After a tough loss against Little Three rival Amherst College last weekend, Wesleyan football rebounded with a commanding win against Bowdoin College, pulverizing the Polar Bears 41-7. The 34-point margin of victory is the second largest against Bowdoin since Wesleyan’s 39-0 drubbing of the Polar Bears in 1966.
While both teams were scoreless in the first quarter, the Cardinals found the end zone first in the second quarter of the game off a two-yard plunge by Shea Dwyer ’10. Dwyer broke the 1,000-yard barrier in rushing yards this season after running for 164 yards against Bowdoin this past Saturday. Upon entering the game, Dwyer had rushed for an average of 170 yards a game, an average that has him leading all NCAA football players in rushing per game. His season total of 1,015 yards shatters the former Wesleyan rushing record of 871 yards. Dwyer still has the final two games of the season to further pad his record.
The Wesleyan scoring attack didn’t stop after Dwyer’s first touchdown, as the Wesleyan defense stood fast against Bowdoin for the remainder of the game. Despite maintaining solid field position throughout the match, Bowdoin failed to convert their many opportunities, including two missed field goals. The Wesleyan defense also forced four turnovers, consisting of two interceptions and two recovered fumbles. With time winding down in the second quarter, the Cardinals scored another touchdown on a 25-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Hughes ’14 from quarterback Matt Coyne ’12, advancing the score to 14-0.
Coyne would strike again early in the second half, this time on a 3-yard plunge of his own to give Wesleyan a dominating 21-0 lead. Bowdoin’s offense finally found some footing off Wesleyan’s kick off and scored on their next drive just three minutes after the previous Cardinal touchdown. Despite lessening the gap to just 14 points, the eight yard run by Bowdoin would be the Polar Bears’ first and last score of the day. Wesleyan closed out the third quarter with a fourth touchdown off of another Coyne-Hughes connection, this time for 15 yards. Wesleyan missed the extra point, but took the 20-point, 27-7 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Wesleyan scored again at the beginning of the fourth quarter on a last chance, 4th-and–1 attempt, as Coyne found a wide-open Joe Byous ’12 downfield for a 27-yard touchdown pass. Bowdoin again failed to score on any of their drives, and Wesleyan ended the scoring of the day with another touchdown, this time off of a one-yard run by Te’Rhon O’Neal ‘13 with five minutes remaining in the game.
The Cardinals dominated the Polar Bears throughout the game, amassing 531 yards on the game compared to Bowdoin’s 207. Wesleyan also held the ball on offense for thirteen more minutes than Bowdoin, and had twice as many first downs. Wesleyan will face far tougher opponents in the last two games of the season, the first away against undefeated Little Three rival Williams on Saturday, Nov. 6. The final game for the Cardinals will be at home against Trinity, who is ranked third in the NESCAC with just one loss on the season. Currently in fourth place behind Williams, Amherst, and Trinity, Wesleyan is one of four NESCAC teams to have a winning record on the season, and the program will finish higher this season than it has in the past five years regardless of the outcome of the last two games.
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