This year’s rendition of the Ursinus Bears football team has gotten off to a great start, going 4-0 on the season so far and 1-0 in conference play. The team got some big wins out of conference versus Waynesburg University and Moravian University, and began Centennial conference play with a gritty 17-7 win over Muhlenberg College. The whole team has contributed to this start, but a few specific parts of the team have been instrumental towards their success.
The defense deserves some shine for its stellar performance so far. They’ve allowed just 12 points a game this season so far, with a total of just 50 points scored against them in four games. This has come with quite good play from both the run defense allowing 3.3 yards a carry and the pass defense allowing only two passing touchdowns and five interceptions on the season, leading to performances such as Muhlenberg only scoring 7 points and Waynesburg only scoring 10. When asked about the defense following the big win on Friday night against Muhlenberg, defensive lineman Manny Saenz said, “Everyone at practice works their butt off, and it really showed tonight.” This strong defensive performance as a collective has really helped the team to begin this season, especially in rough weather like against Muhlenberg.
The offense has been off to a great start as well, highlighted by a dominant run game and efficient passing offense. The offensive line and running backs have had an electric start to their season, averaging over 200 rushing yards a game on six yards a carry and already having nine rushing touchdowns. The passing game has also been efficient and created big plays with three passes over 30 yards against Muhlenberg and seven yards per passing attempt to complement the running game, creating an offense that can attack you with the run or pass to support their shutdown defense.
Opening conference play against a tough Muhlenberg team displayed not only these strong suits, but the toughness this team has, bouncing back after a slow start in the bad weather and the game 0-0 at halftime. In the second half, the pass game woke up, with two touchdowns from Tristan Machado to Aiden Roselle and Jake Van Orden, with the latter being the dagger to seal the win for the Bears with 3 minutes left in the 4th quarter. “We beat a worthy opponent here Friday night, just proud of the grit in our kids and how we overcame adversity and made it happen.” said Coach Peter Gallagher when asked what the win meant.
The Bears will continue their season with conference play at McDaniel College and versus Johns Hopkins University next. Both teams have struggled to start their seasons, each holding a record of 1-3, but conference play is unpredictable and the season is young so they will still be tough games and we’ll see how the Bears continue. This strong start has been great to watch and hopefully it continues, as this team looks amazing at this early point of the season. Best of luck to them, Go Bears!
