FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK: Finn set to face Tigers' run defense

Penn prepares to battle Princeton's defense, which has given up only 156 rushing yards in four Ivy games. The theme for this year's Penn football team seems to be no rest for the weary. After a shootout against Brown and a victory over Ivy League co-leader Yale, the Quakers travel to Princeton Saturday to face yet another Ivy League co-leader. What's the reward for a win? A home game the following week against Harvard, who also happens to be tied for the league lead. But the Quakers will not be looking past Princeton. The Tigers come in leading Division I-AA in run defense, holding the opposition to 56 yards per game. Last week against Columbia, they held the Lions to minus two yards rushing. "They're a very good defensive team, it's not just the run defense," Penn coach Al Bagnoli said. "They're very well-coached, very mobile, pretty physical." Do the Quakers have a plan if Princeton is able to shut down Jim Finn and the running game? "Yeah, bring out the punter," Bagnoli joked. Finn leads the race for the Ivy League rushing title by more than 400 yards with only three games remaining. His 992 yards this season mean he should hit 1,000 in his first or second carry, and puts him on pace to shatter the nine-year old school record of 1,302 rushing yards in a season. Buoyed by his six-touchdown performance against Brown, Finn's 78 points this year already qualifies for the ninth best season total in Penn history. He needs to average two touchdowns per game from here on out to break Howard Berry's 81-year-old school record of 109. "They've got a good defense, but we feel like we have a good offense," Finn said. "We're going to try and dictate games. We're not going to change our whole offense because of one defense." · Fun fact: Princeton has allowed 156 total rushing yards in four Ivy League games. Finn averages 157 yards per game in Penn's Ivy League contests. · While Penn and Princeton have played 89 times since their first meeting in 1876, this is their first meeting in the newly opened Princeton Stadium. The Tigers are expecting to sell tickets to all 27,800 seats for the first time since the home opener against Cornell. The Quakers drew 20,875 at Franklin Field on Saturday, the first time the Quakers have played in front of more than 11,000 this season. But Bagnoli does not seem concerned about the crowd noise. "I think the kind of crowd they get is not real loud," Bagnoli said. "It may be 28,000, but it's not a real loud 28,000. We asked the Cornell people if that was a problem, because they had them in the opener, and they said, 'Nah.'" · Pathetic fact: Princeton quarterback John Burnham is bidding to become the first Princeton quarterback to throw more touchdowns than interceptions while starting every game since 1991. He is making it interesting, however, with six touchdowns and five interceptions. · After seeing their blood pressures rise drastically after the Richmond and Fordham games, Penn's trainers have had less to do lately. Mike Bertolino, Jim Hisgen, Jason Lebron, Darren MacDonald, Colin Smith and Ben Zagorski all practiced Tuesday after missing time for a variety of ailments. David O'Neill also ran on his recovering right knee after sitting out the last three games. Jason Maehr suffered a sprained right ankle on Saturday and did not practice until Tuesday. · Princeton boasts the strongest kicking game the Quakers have faced this year. Kicker Alex Sierk is tied for first in the Ivies with 10 field goals, and punter Matt Evans' 45.61 average is second in Division I-AA. But the strong punting is not all bad for the Quakers, who hope to utilize punt returner Joe Piela. Piela has only managed five returns in the last three games as short kicks have led to fair catches. "Against Dartmouth that kid was kicking a couple bombs, and I was able to get some room to return," Piela said. "Hopefully this guy will maybe out-kick his coverage a little bit, and I'll be able to get some room to run and get some blocks up front." · One final fact: Penn and Princeton played 31 times between 1876 and 1894, but ill-feeling between the schools led to a 41-year break before their next meeting. Why the long break? After Princeton won the first 28 meetings, Penn finally broke the streak in 1892 with a 6-4 win. Princeton came back with a 4-0 win, but Penn's 12-0 win the following year in New Jersey seemed to cause some ill will. It seems certain people had a problem with losing.

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