ON THE SIDELINES: Cool Greathouse, controversial penalty flags keep Streak alive

Before receiver John Sakowski made his incredible catch to give Bucknell a 19-17 lead with 1 minute, 13 seconds remaining in Saturday's game, even before Bison quarterback Jim Fox went on his crazy, winding 3rd-and-15 scramble that kept Bucknell's hopes alive with less than two minutes left, the drive that resulted in Penn's game-winning field goal was being set in motion. As the Bison improbably moved their way down the field, Quakers head coach Al Bagnoli told offensive coordinator Chuck Priore to get his troops prepared for one more drive. "I told Chuck with two minutes left that this isn't over by a long shot, we've still got three timeouts and get the offense ready for a two-minute drill," Bagnoli said. Bagnoli turned out to be correct, of course, when Sakowski went horizontal in the back of the end zone and caught Fox's bomb. But although Penn's chances seemed to evaporate with the score, the touchdown also produced a gift that restored them. When the Bison piled into the end zone to celebrate the catch, officials flagged Bucknell for two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. And when Fox fell coming out of the snap, killing his try for a two-point conversion, the Quakers gained new life. The Bison would be kicking off from their 10-yard line as a result of the penalties, and Penn trailed by only two. Mark Fabish fielded the ensuing kickoff for Penn at the Quakers' 30 -- instead of the 5 -- and made up for an otherwise forgettable day with a 25-yard return to the Bucknell 45-yard line. With 1:07 left, it was time for the Penn offense to go to work. It was an unexpected opportunity for quarterback Mark DeRosa. "When that kid made that diving catch, I didn't think the ref was going to put his hands up," DeRosa said. "I really thought he was going to call him out of bounds. But when he put his hands up, I kind of said, 'All right. I've had a terrible day. Here's a way to redeem myself.' " The Quakers' first play was a pass to -- who else? -- Miles Macik, moving the ball to the Bucknell 31. But an incomplete pass and a one-yard loss on a run by Aman Abye left Penn facing an enormous third down at the edge of kicker Jeremiah Greathouse's range. "We were just trying to go with something safe, something underneath where we were going to get seven, eight yards, and at least give us a chance to kick the field goal," Bagnoli said. It worked. Abye slipped out of the backfield, caught a short pass over the middle and picked up eight yards before going out of bounds, setting the stage for Greathouse. "I can't really remember how I felt," Greathouse said. "I knew I was just trying to concentrate on one thing, and that was getting the ball up off the ground, getting it high. That's the only thing I was thinking, the only thing I was feeling." Greathouse had never kicked a game-winning field goal before, and he had never made one from this far out. Now the sophomore was being asked to do both with the Quakers' 23-game winning streak on the line, but he later insisted he didn't think about it. "If I was thinking about stuff like that, I really don't think there would have been much chance of me making it," Greathouse said. "That's just added pressure." So, with his shoulders light and his mind focused, Greathouse went about his business. The snap and the hold were perfect, and the kick was never in doubt, sailing right through the middle of the uprights with at least three or four yards to spare. The Franklin Field faithful exploded, the Penn bench celebrated (excessively, of course), and when Fox threw a final interception, The Streak was still intact. Had there ever been any doubt? Not among the Quakers, Bagnoli said. "We had them in the two-minute drill, we had them in a situation where we wanted to work on a certain type of return, we knew the exact distance we were trying to get the ball down to on the field, what the kid's limit was going to be rangewise, and fortunately it all worked out," Bagnoli said. "Sometimes it doesn't. It did this time."