Football faces reeling Rams in final tune-up

Penn hosts Fordham in its last non-league game of the season. Back when Vince Lombardi called the Bronx his home, the Fordham linemen were known throughout the land as "The Seven Blocks of Granite." This year, after four disastrous losses in which opponents have outscored Fordham 167-45, a more apt label might be something like "The Seven Lumps of Dough." The 1999 Rams (0-4) defense has yielded at least 40 points in three contests, while the Fordham offense is still reeling from an exasperating 27-0 trouncing at the hands of Princeton. On paper, Saturday's Penn-Fordham matchup looks like a Red and Blue cakewalk, but alas, football games are not played on paper. "This is our last non-league week to get some of our problems worked out," Penn coach Al Bagnoli said. "They [the Rams] are getting better, and somewhere down the line, they're looking to be a good team. We need to play better and we need to play more emotional -- we did none of that last week." Last week's 23-16 loss to Bucknell was, more than anything else, a tough emotional pill to swallow. The Bison were far shy of outclassing the Quakers. Penn had more first downs, more total yardage and a comparable amount of possesion time. "Overall we played OK," Bagnoli said. "When you hold a team to 280 total yards, and 40 of it is on two fake punts, you played OK. We know we can do better." Overall, Bagnoli's comments crystallize the mood of this team quite nicely. Nobody's desperate, but everybody needs a win. "I think a win is really important," Penn tailback Kris Ryan said. "We want to get things rolling. The concentration is on bringing it together." What the Quakers need to do right now is to start to ease into a mid-season groove. Penn's last two defeats came at the hands of opponents that were much farther into their schedule than the Quakers. Villanova was playing its fourth game when it trounced Penn in the Quakers' second contest, and Bucknell had two more games under its belt than the Red and Blue did when they met. On the offensive side of the ball, the secret to Penn's success on Saturday comes down to one simple word: execution. "The only way that people have stopped us is that we've stopped ourselves," Penn quarterback Gavin Hoffman said. "We haven't executed at all so that's been the theme of the week in practice." The Bucknell game is the perfect example of this phenomenon. The Quakers outgained the Bison and garnered more first downs, but when it came down to brass tacks, they were unable to convert. Watch for the Quakers to dabble in some smashmouth football on the offensive end on Saturday. Fordham has proven itself flimsy when defending the run this season. The Rams have allowed opposing rushers to average a horn-bending 6.2 yards per carry. The four Fordham slayers have averaged more than 250 yards total on the ground. Penn will go to the run on Saturday not only because of Fordham's weak defense but also because of the emergence of Ryan as a bona fide Ivy League tailback. The sophomore is averaging an astounding 6.5 yards per carry while demonstrating a brand of running ferocity that instills fear into the most stout-hearted defender. "I think we've been happy with Kris Ryan and the way he's run the football," Bagnoli said. "We're not geared to run the football 50 or 60 times or to pass 50 or 60 times. We just need to improve on having a well-balanced offense that's good at making decisions." A balanced Penn attack will need to include a healthy, aggressive and productive Hoffman over center. The sophomore transfer needs to start feeling comfortable in the Penn scheme if the Quakers are to prevail. "His development is so tied into our receivers' development," Bagnoli said. "If you're getting blitzed and your receivers don't come out of cuts or don't shake man coverage, it's the quarterback that looks bad." Considering the failure of the Fordham offense to muster even one-third the number of points that their opposition has put on the board this season, one would not assume that the Penn defense should have much to worry about at Franklin Field. Penn co-captain Jim Hisgen is not so wholly positive, however. "They're very versatile with their offense," Hisgen said. "But we're expecting them to run a little more than they usually might, considering the yards we gave up last week. They have two good receivers that can hurt, so they can get us a lot of ways." Hisgen might be erring on the side of the overstated in praising Fordham's versatility. After all, the Rams were beaten decisively at Princeton. This is no time to underestimate an upcoming opponent. The Quakers need a victory before they plunge into their Ivy schedule. Perhaps the best advice that can be had comes from Lombardi, Fordham's most famous alumnus. Winning isn't everything; it's the only thing.