Do-or-die Ivy battle for Football at Yale

the Quakers visit the Elis, who have bullied opponents while winning five in a row. Hot off the heels of a five-game-winning streak in which they have outscored opponents 184-54, the Yale Elis (5-1, 2-1 Ivy League) look vicious enough to take a juicy chunk out of visiting Penn tomorrow. Add to this the fact that Penn (3-3, 2-1) is playing on natural grass for the first time all year in the unfriendly confines of the Yale Bowl, and the Elis begin to look like the odds-on favorite. In a high-stakes game like tomorrow's, however, the smart money often winds up looking foolish. "This game is the most important game for the year," Penn captain and senior linebacker Jim Hisgen said. "If we lose we're out of contention. If we win we're still in it." There is no doubt that the pressure is square on the shoulders of both of these teams. Right now, the Ivy League championship is up for grabs and every game is a must-win. As the Ancient Eight cruises past the midpoint of its season, five teams -- Brown, Cornell, Harvard, Yale and Penn -- are deadlocked with a single defeat. The Bears and Big Red have three victories, while the other three are 2-1 in the conference. This weekend may prove decisive for the 1999 campaign. "If you want to win a championship, basically you've got to win out," Yale coach Jack Siedlecki said. "We're both in the same boat and we were both in the same boat last year. If a championship is your goal, each game's a playoff game from here on out." The Elis' only blemish thus far came in their season opener against Brown. Before a home crowd of 19,390, Yale blew an early lead and fell to the Bears, 25-24. Since then, they have been on the cusp of dominance, whipping Valparaiso 48-2, San Diego 17-6, Holy Cross 34-14, Dartmouth 44-3 and Columbia 41-29. The bedrock of Yale's success this season has been its defense, which is statistically one of the most efficient in the Ivies. Yale has allowed its opponents only 272 yards of total offense per game. The Quakers, on the other hand, have let up over 340 yards per contest. "They play very, very good team defense," Penn coach Al Bagnoli said. "Rick Flanders was here as our secondary coach and now he's their [defensive] coordinator. He's done a nice job with those kids." The Elis "D" returned eight starters this year from a unit that wreaked havoc throughout the Ivy League in 1998. "They play very well together and they have two ends that can really bring the pressure," Bagnoli said. "They're a little bit undersized in the middle, but kids run real well, and they're making some plays and playing with a tremendous amount of cohesion." The two ends Bagnoli is speaking of -- seniors Peter Sarantos and Jeff Hockenbrock -- are again providing a monstrous amount of quarterback pressure for the Elis. The two combined for an impressive 16 sacks last year. This year, after only six games, this tandem has tallied a signal caller-shocking 17 sacks -- 11 for Sarantos and six for Hockenbrock. Perhaps the most startling fact about the Yale defense is that they have allowed opponents to convert on only three out of 77 third-down chances. That means that Yale's opponents are only getting a first down in 3.9 percent of their third downs. "They've done a good job of keeping teams off schedule." Bagnoli said. "Anytime you do that, the statistics point to a defensive advantage. If we get it to third [down] and three or third and two, we'll be fine." Defensive acumen aside, Yale is still worried about the Penn offense. "They've got a tremendous run orientation with the big back [sophomore tailback Kris Ryan], but they've thrown for a zillion yards the last two weeks," Siedlecki said. "They're a balanced team. They're tough to defend." Penn quarterback Gavin Hoffman encountered criticism early this season for his supposedly immature grasp of the Penn offense. As of late, however, the sophomore transfer from Northwestern has put his name all over the Penn record book. With his 343 yards last week and 399 against Columbia two weeks ago, he now owns the third and first spots on the single-game yardage list. Couple that with Ryan's 844 rushing yards this season, and you have an attack that is a pain to defend against. "I think we're going to see a lot more cover-two against them because people have been playing man against us and we've had success against that, throwing for close to 800 yards over the last two weeks," Hoffman said. "They'll try to stop the run first. Hopefully, we'll establish a run game early and play with their overly aggressive safeties." On the opposite side of the ball, the Quakers defense needs to do an infinitely better job of stopping the opposing offense in pressure situations. Last week in the 44-37 loss to Brown, the Quakers were abysmal on third down, letting the Bears capitalize on 12-of-19 third-down chances. If the Quakers are looking to better third down defensive numbers, Yale may be a prime opportunity. The Elis have been solid but not outstanding, converting on 29 of 84 tries. "Last week, it wasn't so much that there were problems," Hisgen said. "It was just that people were making mistakes. We're just focusing on everybody each taking care of their responsibilities. That way, we'll cut down on third-down conversions." The Elis have sported a balanced offense all this season, averaging 151 yards on the ground and 228 yards in the air. Quarterback Joe Walland is an elusive scrambler who can also throw for serious yardage but Penn is also keying in on Yale's marquee running back, Rashad Bartholomew. The junior is certainly a headache. "We're looking to focus on Bartholomew," Hisgen said. "He's quick and he makes cuts really well. He's the problem that we have to solve first." The valid knock against Yale this year is that they have a tendency to pile on big numbers early and get weaker late in the game. Last week's victory at Columbia was a perfect case in point. The Lions narrowed a 41-10 blowout to a respectable 41-29 finish by scoring 19 unanswered points in the fourth quarter. Obviously, one of the focal points for Penn tomorrow has to be speed out of the gate. "It's always good to come out of the shoot, to do well, to get ahead and to play at the pace you want to play," Bagnoli said. To put it simply for the Quakers, a good start tomorrow might ensure a good finish to their 1999 campaign.