FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK: Mono-like virus relegates Marrow to sidelines

The Quakers' defensive tackle will miss Saturday's game at Lehigh, but hopes to return the week after at Columbia. The latest news out of the Penn football camp regarding the status of defensive lineman Mitch Marrow, appears to have a positive spin to it. The fifth-year senior, who was knocked out of the Quakers' home opener against Dartmouth with a mild concussion, has not been himself since that game back on September 20. The following week, Marrow practiced with Penn despite not feeling 100 percent, and in the game versus Bucknell, it took less than a quarter of action to KO him again. This time Marrow was diagnosed with an "unbalanced equilibrium." In other words, the Red and Blue's top gun on defense was having trouble standing, let alone smacking heads with opposing offensive lineman. Marrow decided last week to get a second opinion about his nagging illness and traveled home to consult his doctor in Harrison, N.Y. Penn coach Al Bagnoli and his staff feared he might have contracted hepatitis, which would have meant testing every other player on the Quakers. Yesterday, after analyzing the many blood tests performed on Marrow, he was declared to have a viral infection. "It is a mono-type virus," Marrow said. "I have not been feeling myself since before the Dartmouth game. At first I thought it was a bad flu and I tried to play through it, but I was becoming dehydrated too fast, and when you are sick, it is one thing to go to class, but it is another thing to go and throw yourself all over a football field." The best scenario for the defensive tackle is to continue to get plenty of rest. Because, most viruses are unpredictable, there is no medication that can be taken to cut down the length of recovery time. But Marrow did mention yesterday he felt much better than just one week ago. Marrow is keeping his fingers crossed he will feel well enough to start practicing again next Tuesday, and take a stab at playing at Columbia October 18. "These past few weeks have been very frustrating for me," Marrow said. "The reason I came back to Penn for a fifth year was to play football? Right now I have lost weight and have not lifted for two weeks so I am fully aware that it will take at least two to three weeks of practice before I feel my old self again." Bagnoli could not have looked more disturbed about the current condition of his star defensive lineman. For the head coach in his sixth year, Marrow is only the latest in a long line of great Quakers to play under Bagnoli. But in every season, the East Haven, Conn., native prepares for injuries. Now, Bagnoli said, it is up to Penn to continue to play flawless defense (currently the Quakers' total defense ranks 12th in Division I-AA play), in the absence of its leader. · There is a big contrast between Penn's top-notch defense, and the Quakers' chameleon-like offensive unit. Last weekend, for the first time this season, the Red and Blue's attack came out with a jolt against Towson and amassed over 400 total yards of offense. Leading the way was the Ivy League's lowest-rated starting quarterback, Matt Rader. But this statistic is quite deceiving. Despite the low grade, Rader has managed to rack up the second-highest totals in yards and completions (Brown's signal caller James Perry is the leader in both categories, but not by much). Rader's glaring weakness is his six interceptions and even that is not all his fault. At least half of these six errors have come on tipped balls. Rader was quick to admit after the Towson game the interceptions have been frustrating him, but with the game versus the Tigers under his belt he mentioned "right now the offense is just beginning to gel." Rader can also take pride that he is ranked second in the Ivies in total offense by a player, again second to Brown's Perry. Rader is averaging nearly 30 yards rushing a game before sacks are subtracted. "Rader is a big kid, and we will continue to call plays for him to run the ball," Bagnoli said. "Obviously we do not want him to run 30 times a game, but Rader's athleticism is a valuable weapon to us." · The return of running back Jason McGee helped the Quakers' offense turn it around against Towson last Saturday. Still not 100 percent recovered from the pulled hamstring he suffered two weeks before the season began, the senior piled up 82 yards on 23 carries versus the Tigers. McGee's 3.5 yards-per-carry on Saturday night is certainly nothing to brag about, but, as of yesterday, he had only practiced with the Penn offense five times. Bagnoli was also excited at the return of McGee, who in his mind has been the starting running back from day one. "We definitely missed Jay," Bagnoli said. "I want to take nothing away from Melvin [Alexander], but considering Melvin was in the secondary last year and hadn't had varsity caries at all? we missed Jay's game experience, and overall ability to do certain things like run the ball inside and outside and block. It is just nice to have him back." · Much to Penn's chagrin, its Division I-AA record undefeated streak of 24 (1992-95) is under a frontal assault -- from Dartmouth. The Big Green are currently riding a streak of 20 straight undefeated games, dating from a 14-7 win over Lafayette in week four of 1995. After that, Dartmouth won five straight before tying Princeton 10-10 to end the season. The Big Green were 10-0 last year and have won their first three in 1997. Dartmouth's road to the record is not the trickiest, either. This week they travel to Fordham, followed by games against Yale, Lehigh and Harvard, to tie the mark.