Lwt. Football to try to beat Army

"Beating Army has been very difficult," Penn lightweight football coach Bill Wagner said. Since Wagner arrived at Penn, he has never coached a team that has beaten Army. And he's been here 26 years. Tomorrow night at 7 p.m., the Quakers team will be challenged when the undefeated Cadets march into Franklin Field. Last weekend, Penn pulled together defensively and offensively to fight for a tough 24-21 double-overtime victory over Cornell. The effort not only left its mark mentally on the Quakers, but also physically. The battered Quakers, however, will get an extra 24 hours to heal with the game being played on Saturday night instead of Friday, as their previous four games have been. Penn's defensive front will be called upon to dole out some punishment against Army's wishbone offense. The Cadets are fortunate to have two dynamic quarterbacks, starter Jared Voigts and backup Nathan Self, who will both see action tomorrow night. Wagner said Penn's defense will try to neutralize whichever one is at the helm of the attack by stacking the line of scrimmage with eight or nine defenders. Ideally, two Quakers will be focusing on the quarterback every time he carries the ball. "It's just a matter of stepping up and hitting him every time," Penn co-captain Zach Chan said. Wagner estimated that whoever is quarterbacking for the Cadets will probably carry the ball about 20 times in the game. Army also has two capable runners in fullback Jason Torczynski and tailback Robert Bryant. Consequently, the Cadets offense has attempted an average of only five or six passes per game. Against this grind-it-out style of football that wears down defenses, it will be paramount that the Quakers defense limit the Cadets' time of possession. "[Senior defensive tackle] Kwesi Edwards, [junior defensive tackle] Jordan Matusow and [senior co-captain Cameron Reilly] are going to have to play like superstars," Schmidt said. "They have been real focused in practice this week."