Repeating Perfection

Penn faces aPenn faces adifferent typePenn faces adifferent typeof battle in itsPenn faces adifferent typeof battle in itsquest to repeat In Hanover, leaves are beginning to turn brilliant colors, thoughts of another austere New Hampshire winter are resurfacing, and next Saturday is circled on calendars. Ivy League champion Pennsylvania will be paying a visit to Memorial Field, home of the Dartmouth College football team. There is a world of difference from one year ago, when the Big Green was three-time defending champion, and Penn was simply green with inexperience. After a perfect 10-0 season, the Quakers are now on top. Penn is the team with everything to lose. That will be a common theme as the Quakers make another milk run through the Ivy circuit. Rarely does a team, even with the most talent, complete its season without tripping up somewhere in the Ancient Eight. There has never been an Ivy team since league play began in 1956 which has gone through its schedule two straight years winning every game. The Quakers must pay visits to hostile Princeton and Brown in addition to Dartmouth. And Columbia, Yale and Harvard, with its new coach from Division I-A Cincinnati, are not certain victories for Penn, despite the Franklin Field venue. When the Quakers were making their meteoric rise to the top of the Ivy standings, there was always that goal they had not achieved. Always a target for which to strive. Always a desire to prove to others that Penn is a winner. Now, all that has happened. It becomes a defense rather than an assault, a totally different frame of mind. "Now, everybody's gunning for you," running back Terrance Stokes says. "Everybody wants to knock you off that pedestal, so you have to be focused every week. You have to work hard every day. I'm hoping the other players understand what it's going to take for us to even be able to compete with last year's team." Stokes is a senior and remembers all too well the struggles as other teams drove Penn to defeat, and Gary Steele from the head coaching position. The Quakers finished 2-8 just three years ago. Complacency should not be a problem. Penn has enough seniors who remember the downfall from the '80s dynasty, which won six championships. "Even though it's an issue and we have to keep our eye on it, it doesn't concern me as if this were the fifth or sixth year of being really successful," Penn coach Al Bagnoli says. "At that point no one has a memory of a bad season. While I'm concerned, at this point it's not something?we have to take care of." Bagnoli is impressed with the shape in which his players returned after the summer. Credit the first year of Ivy League spring practices for the mental readiness. Twelve refresher sessions in the spring do wonders for retention of plays and theory. Credit strength coach Rob Wagner and the determination of the players in the offseason for the physical side of the preparedness. What could have been a lax offseason filled with complacency instead became a challenge to get better and assure future success. "We as a team have a challenge to keep the same desire, the same focus and not to relax," says Michael "Pup" Turner, a senior defensive end whose biggest assets may be heart and hustle. "We have to remember that the 1994 team hasn't played a game." Much of the squad remains intact, particularly on the offensive side, where seven starters return. Conspicuously absent, though, is Penn all-time passing leader Jim McGeehan, who may soon begin a professional career in Europe. In steps Mark DeRosa, a 6-foot-1, 164-pound sophomore from Carlstadt, N.J. DeRosa admits nervousness, but should feel comfortable throwing to high school teammate Mark Fabish, who will see action opposite All-America receiver Miles Macik. Senior Leo Congeni is likely to get the start at flanker, Brian Higgins at up back and all-everything Stokes at running back. The veteran offensive line, anchored by first team all-Ivy center Pete Giannakoulis, figures to provide ample protection for DeRosa. McGeehan will be watching DeRosa from the upper deck, and plans to call the QB before the game to offer his insight. "I'm going to tell him to relax, not to let the pressure get to him, and let his natural ability take over," McGeehan says. "He shouldn't think too much out there. Mark will be a phenomenal quarterback." The defense will attempt to keep other opponents off the scoreboard, particularly early in the season. DeRosa would then be able to become comfortable passing without comeback pressure. Gone are three staples on the defensive side -- Dave Betten, Jim Magallanes and Andy Berlin. Betten was the most consistent performer on the defensive line while serving as co-captain. Berlin was second on the team in tackles, and allowed the Quakers to play a versatile defense due to his ability to excel both at pass and run coverages. Magallanes was a veteran leader of the defensive backfield, always delivering the big hit. Senior Pat Goodwillie returns, and will be a major contributor in a defense designed to direct opposing running backs to the linebackers. He was the only non-senior on the first team all-Ivy squad in 1993. Kevin DeLuca gets the nod at the other middle linebacker, with Joey Allen waiting in the wings. "If you ever get the consummate linebacker, those are the kids you never have to take out of the game," Bagnoli says. "You don't have to take them out on third and 10 and substitute them for a coverage kid. You don't have to take them out on goal line and substitute them for a run kid. Those kids are hard to find." The Ivy League football coaches poll named Penn its unanimous choice to repeat as Ivy League champion. It was the first time in the poll's history a team has been unanimously selected. That's little consolation to Bagnoli and his players. "We're starting over," Turner says. "We haven't proven a thing."

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