Penn looks to hurdle over top rush defense

Despite having the Ivy's second-best defense, Harvard only holds a 1-4 conference record. To say that Penn and Harvard are similar football teams having similar seasons is stating the obvious. Consider: Harvard lost in overtime to Columbia, Penn lost in overtime to Columbia. Harvard went to Princeton and won, so did Penn. The Crimson count on a good defensive line to anchor a solid defensive unit, and Penn does too. And both teams changed quarterbacks mid-season. However, only one team will emerge victorious from tomorrow's 1:30 p.m. game at Franklin Field. The match-up marks the final home game for Penn's seniors before they close the season next week at Cornell. "I don't know -- it's weird," said senior tailback Jasen Scott, who needs 81 yards rushing tomorrow to break 1,000 this year. "I don't think it'll hit me until we get out there." Scott's herculean effort (a school-record 45 carries for 155 yards) was one of the main reasons Penn was able to beat archrival Princeton last week. He's probably glad to know backup tailback Aman Abye has recovered from injury and can carry part of the burden. Junior Rick Granata twisted an ankle Tuesday and did not practice Wednesday or Thursday. Although he is not out officially, Penn coach Al Bagnoli is "not optimistic" about his chances for tomorrow's game. Running the ball has been the centerpiece of Penn's offense in 1996. But the Crimson present an interesting problem for the Quakers. Against the run, opponents are averaging a scant 81.4 yards per game on the ground, second best nationally. Overall, the defense is ranked 10th in the country and second in the Ancient Eight with 272 yards allowed per contest. "The strength of both teams is in their [defensive] front people," Harvard coach Tim Murphy said. "They're probably a better offensive team. They run the ball very well." Over the past two weeks, Penn's defensive line has been nothing short of dominating. Last week, the group sacked Princeton's quarterback six times and took away the ground game, holding the Tigers to 49 rushing yards. Expect the Quakers to try to overpower the Harvard defensive line and disrupt freshman quarterback Rich Linden. Harvard's primary concern in the trenches will be containing Mitch Marrow, the Penn defensive tackle Murphy describes as "in a class by himself." Last week, Marrow was double- and triple-teamed and recorded only one assisted tackle. But linemen Tom Foley, Doug Zinser and Chris Osentowski picked up the slack. "I think we should be able to handle them," Marrow said. "We have a lot of talent on our defensive line with Chris and Tom. As a group, we're pretty tough to handle." As they have for the last few seasons, Harvard will rely on tailback Eion Hu to provide the offense. Hu's heavy workload over the years may be taking its toll, as he is off pace for the 1,000 yards expected of him. "Eion's given us everything he's got, but he's banged up," Murphy said. "He hasn't been able to live up, through no fault of his own, to what he's given us in previous years." Where both teams struggle is in the air attack. Neither has managed 300 combined passing yards in the last two games. Inexperience at quarterback has been a factor, with Linden and Penn's Tom MacLeod assuming the starting jobs just a few weeks ago. Although MacLeod's pure numbers are poor, he is 2-1 as a starter. "He's been solid," Bagnoli said. "He made great progress the first couple of weeks. Last week, he wasn't quite as sharp as we'd like to see him. He missed some throws he normally wouldn't." Linden's statistics are more impressive, largely because he has junior Colby Skelton, the league's third-leading receiver with 45 catches, to throw to. The Quakers, on the other hand, are feeling the absence of Mark Fabish. The senior wide-out, who will have to watch his last games as a Quaker from the sidelines after breaking a bone in his shoulder three weeks ago. Out of Ivy contention and with the all-important Yale game on the horizon, Penn hopes the Crimson are overlooking tomorrow's game. But Murphy denies that possibility. "No, there is no danger at all," he said. "We have set our goal of 5-5, which Harvard hasn't achieved since 1990." Perhaps motivation is the place where Penn and Harvard differ. The Crimson look for a .500 record, while Penn tries to give its seniors, who won undefeated Ivy titles their first two seasons, a proper send-off.