FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK: Healthy at last, Marrow prepares for Brown

Scouts have told Penn's defensive tackle that his illness has not affected his NFL prospects, whereas an injury would have. Mitch Marrow returned to Penn for his fifth year as the most feared defensive player in the Ivy League. The defensive tackle, who already had the pro scouts watching, had hoped to enhance his draft position by continuing his dominating college play. Yet five games into the season, Marrow has been on the field sparingly. Marrow was sidelined with a mysterious equilibrium problem that was finally diagnosed as a "mono-type virus," which has since run its course. The mono left Marrow weakened and out of shape, as he dropped 17 pounds from his playing weight of 290 pounds. "I'm trying to get my endurance back," Marrow said. "It's hard to get into shape because I am still a little sick, and I'm just getting over the illness. All the running I did this summer is pretty much gone." After seeing only 20 plays against Columbia -- carefully monitored by the Quakers coaches -- Marrow should see more action against Brown. Marrow will have another full week of practice and he has already gained back seven pounds. Bagnoli and Marrow both believe he is ready to see his usual work load on Saturday. "I plan on doing as much as I can do," Marrow said. "I'm just going to play until I can't play anymore." While the rest of the season is the top priority for Marrow, the NFL draft was a concern for him while he was sidelined. Instead of impressing the scouts with his play, Marrow was sidelined with a condition that could have concerned scouts. "The scouts I've talked to said [the mono] hasn't made a difference," Marrow said. "It would have been different if I didn't play because I was injured." To confirm what the scouts had said, Marrow was selected to play in the prestigious Senior Bowl while he was still sidelined. But before Marrow gets to match up against the top Division I-A talent, he has to show he has recovered enough to play an entire Ivy League game. · At the start of practice this season, it appeared Jason McGee had the starting running back spot locked up. As the only returning back with significant experience, McGee was supposed to thrive during his junior year in Penn's one-back offense. An injured hamstring forced McGee out of practice during the preseason, complicating Penn's backfield situation for the first five games. Bruce Rossignol and Eric Bunn were supposed to be McGee's major challengers, but Melvin Alexander burst on the scene with his practice performance. While Alexander started the first two games, Rossignol and Bunn saw their carries dwindle. McGee's return did not clarify the situation, as it soon became apparent he was not at his pre-injury level. Last week, Penn strong safety Jim Finn returned to his running back roots with a 134-yard performance that has everyone wondering who will be receiving the bulk of the carries in the Penn backfield. "I'm not at all surprised that Jim is now playing a majority of the time at running back," Penn coach Al Bagnoli said. "We've been trying to get him on offense for a while. If (defensive back) Hasani White doesn't get injured, we would have moved him two to three weeks ago." While Finn had seen some spot duty as a running back near the goal line, the Columbia game marked his first significant time at running back. Bagnoli believes Finn will now reverse his previous 75-25 split on defense and offense. Finn now faces the difficult task of learning all of Penn's plays and schemes for both sides of the ball each week. "I've been introduced to everything on offense," Finn said. "Now I just have to get everything down on the spot during the game when I can't take time to think about it." While Penn strives to find a go-to guy at running back each year, Bagnoli once again finds himself with two possible starters. Despite the past performances of featured backs Terrance Stokes and Jasen Scott, Bagnoli believes his system necessitates more than one running back. · Lost in all of the excitement caused by Finn's breakthrough performance is where the remaining running backs will fit in the Quakers' offensive plans. McGee is still trying to work himself into top game condition, and he believes that he will see his workload increase if he returns to last year's form. Yet he is the first to admit this season has not gone as he would have preferred. "Based on how I'm playing so far," McGee said, "I don't deserve to have most of the carries. I'm not as sharp as I would like to be." While the backfield tandem may be a result of necessity, it also introduces two distinct styles into the Quakers' attack. Both backs realize that Finn's north-south power game compliments McGee's flashy moves. Bagnoli probably will not know how the carries will be distributed each game until he sees which style has better success against the opposing defense. With McGee and Finn splitting time, it appears as if Melvin Alexander has become the forgotten man in the backfield. The one-time starter had only one carry very late in the game against Columbia. Bagnoli said he will try to figure out a way to get Alexander on the field, but his chances will most likely be limited. While two main running backs for the Quakers is a rarity, three running backs is almost unheard of.

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