ON THE SIDELINES: D-line provides A+ pressure

NEW YORK – Throughout time, wars and battles have progressed dramatically. Towards the beginning of this century, World War I was fought in the trenches. The next time around, however, the world saw the creation of blitzkrieg tactics. This trend continued even until recent years when the war in the Middle East featured a high-tech United States arsenal of weapons. But on Saturday, the war returned to the trenches. The Quakers, although undersized on the defensive line, dominated Columbia from start to finish en route to their 36-7 destruction of the Lions. Penn proved once again that size is not always the most important asset for defensive linemen to possess. In fact, even though the Quaker line gave away an average of almost 25 pounds per player to the Lion offensive line, Columbia was still only able to get past the Penn 40-yard line twice – and score only once. "[Penn] beat us up front," Columbia coach Ray Tellier said following the game. "The only successful play we made in the run game was the option. Really nothing else got more than a yard or two. Especially when it was second and long and third and long, we had a hard time handling the pass rush." The Penn defensive line played at its best in the first half when it entirely shut down the Lion offense. The Quakers held Columbia to only seven rushing yards on 20 attempts. Obviously, with such little support from the running game, the Lions were forced to turn to the air attack. But unfortunately for Columbia, the air strike did not do the job either. As Tellier mentioned, the Penn pass rush's unrelenting attack held Lion senior quarterback Chad Andrzejewski to only 46 yards on 4 of 11 passing in the first half – if his last-second, 50-yard Hail Mary pass is not included. "We had some good pressure in the first half," Penn senior defensive end Dave Betten said. "That forced them to go to the quick game. They started to run more quick passes." Although the Lions' single scoring drive to begin the second half may have caught the Quakers resting on their laurels, it was not long before Penn ended Columbia's overly-optimistic comeback hopes. The Quaker defensive line reapplied the pressure and kept Andrzejewski running for his life. Penn's defensive blitz was led by Betten, who recorded two sacks, batted down one pass, forced and recovered a fumble, and had two tackles for losses. Betten, who was named Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts, received help from junior defensive end Michael Turner, who also had a sack and three tackles behind the line of scrimmage. Betten and company helped limit Andrzejewski to only 174 yards passing on the day, while completing only 40-percent of his attempts and forcing him to throw two interceptions and to scramble six times. "We practiced all week against what [Penn] showed us today," Andrzejewski said after the game. "They had good pressure from their defensive line and their linebackers were really solid in the middle." Part of the problem with this methodology may have been that Andrzejewski was practicing against the Columbia defensive players imitating the Quakers. But it's hard to copy a defense that has allowed the fewest points of any team in Ivy League games. Even though another great showing by the Quaker defense is becoming almost routine to the Penn faithful, it continues to be overshadowed by both senior quarterback Jim McGeehan and sophomore wide receiver Miles Macik as they continue their onslaught on the Penn record books. However, the defense is just as vital to the team's success. When the much-awaited showdown with Princeton takes place at Franklin Field on November 6, it will be the defensive line which will have to shut down Tiger senior tailback Keith Elias. Luckily for Penn, the Quakers rank 11th nationally in Division I-AA in both rushing and scoring defense. This ranking is simply a continuation of last season's success in which Penn finished sixth in overall defense. A ground defense may not have worked for the Iraqis in 1991, but it sure seems to be working for the Quakers. Actually, Penn's undersized but overpowering defensive line is producing the same lopsided scores as the Middle East war. But this time, the team on the ground is winning in dramatic fashion.