GAME ANALYSIS: Football offenses treat fans

Penn back Jim Finn and Brown's Morey and Perry put on an offensive clinic. PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The tickets to Saturday's football game between Brown and Penn were missing a disclaimer on the back. "Warning -- mixing Penn running back Jim Finn, Brown quarterback James Perry and Brown wide receiver Sean Morey may result in an uncontrollable explosion hazardous to a defensive coordinator's health." Penn (4-2, 2-1 Ivy League) and Brown's defenses were able to keep the ingredients separated for 45 minutes. But with 15 minutes remaining, they reacted, resulting in an all-out offensive onslaught and a 58-51 victory for Brown (2-3, 1-2). Together, the three athletes played major roles in the teams' combined 58-points in the fourth quarter, a new Division I-AA record. "Do you call that a track meet?" Brown head coach Phil Estes said. "Was it a beautiful win or an ugly win? It doesn't really matter. We will take them any way we can." · While the '98 season has been a series of highs and lows for Finn, the Quakers' star running back put together one of the single best performances in Penn history on Saturday. Scoring two touchdowns in the first half, Finn did not settle down as he added four more in the fourth quarter. Finn's half-dozen touchdowns broke Penn's record for most rushing touchdowns in a game, while his 36 total points broke the 77-year-old school mark of 33 set by Rex Wray. In the shootout, Finn gave his team the ability to fight to the finish. With the Quakers down 13 points after the first play of the fourth quarter, Finn carried Penn on his shoulders, rushing for 130 yards on 17 attempts. His final carry resulted in a five yard touchdown, tying the game at 51 with 44 seconds left. "He just made some great runs," Estes said. "People bounced off him, and he made some cutbacks. I knew he was going to get his yardage. It was a matter of how much." The Ivy League co-Offensive Player of the Week finished with 43 carries for 259 yards. The game marked the first time in nine games that the Quakers lost when Finn rushed for over 100 yards. "It wasn't good enough," Finn said. "It's great to have those numbers, but the thing that matters is having the loss in the league." · What seemed to be an innocent day for Morey turned into one of the most amazing halves by a wide receiver in any division or conference. While the Quakers stifled the '97 Ivy League Player of the Year in the first half, allowing him only one reception for zero yards, Morey poured it on in the final 30 minutes. From the first series of the second half, the Ivy League single-season reception leader turned the game around, making two grabs for 48 yards. The last was a 19-yard touchdown that gave Brown a 21-17 lead along with renewed confidence. "One of the things that we saw at halftime was that they were always worried about Sean and giving him a lot of attention deep," Estes said. "So we just worked the dig route in on the back side. James was right on in throwing it to him." From that point on, Morey put on a receiving clinic, finishing the half with eight receptions for 146 yards and two touchdowns. The Brown wide receiver's presence on the field struck fear in the Quakers' pass coverage, enabling his teammates to get open. Such was the case for Stephen Campbell, who found himself wide open on the right side of the endzone with only four seconds left in the game. The reception was the game-winner "I was in the slot position," Campbell said. "I broke it outside and saw that nobody was there." · Since assuming the starting role as Brown's quarterback last season, Perry has plowed right into the Ivy League record books. Saturday was no exception. While the '97 Ivy League First Team recipient managed to keep his team within three points of Penn at the end of the first half, Perry skillfully dissected the Quakers' secondary in the second half. Perry's 470 passing yards placed him third in the Ivy League record books, while his 37 completions and five touchdown throws rank second in Ivy history. Most remarkably, Perry was not sacked once during his 52 attempted throws. "We threw forever, and I didn't get sacked," Perry said. "[I] Just didn't really feel any pressure. The offensive line was unbelievable." In the fourth quarter, the co-Offensive Ivy League Player of the Week completed 12-of-14 attempts for 160 yards and three touchdowns. In the final drive, Perry completed five-of-six passes for 70 yards along with the game's decisive touchdown. "Forty-four seconds left -- it was a beautiful drive," Estes said. "Just some outstanding plays that were made there." · Considered the best at their position in the Ivy League, the trio also stands out in the Division I-AA rankings. Finn is 10th in rushing and seventh in scoring, Morey is first in receptions, fourth in receiving yards and Perry is second in total offense. With that amount of offensive power, something had to give -- and it did. Just ask the scoreboard operator.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.