Football tops Green in sloppy opener

The Quakers beat Dartmouth in turnover-filled Ivy League opener at Franklin Field. Dartmouth may have be donning new helmets, but the same anemic offense that plagued the Big Green last year showed up Saturday, enabling the Penn football team to win its season opener, 17-6. Penn's defense held Dartmouth (0-1, 0-1 Ivy League) to 169 total yards -- 85 yards rushing and 84 yards passing -- and the Big Green's lone score of the day came on a meaningless touchdown with 28 seconds remaining in the season opener. "We weren't able to run the ball as effectively as we wanted to, especially on first and second downs," said Dartmouth tailback Reggie Belhomme, who led the Big Green with 63 yards on only 3.3 yards per carry. As a team, the Big Green managed only 2.4 yards per rush, but that is not to say Dartmouth didn't have its chances to score. In fact, the Big Green posed more of an offensive threat in the game's early minutes. "We had opportunities early in the game," said Dartmouth head coach John Lyons. "We had some pretty good field position as a result of turnovers, and we just couldn't capitalize on it." The Quakers (1-0, 1-0) also had some trouble capitalizing early, as their first two possessions ended in turnovers. With the ball at midfield and 11:32 remaining in the first quarter, Dartmouth senior linebacker Marshall Hyzdu deflected a pass from Penn quarterback Gavin Hoffman that resulted in Dartmouth senior defensive end Kyle Schroeder's first interception of the year. Dartmouth managed to get one first down after getting the ball at midfield, but was forced to punt after failing to get into field goal range. On the Quakers' following possesion, Hoffman fumbled the snap and Dartmouth recovered the ball on the Penn 18-yard line -- good for Dartmouth's best starting field possession of the day. The Big Green could only muster three yards, courtesy of a senior wide receiver Mike Poncy reception, on its next series. So with a fourth-and-seven situation on the Penn 15-yard line, Dartmouth placekicker Alex Csizinsky came in to attempt a field goal that would give Dartmouth an early lead. Csizinsky's longest field goal in 1998 was 42 yards, so this 32-yarder was well within his range. Nevertheless, the game remained scoreless because Penn sophomore Erik Bolinder partially blocked the kick, causing it to sail wide right. "If we could have scored early and got some momentum and confidence, I think that would have really helped us today," Lyons said. "It was a game we could have had if we stepped up and made some plays when we needed to." After Dartmouth failed to take the early lead, it was Penn who made big plays to put points on the scoreboard. On Dartmouth's third possession of the game, the Big Green were once again able to enter Penn territory. However, with 3:03 left in the first quarter, Penn senior linebacker Jim Hisgen intercepted a pass on the Quakers' 35-yard line and returned the ball 16 yards to the Dartmouth 49. For the next 48 minutes, it would be all Quakers, as Penn would score 17 points, while Dartmouth's offense would not even advance pass the 50-yard line until its last drive of the game. Following Hisgen's interception, Penn would break the scoreless tie on a 25-yard field goal by Penn placekicker Jason Feinberg. The chip shot came largely thanks to a 37-yard pass from Hoffman to senior wide receiver Brandon Carson. The ball was slightly underthrown, but Carson, who led the Quakers with six catches for 67 yards, did a good job of coming back to the ball and making the catch. Penn's first touchdown also was a product of a big play on offense. After swiftly moving the ball upfield in merely two plays, the Red and Blue had a first-and-10 on the Dartmouth 48. On the ensuing play, Penn sophomore running back Kris Ryan took the handoff and broke several tackles, en route to a 48-yard touchdown run to give Penn a 10-0 lead. "In a perfect world, Kris Ryan is going to break some tackles and [Mike] Verille is going to catch the ball and be a cutback runner and Matt Thomas hits the hole at 100 miles per hour," Penn coach Al Bagnoli said. "That's what ended up happening." Penn's three-pronged rushing attack left its mark, as Ryan led the Penn backfield with 99 rushing yards. Thomas added 43 yards on only seven carries, and while Verille only ran for seven yards, he caught four passes for 42 yards. The score stayed at 10-0 until Penn revisited the endzone with less than six minutes remaining in the contest. Hoffman hit junior tight end Benjamin Zagorski on a quick dump off, and Zagorski ran the ball in from 19 yards out. "Their last touchdown there was a pretty blatant pick from where I was," Lyons said. "I couldn't believe that wasn't called." Much to Lyons' chagrin, no penalty markers were thrown and Penn took a three-possession lead on Hoffman's first touchdown pass as a Quaker. Hoffman finished the day going 23-for-36 for 196 yards with one touchdown pass, two interceptions and a fumble. "He'll play a lot better? once we get up and running and he has a game under his belt and the receivers, as importantly, have a game under their belts," Bagnoli said. Although Penn's offense turned the ball over five times, Dartmouth's only score of the day actually came after a poor punt by sophomore Ryan Lazzeri. Lazerri's 20-yard punt gave Dartmouth the ball at Penn's 35-yard line. On the ninth play of the drive, backup sophomore quarterback Greg Smith hit junior tight end Lee Roach in the endzone for the Big Green's only six points -- their two-point conversion failed. If it wasn't for good field position late in the game, Penn probably would have registered its first opening day shutout since 1982, when the Quakers blanked Dartmouth 21-0 on opening day on their way to an Ivy League title.

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