FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK: Football addresses kicking woes in practice

Penn place kicker Jason Feinberg hopes to improve on last weekend's performance at Dartmouth. After eking out a 17-14 victory last Saturday at Dartmouth in a game Penn should have won convincingly, the Quakers have work to do before Richmond arrives. Yesterday at practice, Penn coach Al Bagnoli had his team kicking field goals. At Dartmouth, sophomore placekicker Jason Feinberg missed two of three attempts, from 35 and 40 yards. "It was embarrassing," Feinberg said of his performance. "I almost cost the game for my team, and I'm looking forward to having it behind me." Feinberg actually connected well with the 40-yard attempt, but it got knocked down in a harsh crosswind. "That was probably my best kick all day," Feinberg said. "But from 40 yards out, I don't care if it's in a hurricane, I should be able to make that kick." The sophomore kicker beat out senior Kendall Hochman, who kicked off for the field goal and point after jobs in the preseason. Feinberg expects to improve now that he has his feet wet with actual game experience. · The offensive line played well last Saturday, all things considered. None of the starters had any significant game experience, tackle Jason Lebron was out due to injury and center Carmelo Rubano had been cleared by doctors to play only days before the trip to New Hampshire. Still, the line allowed the Big Green defense to get to Rader for sacks only thrice and opened holes for running back Jim Finn. "I saw a lot of technical errors that we could get better on," Penn offensive coordinator Chuck Priore said. "But by and large for their first game playing together they held their own." Priore said that Lebron will sit out at least one more game. "He's running around a lot more now, and his knee is feeling better," Bagnoli said. But Bagnoli expects to start the same five linemen against Richmond that started against Dartmouth. According to Priore, Rubano "made it through [Saturday's] game OK" and will take it easy this week during practice, but is expected to start at center again. · To no one's surprise, Finn carried the bulk of Penn's offense, amassing 151 yards on 41 carries. His 41 touches represented more than half of Penn's whopping 81 total offensive plays. But Bagnoli and Priore expect to have a more balanced attack against Richmond. "We go into every game saying we're going to be as close to 50-50 [passing and rushing] as we can," Priore said. Running back Jason McGee was relatively ineffective at Dartmouth, gaining only four yards on five carries. But Priore says he will get more opportunities this Saturday. "McGee will get into it, Matt Thomas the freshman [and] Givenchy Martin will get in," Bagnoli said. "We have to be able to run the ball." · Starting quarterback Matt Rader also punted four of the Quakers' five attempts. Bagnoli decided on the game-experienced Rader instead of freshman Ryan Lazzeri because of both a new long-snapper, tight end Clint Burhorn, and the importance of beating Dartmouth. Lazzeri did punt once in the fourth quarter, and booted a 48-yard kick. But Bagnoli went back to Rader when Penn punted with less than two minutes to go in the game. Against Richmond, Bagnoli says he will go with Lazzeri, who still has a problem catching snaps. "Early in camp, he was not catching the ball cleanly," Bagnoli said. "We've been working really hard getting his hands at the level we'd like to get his hands at." · Speaking of punting, Dartmouth punter Wayne Schlobohm was unconscious. He set a Dartmouth record for punting, kicking 446 yards on the day. His 71-yard behemoth, which stopped rolling at the Penn one-yard-line, set up the Big Green's first score. Schlobohm did run into trouble outkicking his coverage, however. Safety and punt returner Joe Piela had seven returns for 109 yards for a hefty average of 15.6 yards per return. "The only negatives were the two [punts] that [Piela] didn't catch," Bagnoli said. The punts both rolled to within the Penn six-yard-line. · The Penn football team had a welcome break on its trip to Hanover last Friday. Penn alum and Board of Trustees member George Wiess (Wharton '65) opened his very wide doors to the team, who enjoyed a poolside luncheon at Wiess' mansion in West Hartford, Conn. "He's been very good with our kids and our program," Bagnoli said. "It broke up the trip very nicely." The Quakers were taken aback by the opulent, Eastern-inspired decor, and the Picasso and Monet originals.

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