All -Scott offense could be trouble

"Handoff to Jasen Scott." "Fumble, Jasen Scott. "Jasen Scott on the carry." "Pass caught by Jasen Scott." "Touchdown, Jasen Scott." But it wasn't the announcer that was stuck, it was Penn coach Al Bagnoli and offensive coordinator Chuck Priore -- stuck with the problems of injuries, an inconsistent offense and possibly a lack of skilled players. While the Quakers have seemingly come together in the past two weeks, Penn tailback Jasen Scott has been the man making the plays more often than not. Through the first six games this season, Scott touched the ball an average of 21.5 times per game. In games seven and eight, he is averaging 41 plays. Throughout the season, Bagnoli has cited the need to get skilled players the ball. In saying that, he always named players such as Aman Abye or Mark Fabish or Rick Granata. He also has said that his backs comprised the strongest, most experienced unit on the field. But while the 1996 Quakers defense has been incessantly injured, the offense has seen its share of problems too. Fabish is out for the season, Granata re-aggravated his knee, and Abye re-injured his groin. So by that rationale, Bagnoli had nowhere and no one to turn to. His only man -- Scott, and he got the ball 47 times, including two receptions out of the backfield. Give credit to the Quakers for winning the game. But don't give that credit to the Scott-led offense. Although the Red and Blue did distribute the ball to 10 people on offense, the Tigers knew who they had to watch. "[Scott] came in with over 700 yards," Princeton coach Steve Tosches said. "We really had to stop him, and our people did. [Penn] certainly had opportunities to get more points." Although Scott did rush for 155 net yards, his 3.4 yards-per-carry was a far cry from his 4.6 average coming in to the game. In addition, the play-calling has been predictable. On first down, Penn will run the ball. On second, most likely the same play. Third down: if it's short yardage they need, the Quakers will run, if not, they will pass. On fourth-and-whatever, don't expect to see anything but a punt unless the game is on the line. In other words, Tosches and everyone in the stands knew, for the most part, what type of play was going to be called next. Relying all-but solely on Jasen Scott cannot be the answer -- regardless of the fact that it has resulted in two wins. Look at Cornell (3-5 overall), whose Chad Levitt (the obvious choice for the Bushnell Cup) runs for 176 yards-a-game. All an opponent has to do to win is put a helmet on him to shut down the Big Red's whole system. Granted, the Big Red have a 3-2 record in the Ivies, but what kind of precedent does that set for a team? How good can a team be when they rely on one individual? If Bagnoli wants to avoid having to answer those types of questions, he must start finding other people. With no title on the line, Bagnoli can afford to put give other people the ball to hand out some extra game-time experience. This was the Penn-Princeton game. If there was anything left worth playing for, it was to close the season with the knowledge that the Red and Blue was superior to the Orange and Black. But Bagnoli needs to leave it at that -- especially with teams like Harvard, which is in the lower half of the league standings, and Cornell, which has the league's worst defense. Bagnoli was surprised that Scott had the ball so often -- he thought Scott should have had run the ball about 10 times fewer than what occurred. But let's hope that Bagnoli keeps a better watch on it. Jasen Scott is the go-to guy for the Quakers. Jasen Scott should be applauded for breaking Terrance Stokes's 1993 rush attempts record. But let's hope Jasen Scott doesn't become the entire Penn offense.