Practice not perfection for Penn football

Penn coach Al Bagnoli says the team has not been practicing well since Saturday's loss. Entering the season, the Penn football team was picked by many to recapture the Ivy League title after a two-year hiatus. But last weekend's humbling 23-15 loss to Dartmouth showed that the Quakers are more a work in progress than a ready-made championship team. "We are not a good team right now," Penn coach Al Bagnoli said. "We don't practice well, so therefore we do not play well." Despite the performance against Dartmouth, Penn (0-1) has yet to show signs in practice of turning things around. Instead, the Quakers have shown a tendency to think about the immediate past rather than the remainder of the season, which begins with tomorrow's 1:30 p.m. game against Bucknell (2-0) in Lewisburg, Pa. "We still are feeling sorry for last Saturday," Bagnoli said. "We have to realize there is nothing we can do about that game." The loss has lingered in the Quakers' minds because of the way Penn fumbled the game away. Despite a dominating defensive performance and an encouraging first game for many of the new faces on offense, including new quarterback Matt Rader, the Quakers lost the game because of turnovers and the play of special teams. "It was very frustrating because we know the kids can execute," Penn special teams coach Ray Priore said. "We were limiting the game to a few plays, and you can never do that." The Quakers now have to rebound against a Bucknell team that has already won two games and appears to be in a good position to defend its Patriot League title from last year. The Bison came within one play of upsetting the Quakers in each of the last two seasons. But Bucknell coach Tom Gadd is unwilling to speculate that this is the year his team could breakthrough against the Quakers. "I think (Penn's loss to Dartmouth) is a disadvantage to us," Gadd said. "Penn is a team with a lot of pride and tradition. They don't want to start off 0-2." Penn will once again be counting on its defense to keep it in the game. The Quakers' defense put up some stellar numbers Saturday, allowing only five first downs, and Gadd is concerned about his offense's ability to put up yardage against the Quakers. "Their defensive line and their linebackers are very good," Gadd said. "[Penn defensive tackle Mitch] Marrow is the most dominating player in the Patriot or Ivy leagues. He'll be playing on Sundays when he is done at Penn." The Quakers' defensive performance against Dartmouth is even more impressive considering Marrow was sidelined after the first quarter with an injury. Yet the big-play aspect from the defense was missing, something Penn needs to improve upon. "We didn't have a great pass rush," Penn defensive tackle Larry Rascoe said. "Granted, it had a lot to do with them running lots of screens and three-step drops, but we had only two sacks." Gadd will likely look to his running game to support relatively inexperienced quarterback Jim John. While John does have a pair of talented receivers in Ardie Kissinger and the aptly named Ronnie Rockett, the Bison will try to feature a balanced attack against Penn. The key will be Bucknell's success in establishing a running game featuring Chris Peer, who had 95 yards against Penn last year. "We were not able to run the football against Lafayette last week," Gadd said. "Penn is not a good team to try and start running against." Penn will also try to feature its ground attack. Because they were faced with a 20-0 halftime deficit against the Big Green, the Quakers were forced to change their game plan, and the new Penn backfield did not receive as much work as expected. Melvin Alexander, who has become the focus of the Penn backfield in the absence of the injured Jason McGee, did gain 61 yards. He also contributed to the turnovers that plagued Penn with a key fumble. "I was able to get back up from it," Alexander said. "I didn't wallow in my mistake, but I didn't put points on the board, and that's not acceptable." Alexander, quarterback Matt Rader and the rest of the offense would like have the chance to show what they can do when they do not have to play catch-up the entire game. While the big-play aspect was definitely missing from Penn's offense against Dartmouth, Alexander realizes that being able to have a sustained drive is more important. "I'm not looking for a 500-yard game," Alexander said. "I'm looking for consistency." The special teams were singled out in the loss against Dartmouth, as Penn made Dartmouth kicker Dave Regula into a highlight-film star. The fumbled returns by both Brian Bonanno and Brandon Carson helped the Big Green to an insurmountable lead. "We played well enough to win on offense and defense," Priore said. "But we lost too much field position from special teams." There will be changes on the returns against Bucknell, put Priore assured they were not performance based. Cornerback Joe Piela will be back returning punts, replacing the injured Bonanno. Penn has also been working several people on kickoffs to replace the injured Carson. The Bucknell game could provide Penn with the opportunity to finally play to its potential. Yet the Bison are a dangerous team who have not been a Patriot League pushover in the past. "Wouldn't you be worried going into the game?" Bagnoli said. "We had six turnovers last week, they are 2-0 and we are 0-1. I think we have reason to be concerned."

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