With three TDs, Finn again carried Penn on his shoulders

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- Starting in a new place after any type of move or change is usually difficult. Some things just take getting used to. That doesn't seem to be the case for Jim Finn. Finn, who assumed a place in the Quakers' backfield for the third week in a row, has been given the duties of the primary running back since the loss at Lehigh on October 18. For the third straight week, he did not disappoint. In his first games as the featured tailback, Finn has amassed 454 rushing yards on 74 carries, good enough for the team lead. In addition, he has 10 touchdowns, including his touchdown return after an interception at Columbia. Finn's rise to prominence had taken people by surprise, but everyone at Yale was looking out for No. 7. "He's made the difference for them over the last three weeks in balancing out their offense and not putting as much pressure on Rader to throw it, play after play after play," Yale coach Jack Siedlecki said. "If you look at them early in the year, they didn't run the ball very well. But he's a good back. He runs hard, and he's got good speed." Finn took control early for the Quakers. He gave Penn the lead less than a minute into the game, a lead that would not be relinquished. After a kickoff return past midfield by Bruce Rossignol, Finn took the ball on the second play from scrimmage up the middle and ran for a 38-yard touchdown on the muddy Yale Bowl field. "At the beginning of the game, the footing was relatively easy and we were real wet," Finn said. "I felt like they were just going to slip off and I had a good head of steam running forward, so I just ran straight." The biggest play of the game came early in the fourth quarter. Up 14-7, the Quakers recovered a Yale fumble on Penn's own one-yard line. After a penalty gave Penn some breathing room out to the eight yard line, Finn did the rest. On second down, Rader handed the ball off to Finn who went left behind his tackle. He broke several tackles and went the distance for a 92-yard touchdown, his ninth of the season. "I just felt a hole out to that side," Finn said. "I bounced off and then I just saw daylight. They were coming hard so I knew that if I could get to the outside, I'd be alright." Finn ran through 15 yards of traffic before seeing the opening. However, he nearly ran out of steam as Yale defenders were in pursuit. As the Yale defenders caught up, Finn accelerated back across to the middle of the field. "I just wanted to make sure there was no one behind me. On the last one, their guys were coming pretty close to me, and I had to go to the side a little," Finn said. "I just wanted to make sure there was no one there, and if there was, move to the left or right a little." The touchdown run, tied for the second-longest in Penn's history, thwarted any momentum Yale had going. "We had an opportunity to tie the game and [Finn] stepped up and made a 90-yard run," Siedlecki said. "Penn wasn't doing anything more than we were doing, except they made that big play." On the ensuing drive by the Elis, Yale running back Derek Bentley fumbled on his own 33 and Penn safety John Bishop recovered. Two plays later, Rader found a wide open Finn all alone for a 27-yard touchdown pass. "It was a bootleg, and we ran (Finn) on a fake where everybody else wasn't and we caught him in a good situation," Penn quarterback Matt Rader said." Finn's third touchdown was only his second reception of the season, and the first receiving touchdown of his career. It was his third type of touchdown, including eight rushing and the interception return. In total, Finn has 10 touchdowns this season. "For a kid that's 230 pounds, he's got pretty good vision," Penn coach Al Bagnoli said. "He's obviously a powerful kid, and he's a lot faster than what he looks." In addition to reviving the running game, Finn also helped Rader establish an aerial attack. Last week at Brown, Rader had his best game as a Quaker, throwing for over 330 yards to eight different receivers. Neither Jason McGee nor Melvin Alexander, the other contenders at running back, was able to dominate defenses, score a touchdown or establish a steady running game. "He's really given us a boost," Bagnoli said. "We've been trying to move Jim over for about a month now, and every time we try someone gets injured in the secondary. We finally decided to make the move and he's responded with three very good games."