COLUMN: DeRosa met the challenge

From Andy Meran's, "Meran's Law," Fall '95 Three days before the Penn-Brown game, the issue came up as to who was at the fault for the Quakers' newfound losing ways. On UTV13 Sportstalk, everyone was quick to point fingers at quarterback Mark DeRosa. In his most recent performance, the redshirt sophomore had thrown five interceptions into the hands of William & Mary defenders. The week before against the Lions, DeRosa had thrown yet another interception in a crucial situation near the goal line. Going into the season, everyone had said the main concern for the Quakers was going to be the defensive front seven. If there was any question on offense, it was going to be if any of this year's trio of running backs would step up to replace Terrance Stokes. Certainly the Penn passing game featuring Derosa and wide receiver Miles Macik was going to be as explosive as ever. Five weeks into the season, the main concern suddenly was what was wrong with Mark Derosa. As the 58-point outburst on Saturday proved, absolutely nothing. DeRosa reverted to his 1994 form, finding receivers all over the field and making the Brown defense look helpless. Sure, the outstanding running of Aman Abye made his job easier, but for the first time all year the offense clicked. It was reminiscent of a season ago, when all the praise in the world was being heaped upon DeRosa. DeRosa had the pressure of filling the shoes of Jimmy McGeehan, who had merely called the shots on an undefeated Ivy championship season the year before. The biggest question going into last season was whether DeRosa could step in and run the offense in a manner which would not hurt the team. Instead of simply making do as a quarterback, DeRosa quickly evolved into a star. He flourished in an Al Bagnoli offense which tried to keep the pressure off his shoulders. Terrance Stokes and the offensive line gave the offense balance, and DeRosa's pinpoint decision making made the short passing game effective. As the season progressed, and the coaching staff opened up the offense, DeRosa began to throw the ball downfield. All of a sudden, hitting Mark Fabish on the deep post became a common occurrence. In the biggest game of last season against Princeton, DeRosa went down with an ankle injury. Soon he was back in the game, a youngster leading the team to an impressive victory. After five games of just going with the flow and trying to force the ball in to covered wideouts to try to lift the struggling offense, the leader inside DeRosa has reemerged. He now faces a totally different kind of pressure than a year ago. For the first time, he is being blamed for the team's failures, for not being able to lead an offense featuring Macik and numerous other weapons. It took a while, but now it appears DeRosa is back. He could not have played any better than he did against Brown. The only two drops of the day came off the hands of an unlikely source -- Macik. In the biggest game of the season to this point, DeRosa completed 12 for 14 passes and buoyed the team to victory. This kind of play is going to have to continue if the Quakers hope to keep their claim to the Ivy championship alive. There is now no room for error and DeRosa knows this better than anyone. One more slip up and the Quakers are history. If DeRosa has anything to say about it, he won't let this team stumble. He is back on his game and showed a complete grasp of the offense against Brown. It is going to have to be DeRosa who carries the Quakers to victory. Just like the way it was supposed to be heading into this season.