up front battled and then Allen (Smith) got exceptional yards after contact today. They were very hard earned. He’s our captain and he plays like it.”
“We were playing extremely hard and extremely well for a huge part of that game. I’m proud of the guys for that.”
“The progress that we’ve made is something that EJ can be proud of because he’s played such a pivotal part of that. It kills me that we’re not in a position to get more wins, but we have a really good opportunity to go to Columbia this week and I know he and the team will be ready to rock at practice tomorrow and will work to get better and beat Columbia.”

The Bears will hit the road for the final time next Saturday afternoon with a trip to New York to face Columbia. Kickoff is at 1 p.m. on ESPN+ and AM 790 WPRV.