A pun is a joke exploiting the possible different meanings of a word or the fact that there are words which sound alike but have different meanings, such as when a kid says “I need some new jeans” and the parent responds “Why? You don’t like the great genes I gave you?” So why the theme of puns on a day when the Dons had zero pun(t)s?  I guess because it is easier to laugh than cry, so rather than drown in the sorrow of Dons football getting swept by the cross-town rival Cougars for the second consecutive year, I thought I would try to bring smiles to the faces of the admittedly few people that actually read these articles.

The game began in promising fashion.  Following the opening kickoff, the Dons offense drove straight down the field, with a good mix of passes and runs, culminating with QB Jake Colaco throwing an 18-yard dart between three Cougars defenders to Alek Adolphson for the game’s first TD.

After the first possession, the Dons offense continued to move the ball through a combination of completions to 6 different receivers and quality runs from Eitan Romick, but unfortunately was unable to convert the opportunities into points until Eitan rushed for the Dons second TD late in the game.  The offense had multiple false start penalties, suffered an interception that was nearly returned for a TD, missed three fourth down conversion attempts, and was unable to score on a first and goal at the Cougars 8-yard line late in the third quarter.

The Dons defense followed a similar trajectory to the offense.  After forcing a Cougars punt on the first possession, the Dons had difficulty stopping the Cougars offense despite a couple near interceptions and some big tackles, including a tackle by Brady Wall where his helmet came flying off.  Although the Dons defense held the Cougars offense to a total of 8 rushing yards for the entire game, screen passes that turned into big gains due to missed tackles, and a 57-yard pass down the middle of the field where the receiver managed to get behind the secondary ultimately doomed the Dons. David Gonzales led the Dons with 4 tackles.

On special teams, Eitan Romick continued his booming kickoffs. Alek Adolphson, Niko White and Tyler Kim gained yards on kickoff and punt returns. Lucca DeBiasse maintained her extra point perfection, registering 2 on the day and 13 on the season. 

Both teams had 13 first downs for the game, and the Dons actually edged the Cougars in total yards (240 vs. 237). The MVPs of the game for the Dons were undoubtedly the offensive and defensive lines, who absolutely dominated in the trenches the entire game.  Luca Premo, Andrew Tresser, Jack Manful, Drew McKenzie, Eli Laird, and Jake Yoshinaka did an absolutely amazing job protecting Jake and creating holes for Eitan on offense, and pressuring the Cougars QB (Drew registered a sack) and stuffing the run on defense.

The Dons continue the road trip with a game against Benicia on Friday, October 21 at 4:30pm