They’ve had one of the longest preseasons of any team in the country. Finally, the Quakers are ready to get down to business.
While most college football teams have been in action for over three weeks, Penn football — along with the rest of the Ivy League — has been forced to sit back and watch, waiting to kick off its season. But the Red and Blue has been patient, practicing methodically for its season opener.
Now it’s time.
Coming off a disappointing campaign in 2013, one in which a team loaded with veterans dropped its final four games by a combined 48 points, Penn (0-0) hits the road this weekend to open its season against coach Kerwin Bell’s Jacksonville squad.
“Right now, we’re anxious — we’ve had a long preseason,” coach Al Bagnoli said. “I think we’re excited, we have some young, new kids and I’m looking forward to seeing what they can do.”
Although the extra three weeks in the Quakers’ preseason have helped them continue to refine schemes and pay attention to detail, Bagnoli is aware that his team may be at a disadvantage this weekend, especially given that the Dolphins (1-1) have already played two games this year.
“That’s the problem with our entire league — it’s not just a Penn problem,” Bagnoli said. “Everybody we end up playing in the opener each year has already played two, if not three, games before we play them.
"[Jacksonville has] had a lot of time and game experience to iron out the bugs because it’s one thing to practice like we’ve been doing and a different thing to go game speed like they have.”
Still, the Red and Blue has attempted to make the most of its extended offseason. A lot of Penn’s practice time has been devoted to ensuring that a key group of young players is prepared for the pressure of game action.
“We certainly have looked good at points in practice — we feel good about our attack and its multiplicity — but we have some young kids,” Bagnoli said. “As much as we could control, we tried to put them under a tremendous amount of practice stress, and hopefully that will be more than what they see on Saturday.
“But they still have to react to the officials, the lights, the crowd, the noise and everything actually counting.”
Among those relatively inexperienced players is quarterback Alek Torgersen , a sophomore who played only one quarter behind two seniors in 2013. Despite having only thrown 10 passes in his college career, the Huntington Beach, Calif., native insists he’s prepared to take the team’s reins.
“I’m eager to go play,” Torgersen said. “I’m looking forward to it, and I’m trying to take in the whole process of preparing for the game and enjoying it along the way.”
As Penn has had time to become more adept to its new spread offense, the squad has noticed a dramatic development between the beginning of the preseason and now.
“We’ve improved a lot mentally and physically, and we’ve been practicing really fast so we’re definitely adjusting to our own speed,” senior tight end Mitch King said . “We came out on day one of practice and tried to turn up the tempo, and it’s definitely an adjustment ... but we’ve become accustomed to the speed and mentally — we’re understanding all the signal calls.”
Despite the squad’s improvement in recent weeks, the Quakers know that Saturday’s game won’t be easy.
In addition to temperatures in the high 90s and forecasted showers, Penn will be matched up against a staunch Jacksonville defense that held San Diego to 281 yards of total offense and 18 points in last Saturday’s game. The Dolphins’ defense is led by linebacker Jordan Dewhirst, a sixth-year senior who has recorded 11 tackles, two tackles for loss, a forced fumble and an interception this season.
Sophomore running back Ulysses Bryant could pose problems for Penn’s defensive line. Already without veteran lineman Jimmy Wagner for the season, the Red and Blue will be tasked with slowing down the 5-foot-7 sophomore who notched 168 yards and two scores last weekend.
Regardless, the time for preparation is over. Come Saturday, Penn will be back where it belongs — on the field in pursuit of another Ivy championship.
“We bang heads and go against each other in practice, but there’s nothing like facing an opponent for the first game of the season,” King said. “I think we’ll come out hot and fast and, in the end, I see a Penn win.”
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