Dwelling in the Ivy League Cellar

The least exciting of colors is the least exciting of Ivy League football teams. The 1988 Brown football team has played like the color it represents--drab and uninspiring.

Saturday at The Stadium against Harvard, the last place team in the Ivy League--winless after six games--showed off its colors and impressed no one.

The Ivy League cellar is no longer painted in Lion blue. This year, the Bruins (0-6-1 overall, 0-4-1 Ivy) have added a new coat. Columbia hasn't protested yet.

Saturday afternoon, Brown was down. Without starting quarterback Danny Clark and fullback Nick Badalato (who have combined for more than 500 yards rushing this year), substitute quarterback Dan Rukamp and the Bruin offense sputtered on a predictable course.

Only for a brief moment did the Bruins shine. On the first play of the game, Rukamp found Mike Geroux for a 73-yard pass to give the Bruins a first and goal at the Harvard two-yard line. Four plays later, Brown had to settle for a field goal.

Not including the 73-yard pass, the Bruin offense collected 104 yards on 52 plays. The result: a nice round average of two yards per play.

Then there's Rukamp. The Brown quarterback threw the ball 24 times. He completed only three passes for 83 yards. Take away the 73-yard pass, and Rukamp threw for a total of 10 yards.

It's life in the Ivy cellar.

"We wanted to stay out of obvious pass downs, and we weren't able to that," Brown Coach John Rosenberg said. "I don't know if he got the support from the running game."

The Brown offense was so predictable that Geroux was the only Brown receiver to catch Rukamp's passes. Geroux's day: three catches for 83 yards.

The Brown offense was so inconsistent that it managed only six first downs. Harvard changed the markers 27 times.

"I think the worst aspect of the second half was our inability to get first downs from so deep in our territory," Rosenberg said.

Maybe the loss of Clark limited the Brown offensive options. Especially since Clark is an option quarterback. But even with Clark starting Brown's last two Ivy League games, Brown has scored a total of three points. Before the Harvard game, both Penn and Cornell shut out the Bruins.

"They lose [Danny Clark] and their whole offense changes," Harvard Coach Joe Restic said. "Brown has a good option offense but [Rukamp] doesn't have the capability."

How much has the Brown offense struggled?

The Bruins have scored only one touchdown on offense in the last four weeks. Those seven points came in a 35-14 loss to Holy Cross last week in Providence, R.I.

The Harvard defense did play a part in Brown's inability to move the ball. By the middle of the game, the Crimson secondary had read the book on Rukamp and had it memorized. Tighter pass coverage led to no more big plays from the Bruin offense.

A tougher defense also led to a sigh of relief from Restic, who has seen his share of big plays from the opposing side of the field this year.

The Bruins enter the last three weeks of the season with an offense that could turn them into the Ivy's next version of the Columbia Lions.

What can Brown do?

"The toughest thing to come back from a game like this is to find the will to prepare to win the next game," Rosenberg said. "If you roll over, it will be a field day for the opposing team."

Perhaps Brown's true colors haven't surfaced yet.