FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK: Freshmen to see action Sat.

McGeehan moves into Top 10 What a week for the Penn football team. It disposed of three-time defending Ivy League champion Dartmouth in regal fashion. It holds the rights to the league's Rookie of the Week. It had a 100-yard rusher and a quarterback that became one of the school's top 10 passers of all time – and the Quakers did all of that without 40 players. That's right, the 40-something freshmen who have been practicing with the team since day one were ineligible to play against the Big Green because it was orientation week at Dartmouth. But you can be sure that at least a couple of the rookies will be suited up for this Saturday's game at Bucknell. "At this point we're speculating that 8-10 [freshmen] will be travelling with us to Bucknell," coach Al Bagnoli said. "And [they] will get on the field in some capacity whether it's as a special teams player or as a situational substitution." And as far as the Quaker coaching staff is concerned, freshmen eligibility couldn't have come at a better time. It hopes to avoid situations such as against Dartmouth, when junior tailback Terrance Stokes not only carried the ball 26 times but also caught four passes. Besides those duties, Stokes was also a member of both the kickoff coverage and kickoff return teams. "If we want to give Terrance a rest this week maybe we'd have enough players to feel comfortable enough to do that," Bagnoli said. But even if Stokes doesn't need a rest, it is possible that a freshman could see action behind the center at some point next week. Whether or not Bagnoli is entirely comfortable with a freshman accepting the quarterbacking duties may not be an issue – if senior QB Jim McGeehan gets hurt. With junior backup QB Nick Morris out for at least a week with a bruised knee, two of the Quakers' three third-stringers are freshmen. "You're never totally comfortable [throwing a freshman into the mix]," Bagnoli said, "but the best available quarterback that we have at the time will play. And if that's Mark DeRosa or Steve Teodecki and they happen to be freshmen – than they happen to be freshmen. We're not going to get into a situation where we're not going to play a kid just because he's a freshman." Besides Morris the only other significant injuries sustained by Penn were a bruised rib cage by senior receiver Chris Brassell and a bruised thigh by running back Brian Kozmor. Brassell is expected to play against Bucknell pending the result of a X-ray he took on Monday and Kozmor's status is still up in the air. · As for the current quarterback situation, there is no controversy this year – at least not yet. McGeehan, who showed poise in leading the team against Dartmouth last week, also set a milestone of his own in the process. McGeehan's 166-yard passing effort moved him into 10th on the Quakers' all-time passing list with 1,923 total yards. With 91 yards this weekend, he will move into eighth place ahead of Doug Marzonie and Reds Bagnell, who sit tied at 2,013 yards. If all goes well this season and McGeehan can stay healthy, he will have a shot a catching big brother John. McGeehan the elder, who graduated Penn in 1985, currently ranks sixth all-time (2,759 yards). Little brother Jim would need an average of 93 yards over the remaining nine games to surpass John, Penn's quarterback of the decade for the 1980s. Nothing like a little sibling rivalry. · On the defensive side of the ball, unlikely candidate sophomore defensive back Kevin Allen turned in a Rookie of the Week performance with one interception and four passes defensed. "I was really surprised [with the award]," Allen said. "I was actually looking at [sophomore wide receiver] Miles Macik, who on the offensive side of the ball had seven catches and some big third-down receptions. But I was honored and grateful and hopefully I can play like that every week." And did coach Bagnoli expect this type of effort from his rookie cornerback? Well, not exactly. "If you say, 'does Kevin have enough athletic ability to make the plays he made?' [then] yes," Bagnoli said. "But do you go in thinking in your first game that your first-year corner is going to be the one that intercepts a pass and has 5 or 6 break-ups and becomes that kind of player – well you're not really sure." As expected of any first-time starter, Allen had to defend against not only Fiedler's potent arm, but also his own case of butterflies. "To be honest, I was a little bit nervous about going up against [Dartmouth QB Jay] Fiedler," he said. "But as the game went on I felt more comfortable. The first couple of plays I saw how [the veterans] were going fearless and they were getting to Fiedler and treating him like just another player. That kind of pumped me up. I realized he was just another football player, he's human, he can be stopped." · Outside of all the stellar individual performances and the final score, last Saturday's game against Dartmouth was far from perfect. The Quakers were flagged for an astounding 11 penalties for a total of 100 yards, a fact that does not sit well with Bagnoli. "All in all obviously you're happy with the way [the team] played," Bagnoli said. "But we still have to continue to progress. We had some breakdown and some penalty problems. "But if you're going to measure if the kids played hard and did they play for sixty minutes, than I think the answer is yes." Sometimes the ends – in this case the victory – justify the means.