The Penn football team gave up over 400 yards of offense to Fordham. In its weekend trip to the Bronx, the Penn football team forgot to bring something. It was neither the new and improved Quaker mascot nor the football team's redesigned jerseys. The Quakers (3-1) simply left behind their No. 1-ranked Division I-AA defense. Down by 20 points with just under 10 minutes left in the third quarter, Fordham (2-3) took control of the game, outscoring Penn 17-0 in the final 24 minutes of the contest. It was too little, too late for the Rams, as the Quakers remained on top 34-31 when the final buzzer sounded. "When you are down 34-14 you are thinking about making something happen," said Fordham coach Ken O'Keefe. "We felt like we could move the ball. It was a track meet. It took us a little bit longer." The Rams' 406 total offensive yards nearly doubled the Quakers' average of 210 yards allowed per game coming into the matchup. And while their points came at the end, the Rams started piling up yards early. Fordham opened the game with a 13-play, 80-yard drive that ended with a missed field goal. "On that first drive of the game, we took it down," Fordham quarterback Steve O'Hare said. "We didn't get a score, but that instilled a confidence in everyone that we can move the ball against these guys." During the rest of the first half, Fordham reaped the rewards of Penn's defensive mental errors. Careless penalties by Penn led to four Fordham first downs. Two of the first downs came on third-and-long, extending both of Fordham's first-half touchdown drives. "As much as anything, we created our own damage early," Bagnoli said. "They're a good offensive team. If you give them four extra possessions, you are going to pay the price for it." Early in the game, Penn's defense halted Fordham's running attack. Gaining only 42 yards rushing on 22 plays in the first half, O'Keefe was forced to change his game plan in the second half from 60 percent rushing to almost 60 percent passing plays. "They are so big and strong up front, and they give you a lot of different looks that it makes it difficult for you to figure out where they are going," O'Keefe said. "We felt that they were giving us certain things in the passing game that we wanted to take advantage of." While Fordham rose to the challenge, the Quakers' defense failed to react. The same defensive line that had contained the Rams' rushing offense did not put significant pressure on O'Hare. Issuing only one sack, Penn's D-line left its secondary out to dry against Fordham's aggressive passing attack. "The defense never had the momentum," Penn cornerback Hasani White said. "It never had the presence that the defense usually has on the field. I think that we were on our heels the whole game." The ability of the Rams' offensive line to win back the line of scrimmage caused the Quakers' defensive line to struggle. Fordham's linemen, averaging 276 pounds, wore down Penn's defensive line as the game wore on, giving their senior quarterback enough time to scope the field and find the open receiver. "They gave me a little bit more time to throw," O'Hare said. "If I can hold the ball back there long enough, it does not matter who is covering, someone's going to come open." While Penn's secondary fell apart, the Rams' offense fell into sync in the second half, scoring on three out of their first four possessions. Completing 23 of 37 passes for 323 yards, O'Hare was a nightmare for Penn's defense. The Rams senior quarterback's ability to step up into the pocket and scramble outside to avoid the rush frustrated the Quakers defense the whole game. Trying not to hand the game over to Fordham, Penn's defense came alive during Fordham's final two series. Down by six with just over seven minutes left in the game, O'Hare failed to connect with McDermott in the endzone on third-and-goal from the eight. Making the coverage on the play, White deflected the pass, forcing Fordham to kick a field goal. "The secondary was getting hammered, so I knew they were coming at us," White said. "I didn't know to which side or to who. I just made a good play." In Fordham's final series, Penn defensive backs Joey Alofaituli and Joe Piela redeemed earlier mistakes by making two consecutive pass coverage plays. With Fordham on its own side of the field, the Rams had no choice but to punt the ball back to Penn, which was able to run the clock out. "The only good thing that we can take out defensively was the last drive," White said. "When it counted, when it was really on the line, we went three and out." The weekend jaunt to New York did not help Penn's attempt to fine-tune their loose ends in time for the rest of they Ivy League season. Experiencing a reversal of fortune, the Quakers defense relied on the offense's best scoring performance in Penn's past 22 games. "Fordham did a nice job with their game plan against us," Penn coach Al Bagnoli said. "They took some advantage of opportunities that presented themselves. It was not that we just played lousy defense. I think to an extent they forced us play lousy defense."
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