It is crunch time in Collegeville as the Ursinus Football Bears (4-3) need to rack up some wins in the next 3 weeks to stay in contention for the Centennial Conference playoffs.
The Bears are coming off back-to-back somewhat shocking blowout losses against Johns Hopkins University and Franklin & Marshall College.
The Ursinus Football team was blown out on Homecoming Saturday, 52-20, against Franklin & Marshall College at Patterson Field.
Franklin & Marshall initially went up 14-0 in the first quarter behind forcing an Ursinus three-and-out on the opening drive, and forcing a fumble while sacking Ursinus quarterback Tristain Machado two drives later. The Diplomats scored on their first drive of the second quarter to make it 21-0 at the 8:43-mark.
A missed call on a potential fumble at the 1-yard line off a long run led to a F&M touchdown plus a pick-6 on the next Ursinus drive, and put F&M up 52-13 late in the 4th quarter. Senior quarterback Alan Paturzo found junior wide receiver Jaylen Quick for a 44-yard touchdown pass to cap the scoring of the game one drive later.
The Bears started out 4-1 before the 2-game losing streak against the 2 teams tied for 1st place in the conference, capped by a dominant 52-0 win over McDaniel in Week 5 of conference play.
The team’s offense was dominant in the win over the Green Terror, a stark contrast from how they’ve looked over the past two weeks. Machado recorded his second consecutive four-touchdown performance in that game, while junior wide receiver Aidan Roselle had a career day with 117 yards on six catches.
In order to get back on track, Ursinus will need to get back to this form, generating explosiveness in the passing game and limiting turnovers in the process.
Ursinus performed well on defense against McDaniel as well, once again contrary to their play over the last few weeks. Junior linebacker Matt Agar led the Bears with six tackles (three solo) and 1.5 tackles for loss in the game against the Green Terror, while Senior Aaron Rios made four solo stops with his sack, forced fumble, and recovery. Junior Kendall Robinson, Senior DJ Clarke, Senior Anthony Esposito, and Sophomore Nick Strusowski all had interceptions for the Bears in that game as well.
It feels like a different team in comparison to the defense on the field this weekend, as the Diplomats gashed the team for 229 yards on the ground. Stopping opposing running backs from breaking into the “second level” of the defense was an early season strength of the Bears, but the team has seemingly come down to earth. They’ll need to find answers, as they face a Gettysburg team ranked 4th in the conference in rushing next week.
Despite their recent struggles, the Bears’ past month hasn’t been all lowlights. Strusokowski earned a spot on the D3.football.com Team of the Week at the end of September.
After two interceptions, Strusowski earned one of the two safety spots, for helping Ursinus defeat Moravian 35-7. In the first half of the Moravian game, he made two interceptions, the first of which stopped a Greyhounds drive in the red zone. In addition, he recorded one tackle for a loss that matched for the team lead and seven tackles, five of which were solo.
The Bears face a brutal schedule to finish the season, taking on perennial division 3 powerhouse Carnegie Mellon, as well as two conference foes in Dickinson and Gettysburg. The team hopes to find itself down the stretch, as they likely battle for an appearance in the Centennial-MAC Bowl Game series. Come out and support the team this Saturday, as they take on Gettysburg at home!