FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK: Bagnoli to pull for Tigers

For the first time in the last three seasons, Penn is in a position in which it needs help from other teams if it is going to win another Ivy championship. Specifically, the Quakers need Columbia -- which is undefeated at 3-0 -- to lose one of its remaining league games to give Penn a chance to gain at least a share of the Ivy title. The Lions will have their toughest Ivy challenge this week when they travel to Princeton, which is also 3-0. Penn will have a chance to give the Tigers a loss when it hosts Princeton Nov. 4. "We're in a different situation than we've been in the past," wide receiver Miles Macik said. "In the past, all we've had to do was win. Now we have to wait and see how other teams do. It's hard to do that. It's hard for us to listen to those scores because we're usually so wrapped up in everything that's going on on the sidelines. Either way, they're both the top dogs in the league right now. One of them is going out of there with a loss." The unique circumstances of the Princeton-Columbia matchup made Penn coach Al Bagnoli say something that most Penn fans could not bear to mouth. Said Bagnoli: "We're actually going to be pulling for Princeton." · The biggest surprise of Saturday's game against Brown -- other than the 58 points Penn scored -- had to be the dropped balls by the all-American Macik, who normally catches everything that is thrown anywhere close to him. Befitting his character, Macik admitted there were three passes to him that he should have caught, even though in fact only one of the misses was an easy catch. Although Macik atoned for his drops with a miraculous three-yard touchdown grab as the first half was winding down, the normally sure-handed wide receiver admitted he felt frustrated. "It was the first time I felt that I haven't played as well as I could have," Macik said. "The most important thing I could do right now is to keep on my mind that I'm going to bounce back. It's tough when I watched the films and saw what happened." · After Penn opened up a big lead against Brown, Bagnoli inserted backup quarterback Steve Teodecki into the game. In his first chance to play for an extended period of time this season, Teodecki completed two of six passes for 43 yards. "I thought Steve played very well," Bagnoli said. "That was good to see. We have to continue to get Steve some quality snaps in the event we have some injury problems down the road. He came in, threw some strikes and ran the offense very well." · On the injury front, both defensive end Roger Beckwith (strained knee ligament) and offensive lineman Sears Wright (lower back spasms) will likely sit out this Saturday's game against Yale. Bagnoli is optimistic both will suit up the following week against Princeton.