ON THE SIDELINES: Special teams save the day

HANOVER, N.H. -- It certainly isn't often the last man on a team winds up determining the outcome of the game. But when Penn senior Michael Juliano flew over the line of scrimmage to reject Dartmouth kicker Geoffrey Wilson's extra-point attempt, the 6-foot-4 lineman did just that. "We brought 62 people here, and Michael Juliano was the 62nd guy," Penn coach Al Bagnoli said. "He's our leaper, our guy who can block extra points, and he came through." With a star-studded offense and a powerful defense, it's easy for the special teams and players like Juliano to go unrecognized. Saturday, with the offense struggling and the Quakers involved in the closest of games, the special teams were anything unnoticed. From blocked extra points, to incredible catches, to blocked punts and botched coverages, the special teams made an indelible imprint. While special teams may have wound up saving the day for Penn, it almost cost the Quakers the game. "We were very hot and cold," Bagnoli said. "Let's be honest, we were holding on for dear life." The Quaker kick protection, coverage and returns were just part of the reason why Penn was in a fight for its life. With just more than two minutes left in the first half, Penn seemed destined to coast into the locker room with a 10-point lead. But with Penn punter Tim Henwood standing at his own 20-yard line, the Big Green's Hunter Buckner broke through the Quaker protection. Henwood never saw Buckner coming and the Dartmouth linebacker sprawled out to send Henwood's kick the wrong direction. Moments later, the Big Green pounced on the ball at the Penn 16. "We mixed it up and let one man through," Buckner said. "We flopped matchups and nobody picked me up. Something broke down on their part." While the punt protection faltered, senior kicker Andy Glockner helped to keep the Quakers on their feet. Glockner nailed each if his two field-goal attempts. It was Glockner's second attempt that turned out to be the difference in the game. But then the punt coverage team fell apart again. The unit allowed Dartmouth two punt returns for 61 yards, while Penn could only manage two for 12 yards. Early in the fourth quarter, Big Green returner Chris Boran fielded a Henwood punt at his own 35. By the time he stopped running 45 yards later, the ball was at the Quaker 23. "They've done a nice job returning, and [Boran's] a dangerous kid," Bagnoli said. "It's something that we usually take a tremendous amount of pride in and it's something we usually do a much better job in." Penn suffered another special team miscue even later in the fourth quarter. This time it seemed as if junior Joey Allen was about to down a perfect Henwood punt at the Dartmouth one-yard line. However, after appearing to have control of the ball, Allen rolled over into the end zone and the Big Green was awarded the touchback. A final area which plagued the special teams was kickoff returns and coverage. In this phase of the game, Dartmouth outgained Penn 110 yards to 34. These returns set the Big Green up with good field position throughout the game and forced the Quaker defense to repeatedly rise to the occasion. The roller-coaster day for the Penn special teams unit was highlighted by two incredible individual efforts late in the fourth quarter. First, Juliano's block kept the Quaker lead at 13-9 and prevented Dartmouth from getting within a field goal. Had the Big Green pulled to within three, the Quakers probably would have never gotten a chance to stop Dartmouth on fourth and one in the final minute. Dartmouth could have easily settled for a chip-shot field goal on that fourth-down situation to attempt to tie the game at 13. Just after Juliano's block, the Penn offense was shut down on three plays. All the momentum in the world was on the side of the Big Green. And when senior long snapper Rob Ginsburg hiked the ball back to Henwood, it looked like Dartmouth was about to get another big break. Ginsburg's snap seemed destined to sail well out of the Quakers own end zone, when the athletic Henwood, standing at Penn's own 11, soared to make a dramatic one-handed catch. The acrobatic punter proceeded to calmly get the kick away, and disaster was once again avoided. "Thank god he's 6-3," Bagnoli said. "He'd still be chasing that baby." Fortunately for the Quakers, the special team roller-coaster ride came to a victorious ending.