NOTEBOOK: Football gets real home-field edge

The Quakers will play their first four games -- and seven of 10 overall -- of the '99 season at Franklin Field. This will be the most home games for a Penn team since 1961. "It's a good schedule," Quakers coach Al Bagnoli confirmed. "I think any time you can play at home, especially in this league, is good." Truer words may never have been spoken, as the Quakers are 29-6, and 21-3 in Ivy play, on their home turf during the Bagnoli era at Penn. · The co-captains of this year's edition of the Red and Blue are senior linebacker James Hisgen and senior center Carmelo Rubano. Hisgen, a three-year starter who earned honorable mention All-Ivy status in 1998, was third on the team with 64 tackles and led Penn with three forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries. Rubano, who also garnered All-Ivy honorable mention a year ago, is returning for his second season starting at center. Rubano will be following in the footsteps of '98 captains Jim Finn and Joe Piela -- all three captained Bergen Catholic (N.J.) as seniors in high school and then moved on to lead the Quakers as seniors in college. · Crucial to any team's chances of repeating as Ivy League champions is the number of returning starters, and with 17 holdovers from last fall, the Quakers appear to be in good shape. "Our biggest strength may be, from top to bottom, the level of experience that we have," Bagnoli said. "It's unusual to go to virtually every spot and have a kid who at one time or another started for you. From top to bottom we're probably as experienced game-wise as we've ever been." Despite the loss of All-Ivy running back Jim Finn and All-Ivy quarterback Matt Rader, the Penn offense figures to run smoothly with the return of the entire offensive line and a plethora of receivers and tight ends. In addition, the transfer of sophomore quarterback Gavin Hoffman -- who started and threw for 2,199 yards and 13 touchdowns for Division I-A Northwestern in '98 -- brings another player with game experience to the Quakers' table. And despite losing three All-Ivy selections in safety Joe Piela, linebacker Darren Macdonald and defensive end Justin Gallagher, a Quakers squad that ranked fourth in Division I-AA in rushing defense still returns eight starters for this fall's campaign. Seniors Mike Germino, Jason Maehr and Adrian Puzio -- three returning All-Ivy selections who combined for 17.5 sacks in '98 -- bolster a strong defensive line that could spell major trouble for opposing backfields. · Coming off of the Quakers' one pre-season scrimmage -- against Division II Millersville on September 4 -- the Red and Blue are getting closer to game readiness. Hoffman solidified his grasp on the Penn offense by leading the Quakers up the field several times in one half of action. "We moved the ball well on them. I think we had well over 200 yards in that first half," Hoffman said. "We just made a couple of mental errors and I think that just goes with playing with each other for [only] five days. Fumbles and interceptions -- that was the only way they stopped us." With junior Reed Werner moving into the backup quarterback slot, sophomore Ed Mebs became the odd man out in the competition for the position. "We moved Ed Mebs to wide receiver, which gives us a little more depth and athleticism outside, which I think will be a good move for everybody concerned," Bagnoli said. At tailback, the Quakers will rely on a platoon system to keep their runners fresh and to continually give defenses new looks. "It's going to be three guys in there pretty much," Bagnoli said. "Kris Ryan is kind of a bigger back, Mike Verille is kind of the intermediate size back and Matt Powmus is kind of a smaller back. They'll be in there in different situations." · In what could prove to be one of the season's more exciting matchups, the Quakers will face city rival Villanova (1-1, 1-0 Atlantic 10) on the gridiron for the first time since 1980. The September 25 matchup -- a Big 5 special where all tickets for the 5 p.m. game will be sold for $5 to the general public -- is the sixth-ever meeting of these two squads. The big news regarding this game, however, is what will be missing from it -- the explosiveness of Wildcats junior Brian Westbrook. The first Division I collegiate player to record over 1,000 yards both rushing (1,046 for 10 touchdowns) and receiving (1,144 for 15 touchdowns) in the same season, Westbrook was felled for the year after surgery to repair a damaged ACL over the summer. The senior's absence in the backfield was clearly noted in Villanova's season-opening loss at Air Force, where the Wildcats were only able to muster 25 yards on 17 carries en route to a 37-13 defeat. The Wildcats, however, were able to rebound with a 35-30 win this past weekend against Richmond -- a squad that defeated the Quakers 34-18 last year. Without Westbrook, Villanova was still able to compile 389 yards of total offense against the Spiders.