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2015 Brown Football Preview
8/31/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
Brown head football coach Phil Estes is looking for his squad to take the next step from a rebuilding year in 2014 where he replaced 11 starters on offense, to a talented veteran lineup in 2015 on both sides of the ball. Estes will begin the season with 14 starters returning to the lineup and will look to post its eighth consecutive non-losing season.
Senior quarterback Marcus Fuller returns for a fifth year and will battle with strong-armed junior Kyle Moreno for the starting nod. Fuller came into last year with just three pass attempts under his belt and improved drastically as the season progressed, throwing 15 touchdown passes and passing for 2,618 yards, eight all-time at Brown. He ranked 14th nationally with 261.8 passing yards per game and 21st in the nation in completions (19.8).
Estes is looking to get more production out of the runningback position and will look to seniors Andrew Coke and Seth Rosenbauer to set the pace. Coke led the Bears in rushing with 516 yards and ran for a season high 89 yards vs. Holy Cross. Rosenbauer, a converted quarterback, rushed for 382 yards, including a 206 yards vs. Penn, in being named the Ivy League Player of the Week.
The Bears feature one of the top receiving corps in the Ivy League with second team All-Ivy senior Brian Strachan returning for a fifth year, along with All-Ivy junior Alexander Jette (26 catches) and senior Troy Doles (26 catches). All three have exceptional speed with Strachan making a team leading 56 catches, six best in the Ivy League, for 668 yards. The three combined for 108 receptions a year ago. Jette also returned punts for the Bears with 8.7 yards per return, 29th best in the nation.
Bears also have veteran offensive line with senior three-year starter John Heile at center, junior left tackle Dakota Girard, junior right tackle Matthew Girard, senior Andrew Terry and Clayton Eubank, who missed all of last season.
Brown's defensive line returns three starters and three more with significant playing time. The unit is led by senior tackle Zach Sparber (38 tackles, 4 tackles for loss), junior end Robert Hughes (15 tackles, 2 tackles for loss), junior tackle Jacob Walther, (31 tackles, four tackles for loss) return to starting roles, along with senior tackle Ludovic Richardson (16 tackles, 2 sacks), junior tackle Thomas Kutschke (17 tackles, 1 sack).
The Bears graduated two All-Ivy inside linebackers, Xavier Russo and Dan Giovacchini, and will look to senior William Twyman (17 tackles), junior Richard Jarvis (2 tackles), who missed most of last season, and junior Max Tylki (7 tackles) to vie for starting roles, along with junior Brandon Davenport.
Senior All-Ivy outside linebacker Ryan MacDonald earned a starting role last year and responded by making 45 tackles, fourth on the Brown team. He also picked up a fumble and returned it 53 yards for a touchdown against Yale. Senior Michael Walsh also started at outside linebacker and ranked second on the Brown team with 47 tackles, including three for a loss. Look for senior Quintin Rizek (17 tackles) to also contribute.
Estes and defensive coordinator Michael Kelleher will look to rebuild the secondary with senior safety Zachary Gillen the lone starter returning. Gillen registered 32 tackles and had two pass break-ups in 2014. Senior and senior Jordan Ferguson (16 tackles) will also look to see action along with Gabriel Gonzalez, who saw action in four games at cornerback.
Brown's kicking game is in the capable hands of senior Grant Senne, who connected on 12-of-15 field goals, booted 29-of-29 extra points and averaged 37.8 yards per punt.
