GAME ANALYSIS: Ten yards prove too much for Penn offense

Matt Rader and the Quakers' offense didn't pick up a first down on their first six offensive series. Most learn early, if something doesn't work, change it. If it means losing something good, change it fast. Saturday afternoon, the Quakers were unable to grasp this concept, at least until the sixth drive. Even at that point, it was far from fixed. For the first six possessions, Penn's offense made getting a first down as difficult a task as known to man, and the Crimson made it look routine. The Quakers ran 18 straight plays without earning a first down, punting the ball away for the Harvard offense to start its blitzkrieg. If you can't keep the ball on offense, you can't score -- simple. That was the beginning and the end of the problem for the Quakers. The Quakers were a textbook example, offensively and defensively, of how not to play third- and fourth-down conversions. "It was one of the the keys to the game," Penn coach Al Bagnoli said. "I think we did OK on first downs, and we did OK on second downs, but we we did not do OK on third or fourth downs." The numbers make this story simple to understand. The Quakers eventually ended up with a first down, but in the end only nine of them. The Crimson, on the other hand, were able to move the first-down marker on 19 occasions. "They were able to keep the chains moving, and we were not," Bagnoli said. "I don't have many answers, I think [we should] just give them credit." But while the Harvard defense was good, the Penn defense kept making the same mistakes. The attack produced 2.2 yards per play. A quick use of the calculator will tell you that even with all four downs, they could only be gaining 8.8 yards. That of course would produce no first downs -- ever. "We just didn't get anything started all day, it was a struggle all day long," Penn quarterback Matt Rader said. "The defense just totally dominated us." On their first drive, the Quakers were ineffective on the downs one and two, and found themselves with a third-and-10. The physical execution was there. Rader completed a pass to freshman receiver David Rogers, but only for nine yards. The ball went back to the Crimson. The next two possessions, Penn was unable to produce on the first two downs of the series again. They found themselves with third-and-12 yards to go, then nine yards to go, respectively. Both third-and-long situations, must downs. Both failed. On the first of these two possessions, Rader threw incomplete to sophomore Brandon Carson, and on the next drive Rader was sacked on third down -- one in which the entire stadium knew the quarterback needed pass protection. "We just did not do good job with making some third- and making some fourth-down conversions, and of having some opportunities," Bagnoli said. "We didn't take advantage of any of them. You've got to give some credit to the Harvard defense." Penn was able to put together sporadic short-yardage passing packages to get several first downs. The overall result however was that the Quakers were 3-for-16 (19 percent) on third downs, and 1-for-5 (20 percent) on fourth downs. No points. The Quakers' problems with third- and fourth-down conversions continued on defense. In sharp contrast to the Red and Blue, the Crimson came up with 7-for-17 on the third downs (41 percent), and an astonishing 4-for-4 on fourth downs, with two touchdowns. "I simply felt like we would get it, it's not that I felt like we absolutely had to have seven instead of three," Harvard coach Tom Murphy said of one of the fourth-down touchdowns. "But I just felt like it was there to be had." The key to Harvard's success on converting was the heroics of Rich Linden, and his ability to execute a solid system. The sophomore quarterback was able to find the seams all day, until he came out with more than 13 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. "There was nothing they did differently than what we saw them do in previous weeks. We just didn't make the plays, that's what turned the game in their favor," Quakers cornerback Larrin Robertson said. "When they convert on that many fourth downs, there is only so much of a chance we're going to have, and that's what it comes down to." On third downs, Linden was nearly perfect, going 6-for-7, moving the Crimson 88 yards. Even more devastating was Linden's ability on fourth downs, 3-for-3 with two touchdown passes. The efforts of the offense certainly made the defensive job more difficult. As Rader and his unit were unable to move the chains, the time of possession became unbalanced, 26 minutes, 29 seconds for the Quakers, and 33:32 for the Crimson. One could only watch the Quakers defense beg to get off the field. The Quakers made their day one of learning an old lesson. If you can't convert on third and fourth downs, you can't win. The lesson was plain and simple -- so was the score of 33-0.

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