BY ROCK HOFFMAN
College Football Editor
Collegeville, PA - Any football coach will tell you that to win any game, the team must limit mistakes and take advantage of opportunities, and you must do it more so when you’re playing a game against a nationally ranked opponent for first place in the league. Unfortunately, Ursinus College, in their battle with No. 20 Johns Hopkins, didn't do those things and lost 16-7 at windy Patterson Field on Homecoming Day.
The Bears (6-1, 2-1 Centennial Conference) suffered their first loss of the season after turning the ball over twice in the red zone (one was an interception in desperation time late in the game) and missing three field goals – the first two of which appeared to be affected by the wind which was blowing across the field at a reported 16 MPH. Overall, they were 0-for-4 in red zone scoring chances.
“I told the quarterbacks,” said Bears head coach Pete Gallagher, whose team has now lost six in a row to the Blue Jays, “’you’re going to look back at a handful of plays that if we could’ve got, it’s a different story.’ We’re not just talking the missed field goals. We’re talking all the misses because you look at some of the plays you’re going to see some fabulous play.”
There were a few drops by receivers, a few times the ball was delivered off-target to an open receiver, and Bears quarterback Jalen Bradford was sacked six times when Ursinus had allowed just four sacks in the previous six games.
Things started off well for the Bears. On the first series of the game, star running back Tony Holden raced 46 yards—just about untouched—for a touchdown. It came one play after Bradford completed a 16-yard pass to Justin Collier to convert a third-and-10.
Later in the first quarter, the Bears had a long drive that stalled when Bradford was sacked. On the first play of the second quarter, Jordan Carr missed a 42-yard field goal that had plenty of distance but went wide left (the direction of the wind).
Off the miss, the Blue Jays (6-1, 3-0 Centennial) matriculated the ball down the field, along the way they overcame a holding penalty and a sack. Facing a fourth-and-five at the Bears 17-yard line quarterback James Rinello fought through the Ursinus pass rush and completed a touchdown pass to tight end Will Leger.
The Bears were able to move the ball into Blue Jeys’ territory but turned the ball over on downs. The Blue Jays next possession ended when Connor Carter sacked Rinello, stripped
the ball loose, and recovered the fumble but the result for the Bears was a second missed field goal.
Late in the second quarter, the Bears got the ball back deep on their side of the field, but they couldn’t run the clock out. After a short punt and nice return, the Blue Jays got runs from Rinello and Geoff Schroeder to put Brad Paxton in position to kick a 22-yard field goal as time expired in the half.
On the second play of the third quarter, Schroeder rumbled 72 yards for a touchdown, the extra point was blocked and Hopkins led 16-7. Meanwhile, the Bears again moved the ball but turned it over on downs at the Hopkins' 29, and then Holden fumbled at the three.
The Bears’ defense made a stand, stopping Hopkins on fourth-and-goal at the five, the offense moved the ball past midfield but ultimately had to punt. The defense got the ball back but this time the drive ended when Carr’s kick hit the left upright (at the opposite end of the field from the previous kicks).
While not scoring after the touchdown earlier in the third quarter, the Blue Jays’ offense did enough to win the game, the key to that was the running of Rinello.
“It was part of the game plan to use my legs a little bit,” said Rinello, who gained 46 yards on the ground in the second half. “The o-line did a good job holding up in pass [protection] and making lanes for me. When they dropped into coverage, I found lanes to scramble which was big for us.”
Needing two scores with less than four minutes to go and no timeouts, Ursinus was forced to fill the air with footballs and Bradford was picked off at the Blue Jays one-yard line with just under two minutes to go.
“We just didn’t make enough plays,” concluded Gallagher.
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