Lightweights surprised by Army

The Penn lightweight football team knew what to expect going into its Friday game against Army. The Quakers knew the Black Knights would be disciplined and execute the fundamentals well. And they knew Army would pound away repeatedly with its wishbone attack. And the Black Knights lived up to those expectations for almost the entire game. But unfortunately for the Quakers, the two plays that led to Army's 27-0 win at Franklin Field were exceptions to those rules. The first came early in the third quarter, with the game still scoreless. The Army offensive play calling had been predictably lopsided throughout the first half, with 31 rushes and only three passes. The Black Knights' first drive of the second half opened with more of the same -- six straight running plays. So perhaps the Penn defense was expecting another handoff up the middle or one more run off tackle. Instead, on first down at its own 47-yard line, Army actually passed. It wasn't much of a pass. After a play-action fake drew almost the entire Quaker defense in, quarterback Mikell Harper took a few steps back and gently lobbed the ball a few yards down the middle of the field. Senior tight end Corey Gerving, running a seam pattern, sprinted just fast enough to catch the ball on his fingertips. From there, it was clear sailing down the right sideline to the end zone. "We were being too aggressive," Penn defensive end Victor Hsu said. "We're an aggressive defense. We live or die by that. That time we gave up the big play." The second big play for the Black Knights, the one that killed the Quakers, came on their next possession. Army chewed up over seven minutes and drove from its own 48-yard line to inside the Penn eight. Then the Quaker defense stiffened and forced Army to line up for a field goal. But the snap for the kick was low. The ball bounced and rolled before holder Greg Stroud picked it up. He had no choice but to run. Penn had overloaded the right side in an attempt to block the field goal attempt, so Stroud had a clear path around Army's left end into the end zone. Suddenly, the Knights were up 14-0 and the Quakers had the air taken out of them. Even after the first touchdown, Penn believed it had a chance to win. But the unexpected second score gave Army the clear edge. "It was still only 7-0," Penn coach Bill Wagner said. "We had a couple first downs. And the defense had stopped them again. Then they went for that damn field goal." From that point, Army took control of the game, consuming most of the clock on its final two scoring drives. The wishbone began to tear off larger and larger chunks of yardage as the Penn defense wore down. And the Army defense used its speed to pressure Quaker quarterback Greg Small, preventing him from mounting any serious drives in the second half. "When it got to 14-0, momentum changed," Wagner said. "Army got a little more cocky and confident. They controlled the football and kept our defense out on the field. "We basically got worn down and they scored again. That was the difference in the game."