Coming off their bye week, the football team hit the road to take on the Ursinus College Bears. In a game dominated by both defenses, the Mules fell short by a score of 17-7. Muhlenberg held the Bears well below their season average of thirty-two points but only managed to score one touchdown on just 262 yards.
After the first quarter of play, the game remained tied at 0-0. Early in the second quarter, the Bears drove down the field and had first and goal on the four-yard line. After a short run and an incompletion, the Mules got a sack on third down to force Ursinus into a field goal. The game was still scoreless as the attempt sailed wide. Heading into halftime, the game stayed at a score of 0-0, which marked the first time that this happened in a Mules game since the 2007 season opener against the College of New Jersey.
On their first possession of the second half, the Mules fumbled, but the defense was able to hold strong, and Ursinus had to settle for a field goal for the first points of the game. In the last few minutes of the third quarter, the Bears were able to get into the end zone on a 34-yard passing touchdown. Towards the beginning of the fourth quarter, Muhlenberg masterfully made it on the board with a touchdown on a 13-play, 68-yard drive which ended with a six-yard touchdown pass from Luke Spang ‘28 to Caleb Pasols ‘29. With just around three minutes left in the game, the Bears found the end zone again, and they held the lead the rest of the way for the victory.
Amari Dunn ‘27 led the team in rushing with 54 yards, and Pasols led the team in receiving with seventy-five receiving yards on six receptions. At quarterback, Spang went 19/35 yards in the game for 214 yards and the passing touchdown to Pasols. On the defensive side of the ball, Thomas Cerruti ‘28 led the team with 11 tackles; Chase Hoag ‘30 and Myles Byrd Rice ‘28 both had eight tackles apiece.
Despite the loss, there were still some positive takeaways from the game. Triston McNeal ‘29 said, “I think one of the biggest positives was seeing what our defense is capable of when we’re playing connected and doing our jobs. We had a couple red-zone stops, forced multiple three-and-outs and held them scoreless throughout the entire first half. Going into halftime tied 0-0 showed that we can keep ourselves in games even when things aren’t necessarily going our way as a team. The biggest thing now is learning how to maintain that same level of execution and intensity for all four quarters.”
To finish off the season, the Mules now have six games left with all of their matchups against opponents in the Centennial Conference (CC). With CC teams on the schedule, the team needs to play their best football in the upcoming weeks. McNeal discussed the team’s main focus in their conference play ahead: “Our main focus going into conference play is putting together a complete game and continuing to stay connected as a team. After the game, we talked a lot about how everybody has a role in winning and losing, and we can’t point fingers when things don’t go our way. Offense, defense and special teams all have to complement each other and find ways to pick each other up. Conference play gives us a fresh opportunity because our goals are still right in front of us, especially competing for a Centennial Conference championship.”
The Mules will be back home at Scotty Wood Stadium this weekend on Oct. 10 as they take on Franklin & Marshall College at 1:00 p.m.
Marc '27 is a psychology major and political science minor at Muhlenberg. When not in the classroom he is normally watching sports, playing video games or watching his favorite show.