Kyle Newhall and Patrick Rooney Named Ivy League Players of the Week

Providence, Rhode Island - Brown junior quarterback Kyle Newhall (Gilbert, AZ) was named the Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week and junior kicker Patrick Rooney (Wheaton, IL) earned Ivy League Special Teams Player of the Week honors for their performances in Brown’s 34-31 victory over 19th-ranked Holy Cross on Saturday.

Newhall out-dueled Holy Cross’ All-American quarterback Dominic Randolph and established a new an Ivy League record with 46 completions against the Crusaders on 61 attempts, while accumulating 431 passing yards. His 46 completions broke the previous Ivy League mark of 44 completions by Brown’s Kyle Slager against Rhode Island on October 5, 2002.

Newhall also threw two touchdown passes (22 and 10 yards) and ran for another on a seven-yard run. Newhall also ran for 14 yards and his 445 yards of total offense rank ninth in the Brown record book, and 21st in Ivy football history.

Newhall ranks first in the nation with 28.5 completions per game. His 273.3 passing yards per game rank 9th best in the nation, while his 297.75 yards of total offense are 8th nationally

Rooney was called into the game against Holy Cross after Brown had missed two field goals and an extra point. As he was warming up to kick late in the third quarter, the Brown press box called down to the field to find out who was warming up, since there were two number 10’s on the roster.

On the first play of the fourth quarter, Rooney made his first varsity appearance and kicked a 31-yard field goal to extend Brown’s lead to 23-17.

“Patrick has ice in his veins,” said Bears’ head coach Phil Estes. “He wasn’t a recruited kicker, but we told him before the game that he had to be ready. I didn’t hesitate to use him, and told him on our last drive that if we get the ball inside the 25, we’d give him a shot to win it. He never hesitated and just kicked it through the uprights.”

With the score tied 31-31 in the waning moments of the game, Rooney drilled a 34-yard field goal with four seconds remaining to lift Brown to a stunning 34-31 victory over the Crusaders.