Football likely to play only 9 games

Football coach Al Bagnoli said he needs just one day to find a hotel and get directions if a Division I-AA team will agree to play Penn October 1. But a 10th game is "99.9 percent dead," according to the coach. The Quakers have been unable to find a 10th opponent since Richmond dropped Penn from its schedule four months ago. The Quakers will likely play a nine-game season for the first time since 1984. Deals with Hofstra and St. Mary's (Calif.) were close to being inked but fell through. An agreement with Liberty is still considered a "long, longshot." "Until someone says it's definitely out, we're going to continue to pursue it," Bagnoli said. "But as you get closer and closer, it becomes much more of a remote possibility.?At this point I've told our kids that there's a very strong chance you're not going to be playing October 1." The Quakers cannot add a home game on that date because Temple will host Penn State at Franklin Field. "I was thinking maybe working the game, maybe hanging out with Paterno for a while," Bagnoli joked. "I know which side I'd go on. I'd be working on the visitors' side." Bagnoli said he wanted to play a game in California against St. Mary's Thanksgiving weekend. That proposal was nixed because St. Mary's completes its season in early November. "Obviously I would like to play 10 games. If it were up to me I'd like to play 11 games," Bagnoli said. "These things are generally done five, seven years in advance. We all recognized how hard it was going to be to find a game three months before you had to play it." · For the first time since 1989, Penn will not open its season with perennial Ivy power Dartmouth. While the other six Ancient Eight teams will open against league opponents, the Quakers and Big Green will wait until Week 2 to open their Ivy seasons, with the two squads facing each other in Hanover, N.H. The Quakers open at Franklin Field September 17 against Patriot League favorite Lafayette. In the past, Dartmouth usually had more experience than the Quakers and therefore had the upper hand playing Penn in Game 1. But this year, Penn has more returning talent, and would have benefited from a Week 1 engagement with the Big Green. Dartmouth graduated all-Ivy quarterback Jay Fiedler, now a third-string quarterback with the Philadelphia Eagles. "We've been fighting that uphill battle for the last couple years," Bagnoli said. "They've had a lot more experience than we've had. So we finally evened the tables, and maybe even have a little bit more, and we don't open up with them." · Two-sport athlete Mark DeRosa, the sophomore who is the favorite to start at quarterback, missed the majority of spring practice due to conflicts with baseball makeup games. But during the summer, DeRosa caught up quickly. He tuned up by throwing with Penn receiver and high school teammate Mark Fabish in New Jersey. Sophomore Steve Teodecki, who is challenging DeRosa for the starting QB job, spent the summer throwing with standout receiver Miles Macik. "The quarterbacks are progressing very nicely," Bagnoli said. "Mark DeRosa, Steve Teodecki and Jack Friend are certainly right on schedule with things. Our young kids are doing a nice job. So I'm happy with the situation. It hasn't totally resolved itself at this point." · Six Ivy teams will have new quarterbacks this season. The only returning starters are Brown senior Trevor Yankoff, and Columbia's Jamie Schwalbe and Mike Cavanaugh, who split the Lions' signal calling duties last season and are expected to do the same this year. "It should make it a little more interesting," Macik said. "Last year it seemed like every team we went against had that veteran quarterback who had that real feel for the offense." · Penn will take on Georgetown in a scrimmage at Franklin Field tomorrow night at 7:30.