Quakers continue to roll in 36-7 blowout

Football pummels hapless Lions in N.Y. NEW YORK – It was billed as a "mismatch." The point spread closed at 15 points. There was to be a sure winner, and a sure loser last Saturday afternoon. Florida State against Virginia, you ask? No, it was Penn against Columbia. The Penn football team made it seven consecutive victories dating back to November of last year, and improved its record to 5-0 with a 36-7 drubbing of Ivy rival Columbia (0-2 Ivy League, 1-4 overall) Saturday at Lawrence A. Wein Stadium at Baker Field. "It was a good win," Quaker coach Al Bagnoli said of his 98th career win. "We knew Columbia was going to play lot harder than they did last week. I thought they played well and I thought we'd have to play well, and luckily we did." With their victory, the Quakers continued what has become the norm over recent weeks – the demolition of an inferior opponent. The 36 points Penn scored gave the Quakers four straight games with 30 points or more, which last occurred during the 1945 and '46 seasons. Breaking it down, Penn amassed 445 total yards and 25 first downs. Senior quarterback Jim McGeehan (23 for 40, 284 yards, 3 touchdowns, no interceptions) again had a superlative day, passing his brother John for fourth all-time on the Penn passing list. McGeehan was connecting with his favorite target, sophomore wide receiver Miles Macik (9 catches for 104 yards, two touchdowns), basically all day long. Junior tailback Terrance Stokes (16 carries, 86 yards) supplemented the passing game with another solid day on the ground, helping the Quakers gain 191 total rushing yards. "There were not a lot of things we could do against that type of offense," Columbia coach Ray Tellier said. On the defensive side, Penn displayed the strong team defense that has limited Ivy opponents to just 13 points thus far in 1993. The defensive corps recorded 4 sacks, costing Columbia 36 yards. "We had some good pressure in the first half, and that forced them to go to the quick game that they started running – more short passes which turned into longer drives for them," senior defensive lineman Dave Betten said. The onslaught was early and often for the Quakers. After an opening drive that sputtered 3 and out, Penn's next possession yielded fruitful returns. A 10-play, 71-yard drive landed the Quakers on the Columbia 15-yard line. There things stalled, and Penn settled for a 22-yard field goal off the foot of senior kicker Marc Horowitz, making the score 3-0. Penn reached the end zone for the first time on the day after recovering a fumble by Columbia senior quarterback Chad Andrzejewski at the Lion 17-yard line. The fumble was caused and recovered by Betten (4 tackles, 2 sacks, one pass defensed, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery). Penn capitalized on this turnover. After two Stokes runs set up a third and four, McGeehan found Macik in the end zone for the score. Horowitz's extra-point made the score 10-0. The Quakers hit paydirt again after regaining possession on a missed 26-yard field goal by the Lions. Penn drove 67 yards on 15 plays, and Horowitz connected on his second field goal, this time from 30 yards out. Penn put the finishing touches on its dominating first half with a 7-play, 56-yard drive that resulted in a McGeehan to Macik three-yard touchdown toss. The Quakers attempted a two point conversion that failed, leaving the score 19-0 at the half. Columbia's difficulties with the Penn defense led it to mix up its offensive sets. The Lions constantly varied the attack, moving from a one-back to a two-back set, and even experimenting with the option, which had limited success. This limited success led to Columbia's only score of the day. It came as the result of a protracted drive that spanned 4:48 and included 17 plays. Driving 73 yards, the Lions spoiled the Penn shutout when an option run of 5 yards by Andrzejewski that landed him in the end zone. With the extra point, Columbia had closed to within 19-7 with 10:12 still remaining in the third quarter. Despite Penn's apparent domination, the game remained within reach for the Lions. But as they had all day, and have done all season, Penn answered in the most effective way possible. The Quaker offense put together an 8-play, 60-yard drive that culminated in a McGeehan 24-yard strike to senior wideout Chris Brassell (two catches, 45 yards, one touchdown). Eating 3:40 off the clock, this scoring drive silenced the Columbia team as well as the Homecoming crowd, both of whom had come to life after the Lions first and only touchdown. Penn's final touchdown bears mentioning, because it was the first time in Ivy League history that a freshman passer connected with a freshman receiver for a touchdown. Frosh quarterback Steve Teodecki hit freshman receiver Mark Fabish with a 6-yard pass at the with 1:46 left in the game for the record score. There were few faults to be found in Penn's performance on the day. Penalties, which have plagued Penn in the past, were for the second straight week kept to a minimum (four for 41 yards). Perhaps the only concern that Bagnoli and the coaching staff had after the game was Columbia's ability to convert third- and fourth-down plays for first downs. The Lions converted on a total of nine for the day, including two during their only scoring drive. "The thing that really impressed me today was that they did a real nice job third and fourth-down conversions," Bagnoli said. "That's been a real strength of ours defensively. Going into the game we were holding people to about 20-percent or less. They kept drives alive, and they had some long time consuming drives." But it was not a day for concern on the Quaker side of things. The sound victory achieved by Penn brought smiles not only to the large number of Quaker fans who turned out, but to the entire team and coaching staff. While harder games are yet to come, and an Ivy title is still in the distance, things are clicking for Penn football. "We have a lot of guys out there," Macik said. "We have a lot of great athletes. We just have to stay focused. There are a lot of guys stepping up and making the big plays. We're doing a good job of that. You just have to stay focused and play football and worry about who you have next week." EXTRA POINTS: Macik's two touchdown catches on the day brings his season total to seven, which ties a Penn season record. Macik now shares the record with Don Clune '74 and Bob Bucola '75. Macik is in reach of the Ivy League season record which stands at 10 touchdown catches. Macik, with 42 catches on the year also only needs 12 more catches to break Penn record for most catches in a season (Clune caught 53 passes in 1973) McGeehan continues to march up the Penn all-time passing list. With his 284-yard performance, McGeehan now sits in fourth place in school history. He needs to average 98 yards a game for the final five games to pass all-time leader Malcolm Glover '90. He now stands 490 yards behind Glover. McGeehan also has a chance to set a new single-season record for passing yardage. He now stands at 1,215 yards on the season. The all-time record is held by Marty Vaughn '74, who threw for 1,926 yards in 1973.