FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK: Finn has amassed five TDs in two games

Despite spending a lot of time this season at strong safety, Finn now ranks fifth in the Ivy League in scoring. and Jordan Smith Normally, a team would not be pleased if its leading scorer was someone who had played two-thirds of the season as the team's strong safety. Yet the Quakers should have no problem with Jim Finn ranking fifth in the Ivy League in scoring. Finn has seven touchdowns on the season, including five in the last two games, one of which was an interception return against Columbia. The 6'1'', 215-pound junior had seen some spot duty as Penn's goal line back in the season's first four games, in which he scored two touchdowns. But there was no indication Finn would go on a scoring streak unlike any by a Penn running back in recent years. "It's just a matter of being at the right spot at the right time," Finn said. "They have just been regular, average plays." While Finn may not view his touchdowns as spectacular plays, it is apparent that he has a knack for scoring. Finn appears to develop a different mentality when he approaches the goal line. "When you are near the end zone, you just try to do whatever you can," Finn said. "If you have a little seam, you have to take it so you can get the yards." A perfect example was Finn's first touchdown run against Brown on Saturday. The play was stuffed initially, but Finn was able to bounce outside and turn the corner. Only one Brown defender blocked Finn's path to the end zone, and Penn's bruising back made short work of the unlucky Bear. "Once I turned the corner, I just wanted to get to the pylon," Finn said. "Luckily we met right at the pylon." · Finn is not the only Penn offensive player to turn the corner on his season. Quarterback Matt Rader struggled with mastering the Penn offense in his first four games. But his biggest problem was interceptions; Rader found eight different ways to throw interceptions in his first 134 attempts. "Most of them were freak plays," Rader said. "They were tipped balls or balls that bounced off of someone." But Rader has found his mark in the past two weeks, throwing 56 passes without being picked off. While a big part may be a change in luck -- a tipped pass against Brown was almost intercepted but ruled a trap -- Rader's receivers have been key factors. "I've got to give a lot of credit to the receivers," Rader said. "Doug O'Neil and Brandon Carson are starting to make the plays." Not only has Rader been more accurate, he also has piled up the yardage. His 334 yards passing against Brown earned him Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week honors. Surprisingly, Rader's yards through the air were the second-best ever at Penn to Mark DeRosa's 360 in the 1994 season finale against Cornell. · As week seven approaches and the Quakers carry a 2-1 league record, it has become time for Penn to add scoreboard watching to its Saturday afternoon program. The game that stands out is the potential title-decider in Hanover, N.H., where Dartmouth (3-0) and Harvard (3-0) will meet. Needless to say, the game has major implications for Penn, the only team within a game of first. Thanks to overtime rules implemented last year, no game can end in a tie, so whoever wins will be in the driver's seat for the championship. If Dartmouth can recover from ending its 22-game unbeaten streak to Lehigh last week and muster a win, Penn would need help from either Columbia, Brown or Princeton to get into a first-place tie. Should the Crimson prevail, however, Penn would be able to stake a title claim by winning at Harvard Stadium on November 15. · MISCELLANEOUS: Quarterback Tom MacLeod, Rader's backup, has appeared in four straight games in a mop-up role, three large Penn wins and a 17-point loss at Lehigh? Quakers field goal kicker Jeremiah Greathouse, who proposed to his girlfriend before the Brown game, continued to struggle, missing two of three attempts. An All-Ivy pick two years ago as a sophomore, Greathouse has made just six of his 13 field goal attempts in 1997? The Quakers seem to love the third quarter. Through six games, they had outscored opponents, 49-10, as opposed to the other three periods, in which Penn runs a deficit.

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