Image courtesy of Brown Athletics

By Mike Scandura, NEFJ correspondent.

PROVIDENCE – Fact: defending Ivy League champion Penn entered Saturday’s game at Brown with a 63-24-2 lead in the all-time series.

Fact: The Quakers, who were undefeated, ranked third in the Ivies in scoring defense (14.3 ppg.).

Fact: Brown lost starting quarterback Jake Wilcox (who began play leading the ivies with 286 yards of total offense per game) with an injury at the end of the second quarter (Wilcox completed 14-of-15 passes for 115 yards and one touchdown.)

Fact: Senior quarterback Aidan Gilman, who had completed a mere 3 of 6 passes for 10 yards, came off the bench and sparked the Bears to a shocking 34-31 upset of Penn which dimmed the Quakers chances of repeating as champions because undefeated Princeton beat Cornell.

Gilman completed 22-of-38 passes for 245 yards and two touchdowns, including a game-winning, nine-yard strike to Allen Smith with 79 seconds left in regulation.

“First of all, he’s an excellent player,” coach James Perry said of Gilman. “He and Jake competed hard for that position. It was very, very tight. He’s also just a very resilient kid. He practices hard. He helps and supports Jake.

“For me calling plays, I didn’t skip a beat because I know the command that he has over the offense. What I was pleased by is how supportive and how much everybody rallied around him. It probably didn’t hurt that on one of his first runs he showed his toughness. He runs down the middle of the field and he’s not shy. I’m very proud of him. He’s handled things very well. I’ve had other quarterback rooms that always haven’t gone that way.”

Penn (6-1, 3-1), who trailed 24-7 at halftime, grabbed a 30-27 lead with 6:09 remaining when Jonathan Mulatu broke off a 12-yard scoring run.

Brown went three and out. But Penn went for a first down on fourth-and-three from the Bears 31 only to have Mulatu stopped cold.

The Bears (3-4, 1-3) then commenced a 69-yard, eight-play drive which ended with Gilman’s touchdown pass to Smith.

“Every week every quarterback in the room is going to practice to be the starter,” Gilman said. “We watch film together. It was my turn to go up and lead this offense and I took the opportunity and I think I made the most of it.

“We knew we had to strain a little bit longer up front. Those guys were working hard all game. We knew we had to push our tempo on those guys.”

Brown began the game like it would be a rout.

On its first series, Brown covered 87-yards in 14 plays with Wilcox tossing a two-yard touchdown pass to Hayes Sutton.

Brown led 7-0 after that first quarter which was ironic considering the Bears had been outscored 51-16 by their opponents in the first 15 minutes.

Gilman then replaced Wilcox under center and threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Graham Walker.

Penn momentarily stunned Brown when Julien Stokes returned the ensuing kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown. But Brown remained unfazed and Gilman guided a drive which ended with Nate Lussier diving into the end zone from the 5 and a 21-7 lead.

Defensive back Josh Ofili then made, in retrospect, one of the game’s key plays when he intercepted an Aidan Sayin pass which set up a 35-yard field goal by Austin Alley for a 24-7 lead at halftime.

“They had us off-balance on defense in the first half,” Penn coach Ray Priore said. “They like to pass the ball and they out-executed us.”

The proverbial tide began to turn early in the third quarter when Sayin (29-51-227) engineered a short drive which ended when he tossed an 11-yard touchdown pass to Joshua Cassilli.

 That tide then became a virtual perfect storm when, after an exchange of possessions, a snap from center went over the head of Brown punter Mike Walsh who was buried on Brown’s 15.

But the Bears held Penn to a 29-yard field goal by Graham Gotleib.

After Brown went three-and-out, Mulatu broke off a 58-yard touchdown run with 34 seconds left in the third quarter which tied the game at 24-24.

Brown had an apparent five-yard touchdown pass from Gilman to Hayes Sutton negated by an offensive pass interference penalty which forced the Bears to settle for a 27-yard field goal by Alley.

The Quakers countered with that 12-yard touchdown run by Mulatu for what would prove to be their last lead, 30-27.

Despite the quarterback competition, Gilman indicated he isn’t the least bit envious of Wilcox.

“We’re really good friends,” Gilman said. “During the week and over the summer we’re up here training with a couple of other guys in the quarterback room. We spend a lot of time together. I support him and he supports me.

 “There isn’t anyone I want to succeed more than him and vice-versa.”