They arrived for training camp three months ago brimming with optimism and eager to show what they could do.

Brown, the 2008 Ivy League champion, lost early at Harvard by three points, defeated Rhode Island for the Governor’s Cup, beat undefeated Holy Cross, lost to Penn in overtime, routed Yale and beat Dartmouth in overtime.

Rhode Island, playing for its third head coach in three years, started fast with a victory over Fordham but then experienced nine weeks of growing pains, bad luck and occasional bad play.

Bryant, playing a full Northeast Conference schedule in its second season of Division I football, won three of its first four games and then lost five in a row.

The Bears, Rams and Bulldogs will don the helmets and pads for a final time Saturday before they head home for Thanksgiving and ponder what might have been.

Brown (6-3 overall, 4-2 Ivy League) will wrap it up the 2009 campaign at Columbia (3-6, 2-4). The Bears will finish at least third in the league, and if they beat the Lions and Yale beats Harvard, they will share second place with the Crimson.

The Bears might be playing for the Ivy title again had their kicking game been solid from the start. Missed extra-point and field-goal attempts hurt them early. Nevertheless, Brown will finish with the only winning record among the five teams in Rhode Island and nearby Massachusetts. It will be its eighth winning season in Phil Estes’ 12 as head coach.

The Bears received outstanding performances from seniors Bobby Sewall of Portsmouth and Buddy Farnham, the versatile wide receivers; offensive linemen Paul Jasinowski, Mark Callahan, Tim Danser and Jarrid Johnston; defensive linemen James Develin, Michael Lemmons, David Howard and Peter Hughes; linebackers Kelly Cox, Brendan Gallagher and Phil Roffi, and defensive backs Chris Perkins and David Clement.

“I thought our senior leadership was just incredible this year,” Estes said of his 22 fourth-year players.

That leadership was on display again last Saturday, when Brown defeated Dartmouth, 14-7, in overtime.

“I don’t think I could write the story any better than to have it come down to Buddy Farnham in overtime catching a 17-yard ball at the pylon, and Jimmy Develin making a stop on a fourth-and-2 to win the football game,” Estes said.

He described Columbia as dangerous team “with opportunities to explode on both sides of the football.”

The Lions won two of their first three, lost five in a row and beat Cornell last week.

Columbia coach Norries Wilson said Brown is “a complete team. They’re really good on offense, and they’re really good on defense, and they’re really sound.”

URI (1-9, 0-7 CAA) will end another disappointing season at home against Northeastern (2-8, 2-5). The Rams have lost nine in a row, their longest losing streak since the 1992 team lost 10 straight. They are the only team in the Colonial Athletic Association without a victory, and winning on Saturday would ease some of the pain of defeat.

“Obviously, when you haven’t won any conference games it would go a long way, and certainly make for an excited offseason,” coach Joe Trainer said. “But at the end of the day, it’s one of 11, and we only have one of them, so it would be great to finish with a win here this weekend and send our seniors out on a positive note.”

Twenty-one seniors will dress for the Rams for the last time. Among them are tight end David Wilson of Warwick (Bishop Hendricken), wide receivers Joe Bellini of Burrillville and Tolbert Evans of Wakefield and running back Michael Okunfolami of Providence.

“I don’t know if I have been around a group I have more respect for. Three head coaches since they’ve been here. That’s certainly something that’s not easy to go through,” Trainer said.

Many of the seniors have seen little action on Saturdays.

“It takes a special kid to stick with it and stay positive and work your rear end off when you’re not having a lot of individual success,” Trainer said. “I think the legacy of this group is going to be in their selflessness. So many did not have the career they probably aspired for initially. For a lot of these guys, it never happened on a personal level, but I’m very proud of the way they conducted themselves in term of providing leadership, whether on the scout team or on the sideline or whatever.”

Bryant (4-6, 3-4 NEC) snapped a five-game losing streak last week with a 35-12 victory over Saint Francis, and will try to end on a high note with another victory at Duquesne (3-7, 2-5).

The Bulldogs are sixth and the Dukes seventh in the nine-team Northeast Conference.

Bryant is fielding one of the best defenses in the league, holding opponents to 19 points per game. But the Bulldogs are averaging only 17.1 points per game, which is a problem.

This will be the last game for running back Jerell Smith, who has rushed for 1,487 yards this season. He ran for 239 yards, his career best, last week in his home finale.

mszostak@projo.com